Katy Perry, Lionel Richie among celebrities singing for newly-crowned King
Prince George and Princess Charlotte have busted a few moves to Lionel Richie as Prince William paid tribute to his father at the coronation concert in Windsor.
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Prince William hit the coronation concert stage grinning from ear to ear as he was cheered by the crowd.
He even turned comedian and made his dad laugh with a corny joke about “not going on all night long”, like Lionel Richie, which is a lyric from one of his songs.
The prince paid tribute to his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, saying she would be so proud of Charles.
“I know she’s up there, probably keeping an eye on us and she would be a very proud mother,” he said.
He talked about his father’s first words on entering Westminster Abbey which was his “pledge of service”.
“It was a pledge to continue to serve because for over 50 years, in every corner of the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world he has dedicated himself to serve others, both current and future generations, and those whose memory must not be neglected.”
Prince William praised his “Pa” for he work on preserving the planet, “long before it was an everyday issue”, and for his charity The Prince’s Trust that has supported more than a million young people, many from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“We are so proud of you,” Prince William said, before also praising the work of those who serve in the forces, classrooms, hospital wards and local communities.
Prince George was seen singing heartily along to the national anthem which followed his father’s speech.
As Prince William paid tribute to his father and the national anthem played out, wrist bands flashed red, white and blue as the crowds stood in the stands and cheered the king in the royal box.
Prince William ended his speech with his own pledge declaring: “ I commit myself to serve you all, king, country and Commonwealth. God Save the King”.
ROYALS BUST A MOVE
The royal family has danced away the night in the royal box in Windsor.
The inaugural global ambassador for the Prince’s Trust aka pop legend and American Idol judge Lionel Richie hit the keys to play the Commodores smash Easy.
Richie, like all of the performers, was accompanied for his star turn by the 74 piece orchestra on stage.
He was the first performer to get more than one song, seguing into one of the ultimate party starter songs, bringing the entire royal box to their feet with All Night Long.
Among his biggest fans watching on was daughter Sofia Richie Grainge, whose dad stole the show when he sang at her wedding reception in the south of France a couple of weeks ago.
While most of the royals appeared to have a prevailing dad dancing gene, The Duchess of Wessex in particular showed off some smooth moves as Mike Tindall belted out the lyrics with his wife Zara Phillips by his side.
In a light-hearted moment, Kermit the Frog made his way to the royal seats – spotted taking prime position in front of Prince Edward. Could Kermit become King Charles’ equivalent of Paddington Bear?
Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog made a surprise appearance between performances, with Piggy virtually throwing herself at host Hugh Bonneville under the mistaken assumption he was a real-life lord.
It was a crowning achievement for @MissPiggy and I to be asked to attend the #CoronationConcert for King Charles III! Thanks to the Royal Family for having us and apologies to our friend @hughbon for interrupting his hosting gig. pic.twitter.com/Hu2z6uqox9
— Kermit the Frog (@KermitTheFrog) May 7, 2023
“Don’t forget the ring, and make it a big one,” Miss Piggy said as she exited.
Looking like a pop confection wrapped in gold, Katy Perry opened her coronation moment with her hit Roar, much to the delight of Princess Charlotte and the Tindall girls who were all clearly big fans as they sang along.
“Let me hear your roar,” Perry yelled to the crowd.
With a long train and opera gloves, Perry said she was “so happy to be here with you people” and father chuffed she got to spend the night in Windsor Castle with her mum.
The starlet then dedicated her performance of Hit to King Charles.
Perry was a short odds favourite to get more than one song and it was even shorter odds that song would be Fireworks.
Princess Catherine, Charlotte, Princes George and William sat in front of PM Rishi Sunak waving their Union Jacks to Perry’s Fireworks
“Make them go up, up, up,” the crowd sang in unison.
“Boom, boom, boom, even brighter then the moon …”
The BBC also appeared to have allocated most of the pyro budget to Perry’s performance with the American pop star, the ambassador for the British Asian Trust which the King established in 2007, getting all of the fireworks as she finished belting one of her biggest hits.
Former Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger wowed with her soaring performance of Reflections from the movie Milan accompanied by virtuoso pianist Lang Lang.
The King and Queen were seen clapping with appreciation during Reflection.
Wearing a stunning cobalt blue gown and dripping with diamonds, the pop star unleashed her serious pipes on the track and clearly impressed the King who turned to Queen Camilla to signal his approval.
Ecstatic crowd waved their flags and orange flow wrist bands as boy band Take That sauntered on stage. All the royals in the box jumped on their feet dancing awkwardly and out of step to Shine and Never Forget. Women jumped onto shoulders craning for a glimpse of Garry Barlow and Mark Owen.
Four years off the road may explain the equally rusty vocals from Howard Donald as he led the trio on their hit Never Forget.
It had the energy and dodgy harmonies of a group sing off in an elimination round of a television talent quest.
Only Take That’s songwriter and leader Gary Barlow sounded like he could still hold a tune.
As monuments and historic buildings lit up across the UK and drones formed a fire breathing dragon over Wales, English star Paloma Faith sang her hit Lullaby.
Her distinctive voice struggled to rise to the grand occasion, with many fans were distracted by her fuchsia gown which some compared to Sam Smith’s polarising black latex outfit from the Brit awards earlier this year.
As giant whale, bunny, butterfly, bee and other animal drone formations soared above the stage, classical soul pianist Alexis French and singer Zak Abel performed a gorgeous reinvention of the Simple Minds classic 80s hit Don’t You Forget About Me.
Abel was a last-minute replacement for pop singer Freya Ridings who had to withdraw from the concert due to illness.
As Windsor Castle was bathed in a beautiful watercolour painting, the blind and neurodiverse 13-year-old Lucy Illingworth demonstrated why she won the UK’s television talent quest The Piano.
She was quickly followed by rocker Steve Winwood leading the Commonwealth choir which had Prince George and Princess Charlotte grooving and waving their flags.
Nigerian musical royalty Tiwa Savage, hailed as the Queen of Afrobeats brought world pop music to the concert stage with her uplifting performance of Keys To The Kingdom.
Opera legends and two of the Royal family’s favourites, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Welsh bass baritone Sir Bryn Terfel combined to sing the classic anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Artists from a range of arts organisations including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Ballet and the National Theatre took to the stage in an act called the Royal Collaboration.
Ncuti Gatwa – soon to grace screens as the new Doctor Who – and Mei Mac interspersed sonnets from Shakespeare with dancers from the National Ballet, who performed to the song Somewhere, from West Side Story.
From medical staff to singers drawn from the Commonwealth, the first choir to star at the big Coronation concert delivered an aspirational crowd pleaser with Brighter Days.
Northern Ireland actor James Nesbitt introduced the “Light up the nation” segment of the concert with a poem by Daljit Nagra that ranged over the natural beauty and some of the cultural traditions of Great Britain.
As part of the celebrations, well-known landmarks across the UK are being illuminated, including the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Blackpool Tower and the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.
Fashion designer Stella McCartney took to the stage to pay homage to the King’s long history of championing environmental causes.
In a surprisingly direct and strident speech, McCartney warned of environmental catastrophe, saying “Our actions are jeopardising the very fabric of life”.
“There is a pressing need to change. His Majesty the King has been shining a light on conservation and protecting our planet for 50 years now,” she said.
McCartney finished her speech by saying environment and conservation “must be the causes that unite us, never the causes that divides us”.
HUGH JACKMAN POKES FUN AT CHARLES
In the concert’s first video interlude, a bevy of well-known stars including Aussie star Hugh Jackman, Dame Joan Collins and Tom Jones paid tribute to the King’s love of the arts.
Jackman revealed he would be performing in the UK soon and cheekily suggested the King “might grace us with your presence”.
Dame Joan mentioned the King’s various thespian efforts over the years, which have included a guest appearance on EastEnders and sharing a stage with Dame Judi Dench. Jones revealed the King’s musical talents, and revealed Charles’s very own cello would be featured on the stage during the concert – a fact Jones said might be news to the King himself.
British actor Richard E Grant spoke in a video about Camilla’s love of books and reading, saying she liked to turn the corner of a page over, rather than use a bookmark, just like him.
The Queen launched ‘The Reading Room’, a book club to celebrate books.
“To me, reading is a great adventure. I’ve loved it since I was very small and I’d love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do,” Queen Camilla told Town & Country in a previous interview.
The second video interlude focused on the King’s military history.
Former James Bond Pierce Brosnan revealed the King had “developed a host of action man skills” over the years, including obtaining his pilot’s license at the age of 22.
Adventurer Bear Grylls, who was also a guest at the Coronation on Saturday, said King Charles had undergone the commando training course, which he said was “one of the hardest programs in the world, and not for the faint hearted”.
Things then got a bit cheesy with footage of Top Gun star Tom Cruise flying in a jet fighter.
“Pilot to pilot your Majesty, you can be my wingman anytime,” Cruise said, adapting the famous line spoken by Val Kilmer in the 1986 movie.
The third video interlude focused on the King’s love of the natural world, and featured an appearance from an animated Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
The segment also discussed his love for gardening, and Jack Russells. While the corgi was associated with Queen Elizabeth throughout her reign, Charles and Camilla have long favoured the Jack Russell. They currently own two, Beth and Bluebell.
CHARLES AND CAMILLA ARRIVE EARLY FOR CONCERT
King Charles was greeted with jubilant cheers of “hurrah” as he took his seat.
“Wherever you may live in the United Kingdom and around the world, I shall endeavour to serve with respect,” the King’s voice was played to the crowd as DJ Pete Tong opened the coronation concert.
They cheered more as host, Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville thanked the King for “mowing the lawn”’in time for the concert.
Queen Elizabeth would often arrive a few songs into concerts in her honour and she famously wore earplugs at her Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, as she wasn’t a big fan of rock and pop.
But King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived early to their Coronation Concert at Windsor.
“They arrived a little early,” BBC TV host Kirsty Young, said. “I think it is because they are keen.”
Flag-wavers in their thousands cheered at the live concert when the Prince William, Princess Catherine and Prince George, who waved to the crowds, arrived at the event to mark the King’s coronation.
Prince George was dressed like his dad in a smart suit and tie, while Princess Charlotte – waving a Union Jack flag – was in a white dress with black trim.
Princess Catherine was suitably stunning in a red pants suit.
Sadly, Prince Louis – who provided some hilarious moments at the Golden Jubilee concert last year – was not in the audience, perhaps because it was past his bedtime.
Sarah Ferguson, who didn’t score an invite to the coronation, was in the royal box for the concert. Her ex-husband Andrew, who she still lives with in Royal Lodge, a 30-bed house within the Windsor estate, was also spotted. He pays a nominal $470 a week rent to stay there.
CHARLES THE ‘ROYAL RAVER’?
The concert marks the end of three days of celebration held to honour the King’s crowning on Saturday.
It comes as Pete Tong revealed King Charles isn’t just into classical music – surprisingly, the royal music lover is also into club classics.
Backstage at the concert, the legendary English DJ said that the switched-on monarch personally requested he spin “Ibiza club classics” at the big Windsor gig.
“He wanted Ibiza classics, that was very specific,” Tong told PA.
“I think they want to put across a big variety of UK talent and touch all different demographics and be relevant to different age groups.”
Tong suggested there may be some “relapsed ravers” among the royal family.
“I mean, the shows we do we literally get kids up to pensioners. Relapse ravers, we call them – so maybe there’s a few relapsed ravers in the royal household, we don’t know,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran has revealed he didn’t knock back a spot on the line-up for the Coronation Concert after all.
The Thinking Out Loud pop superstar, who performed for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, speculated during a radio interview that they Googled his schedule and spotted the Coronation Concert clashed with his gig in Texas,
“Lots of people are saying to me how it’s random (Katy Perry and Lionel Richie) are going to sing at the King’s Coronation … I want to clear something up actually,” Sheeran told radio station SiriusXM.
“No one ever asked me (to perform). I assume if they went online and went, “What’s Ed doing on May 6?” they would go, “Oh, he’s playing in Dallas” so I think that’s what’s happened.”
Still, Perry isn’t as wild a choice as it may seem. Besides her penchant for partners hailing from the British Isles – former husband Russell Brand and current partner Orlando Bloom – the Roar singer has direct link with the King via one of his charities.
“I’m an ambassador to one of his foundations for the British Asian Trust, which primarily focuses on ending child trafficking, which is a huge issue of our time that people don’t talk enough about, and it just aligned with all my values … He asked me to sing and it all aligned,” Perry said.
Perry said she was excited to perform on the stage which looks remarkably similar to Sheeran’s groundbreaking mathematics production.
Originally published as Katy Perry, Lionel Richie among celebrities singing for newly-crowned King
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