All the artists refusing to perform at King Charles’ coronation

King Charles is struggling big time to find acts to perform at his coronation concert. Here are all the stars who have said no.

Artists including Adele, Elton John and Harry Styles have reportedly turned down an opportunity to perform at King Charles III’s upcoming coronation celebrations.

The Spice Girls and Robbie Williams are among the other acts who have declined invitations to sing at the May event, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday.

While most of the musicians declined to explain why they would not take the stage, a representative for Elton John confirmed to the magazine that the 75-year-old could not attend due to scheduling issues.

Reps for the artists did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

However some royal experts have suggested artists don’t want to perform as they don’t want to be tarnished with the “PR disasters” that have plagued the monarchy in recent years.

Harry Styles won’t be there. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

And neither will Adele. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Adele

Charles with the Spice Girls in 1997. Picture: Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images

“The royal family has faced a number of PR disasters in recent times, and anyone performing at the show would have to consider whether there would be a backlash from appearing amongst their fans,” Simon Jones, a publicist for Little Mix, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, told Rolling Stone.

Others feel that aligning with Charles, 74, would not benefit their careers at this time.

“For them right now, storytelling is really important,” Meg, head of a leading British music PR company who asked for her full name to be withheld, said of Adele, 34, and Styles, 29. “These big symbolic associations carry a lot of weight and literally go down in history books in bold and underlined. I can understand why there’d be a big PR discussion around artists doing it or not,” she said.

Elton John, who performed at close friend Princess Diana’s funeral, has declined an invitation citing scheduling issues. Picture: Markus Ravik

“With [Queen Elizabeth II], she was fab and glamorous to some people. Charles doesn’t add anything – there’s not a legacy of his that anyone would want to align with. It’s televised, so a lot of people will hear your songs, sure, but in terms of long-term PR strategy, I don’t know if performing would add positively to an artist’s narrative unless they were staunchly pro the monarchy.”

Scandals plague house of Windsor

Many of the royal family’s headlines over the past few years have focused on scandals.

This could explain why so many stars are distancing themselves following the Queen’s death last September.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s exit from royal life has caused a lot of tension between them and the King, particularly after Prince Harry, 38, aired the family’s dirty laundry in his memoir, Spare, which hit shelves in January.

In it, he made various shock claims, including that his brother, Prince William, had physically attacked him and his father referred to Harry as his “spare” son on the day of his birth.

His wife, Meghan Markle, has also made damning accusations against the royal family, telling Oprah Winfrey in a 2021 interview that a royal family member voiced concerns over the possible skin colour of her son Archie when she was pregnant with him.

The bi-racial Duchess of Sussex, 41, also claimed the royals did nothing when she came forward about having suicidal thoughts.

Another scandal that has rocked the UK is Prince Andrew’s ties to the late convicted paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

It is also not yet known if Charles’ son Prince Harry will attend.

The royal family failed to fully disassociate from the Duke of York, 63, amid accusations that he had sex with one of Epstein’s accusers, who was 17 at the time, which he denied.

Prince Andrew was asked to step back from his royal duties in November 2019 after his now-infamous disaster of an interview, in which he defended his friendship with Epstein, but he has remained involved in family gatherings.

Most recently, Andrew made headlines for being invited to move into Harry and Meghan’s former UK home, Frogmore Cottage, after King Charles evicted the couple.

In the midst of all the drama, Page Six exclusively reported last month that the Sussexes have yet to be invited to the coronation.

King Charles will officially be crowned on May 6 at Westminster Abbey alongside his wife, Queen Consort Camilla.

This article originally appeared on Page Six and was reproduced with permission