Nick Cave defends role in Australian delegation at King Charles’ coronation
Rock star Nick Cave has hit back at fans who question why he is one of the 14 special guests of the Australian delegation at King Charles’ coronation.
Rock star Nick Cave has hit back at fans who question why he is one of the 14 special guests of the Australian delegation at King Charles’ coronation.
Writing in his newsletter Red Hand Files, in response to critical letters from fans, Cave says he holds “an inexplicable emotional attachment to the royals”.
He said he was “not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter”.
“What I am also not is so spectacularly incurious about the world and the way it works, so ideologically captured, so damn grouchy, as to refuse an invitation to what will more than likely be the most important historical event in the UK of our age. Not just the most important, but the strangest, the weirdest,” he wrote.
He said he once met Queens Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and that she “seemed almost extraterrestrial and was the most charismatic woman I have ever met. Maybe it was the lighting, but she actually glowed.”
He revealed he was surprised that he cried during the queen’s funeral in September.
“I guess what I am trying to say is that, beyond the interminable but necessary debates about the abolition of the monarchy, I hold an inexplicable emotional attachment to the Royals – the strangeness of them, the deeply eccentric nature of the whole affair that so perfectly reflects the unique weirdness of Britain itself.
“I’m just drawn to that kind of thing – the bizarre, the uncanny, the stupefyingly spectacular, the awe-inspiring.”
Cave was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 but has lived in Britain for many years.
He will be among an eclectic group of Australians, which includes footballers, artists, comedians, dancers, doctors, nurses, academics and soldiers, who will attend the coronation.
The flag-bearer for the Australian contingent will be soccer star Sam Kerr, the captain of the Matildas and a forward for Chelsea.
The group will include Richard Joyes, who was awarded the Cross of Valour in 2003 for his courageous efforts following the 2002 Bali bombing. Richard helped to rescue the wounded and carry them to safety.
It also includes Jasmine Coe is a Wiradjuri-British artist and the creator and curator of Coe Gallery, the first and only Aboriginal-owned art gallery in Britain.
Adam Hills, the comedian, presenter, disability advocate, will also attend.
Others include former principal ballet dancer for the Royal Ballet Leanne Benjamin, youth advocate Yasmin Poole, Covid nurse Emily Regan and soprano Yvonne Kelly.
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