King Charles coronation: Drone and light show extravaganza ‘will be a crowning glory’

What better than a knees up singalong with industry titans with the backdrop of the spectacular Windsor Castle to celebrate the King and Queen’s coronations?

A representation of the stage for the Kings Coronation Concert.

What better than a knees up singalong with industry titans with the backdrop of the spectacular Windsor Castle to celebrate the King and Queen’s coronations?

Well as it happens, the drone and light extravaganza being planned for the concert finale is, one insider says, “going to knock your tiaras off”.

The Palace has promised a concert, staged on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle on Sunday evening, with performances from “global music icons” such as pop singer Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That, Paloma Faith, Steve Winwood and Olly Murs and “contemporary stars” such as Winnie the Pooh and yes, Mission Impossible actor Tom Cruise, will amuse the crowd of 10,000 and a global television audience.

The platform is fit for the stars, too, with the centrepiece of the celebration a Union Jack-shaped stage fitted with four catwalks stretching into the crowd.

One of the three mock-ups posted by the BBC on Monday shows the stage lit up fittingly in blue, white and red, painting the flag in all of its glory.

The staging will have multiple levels for the more than 70-piece orchestra and band to accompany the powerhouse performances.

Winwood, the veteran guitarist and singer-songwriter. will perform with a Virtual Choir made up of singers from more than 40 Commonwealth countries.

“I … just about remember the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and I, together with millions and millions of other ­people all around the globe, am a lifelong monarchist,’’ he said.

A drone and light show was first seen at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace – where Elizabeth was seen in public for the last time – and she had recorded a skit with the band Queen and Paddington Bear to the song We Will Rock You’. It was lucky Diana Ross’s voice was mixed into the TV broadcast from a recording because live she was well out of tune.

All was forgotten because 400 drones made for a spellbinding performance for spectators who had massed in central London, watching a giant depiction of the monarch’s favourite corgi, along with iconic British items including a teapot and cup, the Queen’s Guard and a postage stamp with the monarch’s face on it.

It is anticipated another dramatic light show will be beamed on to Windsor Castle this time and that the night sky, largely empty of commercial airliners flying into Heathrow, will once again dazzle with hundreds of drones forming various installations.