King’s Coronation in crisis after Elton John and Spice Girls turn down chance to appear
February 27, 2023With just two months to go until King Charles in formally crowned, plans for the Coronation already appear to have hit a snag as several musical celebrities invited to perform at the high profile ceremony have already turned down their invitations.
A host of musical heavyweights including Elton John, Harry Styles and The Spice Girls have already reportedly turned down the change to perform at His Majesty’s big Windsor Castle concert on May 6, just hours after the official ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey.
Several other stars including British icons such as Ed Sheeran, Adele, and Robbie Williams have also turned down the invitation, with Robbie’s snub in particular raising eyebrows after it had been hoped a Take That reunion would take place at the event.
Robbie’s former bandmates Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, and Howard Donald are all due to headline the concert, with stars such as Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and US soul legend Lionel Richie also completing the lineup.
With limited time left to prepare, sources close to the Coronation planning have revealed that the palace has reached out to The X Factor runner-up Olly Murs to fill in the gap.
One royal source told The Sun: "Organisers are working against the clock to pull together an exciting line-up but have hit a series of challenges.
“Elton John was top of Charles’ list but due to his European tour, which sees him performing in Germany the Friday before then again soon after the Windsor concert, he isn’t able to make the dash to the UK work.
“Meanwhile, man-of-the-moment Harry Styles is also tied up with touring and unable to get key band members together as they’ll be on much-needed downtime.”
The pared back headliners are a far cry from the last national royal celebration, Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee Party at the Palace last June, which featured a number of musical icons including Queen, Duran Duran, Diana Ross, and Alicia Keys.
The latest round of snubs come as invitations for the 2000 expected attendees are mailed within the next two weeks, with foreign leaders, royals, and dignitaries among the impressive guest list.
The ceremony’s guest list is a quarter of that number invited to the Queen’s coronation back in 1953, and forms part of King Charles’ continuing agenda to streamline the monarchy and scale back the pomp and ceremony of a state affair.
Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Charlene were the first foreign royals to say they will be at the coronation.
The royal family will also play a huge part in the proceedings, with Prince George, the son of Prince William and Kate Middleton expected to take on a “big” role in the ceremony.
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