UK steps up preparation for Charles’ coronation

• Lionel Richie, Katy Perry to perform after Elton John, Adele turned down invite

Preparations for next weekend’s coronation of King Charles III is being stepped up as the frenzied anticipation of the occasion is driving commercial activities. This is despite murmurs from anti-monarchy voices who are planning to stage some protests on the day.

On Tuesday, Westminster Abbey, venue of the Saturday, May 6th coronation service, was shut to visitors. This, according to the organisers, is to enable the planning go smoothly without any distractions.

Thus, the regular long queue of visitors and tourists to the iconic facility will no longer be seen until after the coronation.

However, members of the public will still have a feel of the occasion before the day, as the ceremonial rehearsals that was witnessed between Buckingham Palace and The Mall last week are expected to continue with horses, carriages and hundreds of military personnel set to have more rehearsals.

On their part, businesses are already ringing the coronation bells with reminders and campaigns for the customers to celebrate by coming in store to splash their cash.

At a Tesco Express store, near West Brompton station, The Guardian saw their banner for the occasion yesterday. Over the weekend, another high street business at Oxford Circus was seen with a banner for the coronation on its display window.

Meanwhile, the Palace has secured a set of musical performances for King Charles’s coronation. After early reports that stars such as Harry Styles, Adele, and Elton John had all turned down an invitation to perform on the big day, an official line-up for the Coronation Concert—which takes place the following day, on Sunday, May 7—has now been released, and the musical guests include Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Andrea Bocelli.

BBC and BBC Studios will be both producing and broadcasting Charles’s Coronation Concert, which is set to take place at Windsor Castle and will include additional performances from the Coronation Choir, Sir Bryn Terfel, Take That, Freya Ridings, and Alexis Ffrench.

Richie and Perry, both judges on the decidedly non-U.K. American Idol, may seem like an odd choice for this celebration of the British monarchy, but both singers have been involved with charitable organisations associated with King Charles III in previous years.

In 2019, Richie became the first global ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a youth charity founded by the king in 1976; in 2020, Perry became an ambassador for the British Asian Trust, a charity co-founded by Charles in 2007.