A massive concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday night was the culmination of the festivities in honor of the coronation of King Charles III. Popular music stars including Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That (sans Robbie Williams), Olly Murs and Paloma Faith performed in front of 20,000 people, who also enjoyed performances by classic artists including Italian singer Andrea Bocelli and Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, who sang You’ll never walk alone.
In the presidential box, together with the kings, Carlos and Camila, dressed in blue, sat the princes of Wales, William and Catherine, in red pantsuits, and their two eldest children. The heir took the stage and delivered an emotional speech in honor of his father. “For more than 50 years, he has dedicated himself to serving others. Dad, we’re all so proud of you,†he said, and had a memory for his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth: “I know she’s up there, watching over us lovingly. She would be a very proud mother.”
The concert, hosted by actor Hugh Bonneville (Dontown Abbey), continued with songs by Harry Styles, the Beatles, Michael Bublé, Pet Shop Boys, Queen, the Spice Girls and Tom Jones, among others, performed by a large orchestra and a choir made up of 300 people.
During the night, several previously recorded videos were broadcast in which Tom Cruise, Joan Collins, Tom Jones or even Winnie the Pooh appeared, among others, talking about the monarchy and its relationship with Carlos III.
The Windsors almost all attended the event. Even Prince Andrew appeared with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who was not at the ceremony on Saturday; they sat next to their daughters, princesses Beatriz and Eugenia. Other royals, such as Prince Pablo and Marie-Chantal of Greece, also enjoyed the evening.
If the monarchy is one of the main products that the United Kingdom exports abroad, something similar can be said of its popular culture, which always has a place whatever the celebration is in turn, from the Olympic Games to a coronation.
One of the most remembered James Bond on the big screen, Pierce Brosnan, appeared in a recorded message to remind the public of some curious facts about the monarch, such as that he has been the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history, over 64 years.
Also in a recorded message, the Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise appeared aboard a fighter-bomber, who wanted to tell Carlos that “from pilot to pilot, he can be my wingman,” alluding to the monarch’s military past.
In the peculiar hodgepodge of the show there was no shortage of “muppets” of Peggy the pig and Kermit the frog, which made the King of the United Kingdom burst out laughing.
The 20,000 concertgoers, chosen by lottery, seemed to be having a great time as they waved their “Union Jack” flags.
The coronation acts will take place on Monday, the last day, when thousands of Britons are called to volunteer in what has been dubbed The Great Help.
