The two have been friends for a while and now Lionel Richie is sharing a detail about the King that not many people know. Photo / Getty Images
The two have been friends for a while and now Lionel Richie is sharing a detail about the King that not many people know. Photo / Getty Images
Lionel Richie has spent a fair bit of time with King Charles recently and it seems he has learned something pretty special about the newly crowned monarch.
He’s a “secret comedian”.
The All Night Long singer managed to convince the newly crowned king to appear on American Idolwith Queen Camilla last week.
“I’ve known the King quite a long time. He does have this amazing sense of humour that no one knows about,” the star told Extra.
“He’s a secret comedian. For him to actually take the step and go out of the comfort zone — which was actually his comfort zone — he was hamming it up.”
The 73-year-old star revealed the surprise appearance came together relatively easily after the recent coronation.
King Charles and Queen Camilla appeared on American Idol with judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. Photo / American Idol
“The highlight for me was that I actually walked up to the King the day after the coronation and said, ‘Would you like to be on American Idol and he said, ‘Yeah’.
“And the second thing that was the highlight was he said, ‘Alright if I bring the Queen?’ ‘Uh, yeah’.”
Richie - who was named the charity’s First Global Ambassador and First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group in 2019 - added: “They are an amazing couple. On top of that, they are putting so much good out in the world with the Prince’s Trust.”
The newly crowned King and Queen, aged 74 and 75 respectively, joined Richie and fellow American Idol judge, Katy Perry - who also performed at the Coronation Concert - on American Idol on the May 7 launch episode.
Last month, the star revealed how much an invite to the coronation - and the chance to perform Easy and All Night Long - meant to him.
He told People magazine: “You don’t get in the business and say, ‘You know what? I’ll be at the King’s coronation’. That just never comes up.
“[It’s] A, a surprise. B, what an honour. And C, the fact of all the names that are out there that he could have had for this, he called my name.”
