Katy Perry will perform amid Charles' coronation celebrations. Photo / AP
Pop superstar Katy Perry will headline the star-studded coronation at Windsor Castle on May 6.
The new King Charles and Queen Camilla will be joined by Princess Kate and Prince William for the event, which will feature a drone light show, reports The Sun.
Katy Perry’s performance was announced yesterday along with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who will perform a duet with opera singer Sir Bryn Terfel.
The line-up also includes pianist Alexis Ffrench and singer-songwriter Freya Ridings.
Lionel Richie and Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen of Take That will also perform.
The BBC reports that even more celebrities will be added to the bill over the next few weeks, despite earlier reports that some of the world’s biggest pop stars had turned down the chance to perform.
Perry, who is a mum to her daughter Daisy Dove with Orlando Bloom, became an ambassador for the King’s British Asian Trust three years ago to help victims of child trafficking.
She said last night that she was “excited” to perform and help “shine a further light on the trust’s Children’s Protection Fund”.
The concert will take place the day after the coronation ceremony on May 6, and will be broadcast by the BBC in the UK and available to watch on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+ in New Zealand.
Perry lives in the same neighbourhood as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, having bought her Montecito home with Bloom months after the Sussexes arrived.
Ridings, 28, said she felt “truly overwhelmed and in awe of the opportunity”.
“It feels like a ‘pinch me’ once-in-a-lifetime moment, and I’m feeling very honoured to have been asked.”
Bocelli, 64, reminisced on the occasions he got to perform for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
“It is now another great honour to be asked to perform at the coronation concert of King Charles III.”
“My joy and excitement is multiplied, as I have the chance to duet with my dear friend and superb baritone, Sir Bryn Terfel.”
The performing artists will be backed by a 70-piece orchestra and a house band made up of the Massed Bands of the Household Division and the Countess of Wessex’s String Orchestra.
Viewers will also see the 300-member Coronation Choir, formed from amateur performers on the BBC reality show Sing For The King.
Choirmaster Gareth Malone was joined by celebrity coaches Amanda Holden, Motsi Mabuse and Rose Ayling-Ellis to prepare the choir for the show.
They will perform along with The Virtual Choir, made up of singers from the Commonwealth.
The drone display will be similar to the one at the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year, creating pictures of cups of tea and corgis in the sky above Buckingham Palace.
The BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore said, “We are bringing the nation together for this once-in-a-generation occasion.”
“We have a world-class line-up of performers to look forward to for what promises to be a very special night of celebration and entertainment.”
A ticket ballot was launched to give out tickets to 5,000 lucky winners across Britain, with another 5,000 tickets going to charities.
The crowd will also include volunteers from both the King and the Queen Consort’s charities.
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