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Star-studded concerts have become a mainstay of royal celebrations, with Queen, Rod Stewart and Diana Ross all making an appearance for the Platinum Jubilee concert. 

Buckingham Palace has promised “global music icons and contemporary stars” for the King’s coronation concert.

Here’s everything we know so far about the concert.

When and where is the coronation concert?

The coronation concert is the highlight of the second day of coronation celebrations on Sunday 7 May and will start at 8pm.

It will be staged on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle, the first time a concert has been held in the grounds.

Who will be performing?

Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are among the acts who have been announced on the line-up.

Paloma Faith, Olly Murs, veteran rock guitarist Steve Winwood, and Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls will also perform.

Stella McCartney will give a spoken word performance on the theme of conservation, reflecting hers and the King’s shared passion for environmental sustainability.

The event will also include performances by Italian opera star, Andrea Bocelli; Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel; singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and classical-soul composer, Alexis Ffrench.

Ed Sheeran, Adele, Sir Elton John, Harry Styles and the Spice Girls all reportedly declined invitations to appear.

How does the ticket ballot work, and who will be in the audience?

The public ballot for tickets is now closed, and people are urged not to turn up in Windsor without a ticket.

The 10,000 tickets were allocated based on the geographical spread of the UK population.

Volunteers affiliated to the King and Queen Consort’s various charities will also be invited to join the audience.

The remaining tickets will be made available to charities including those who support young people, the military, the environment, their local communities and the wider Commonwealth.

I didn’t enter the ballot – how can I watch on TV?

The concert will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

Kirsty Young will anchor the live coverage for BBC TV and BBC iPlayer, and Clara Amfo and Jordan Banjo will be backstage with the artists.

Read more:
The King’s coronation in pictures
What it was like being in Westminster Abbey for the coronation

People wrapped in Union Jack flags pose as they gather on The Mall ahead of a concert outside Buckingham Palace during Britain's Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, in London, Britain, June 4, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble

What about public screenings?

Big screens will show the concert at locations around the UK, including Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol.

In London, the concert will be screened at St James’s Park, where thousands of people gathered on Saturday to watch the coronation ceremony live.

People will be able to access the screening site from 4pm, but broadcasting won’t kick off until 8pm. An accessible viewing area will also be available.

Will there be a repeat of the Paddington sketch?

Tom Cruise, Winnie the Pooh and Dame Joan Collins will appear in a series of pre-recorded sketches revealing little-known facts about the King.

The inclusion of beloved literary figure Winnie the Pooh suggests that there might be a moment of magic to match the late Queen sharing tea with Paddington Bear at the Platinum Party At The Palace.

Sir Elton John performs by video link during the BBC's Platinum Party at the Palace staged in front of Buckingham Palace, London, on day three of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. Picture date: Saturday June 4, 2022.
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Sir Elton John performs by video link during the Platinum Party at the Palace. Pic: AP

How is the concert being staged?

The concert will feature a Union Flag-shaped stage.

The stage will be lit in red, white, and blue against the background of the east terrace of Windsor Castle.

It will fan out into the audience and have a halo-like screen surrounding the roof, which the BBC said will “symbolise the crown protecting the nation”.

A representation of the stage for the Coronation Concert
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A representation of the stage for the Coronation Concert

Who else is performing?

There will also be performers from the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal College of Music and the Royal College of Art.

The royal patronages will come together for the first time for a performance featuring Sex Education and Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa and Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac.

Based around themes of love and togetherness, the piece will combine music, dance, art, and theatre.

An arrangement of a classic song from West Side Story will be performed, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, performed by members of the Royal Opera Chorus.

Royal Ballet principal dancers Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambe will perform a bespoke piece of choreography for the occasion.

The visual backdrop projected onto Windsor Castle and the stage will showcase artworks by students from the Royal College of Art.

A string quartet of four Royal College of Music students will perform as soloists – Katherine Yoon and Betania Johnny on violin, Declan Wicks on viola and Marion Portelance, who will be playing a cello once owned and played by the King and now in the collection of The Royal College of Music.

The coronation choir will appear alongside a virtual choir, made up of singers from across the Commonwealth, for a special performance on the night.

The coronation choir will be created from amateur singers from across the UK, including refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups and deaf signing choirs.

A massive light display will form the centrepiece of the concert. Locations across the UK will be lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations.

The line-up will also include an orchestra, spoken word artists and performers from the world of dance and the arts.

Who’s hosting?

Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville will set the scene for the evening’s entertainment and introduce the artists as they take to the stage.

The actor said: “I’m delighted to be taking part in this unique event, celebrating the best of musical entertainment in honour of His Majesty’s coronation.

“In true British style, come rain or shine, it will be a night to remember.”

To stay up-to-date with the coronation – including details like timings of the day, news, features, and analysis – bookmark our special coronation page for all the latest: skynews.com/coronation.

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Southport stabbing victim reveals how she survived attack – and fears ‘it could happen again’

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Southport stabbing victim reveals how she survived attack - and fears 'it could happen again'

A girl who was stabbed in the Southport attack has told Sky News how she thought she was going to die that day.

Warning: Some readers may find this content distressing

It is exactly a year since Axel Rudakubana killed three girls and attempted to murder eight others at a summer holiday Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the seaside town.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was stabbed in the back and the arm after going to the class with her younger sister.

She is now campaigning for children to have mandatory first aid training at school in response to the growth of knife crime.

She said she clearly remembers what happened that day.

Flowers and tributes near the scene of the attack a year ago. Pic: PA
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Flowers and tributes near the scene of the attack a year ago. Pic: PA

“Some of the girls were sat down in a circle making bracelets with the teachers, and a couple of them were getting up to get beads. I was standing between two tables and he came through the doors.

“He stabbed a little girl in front of me and then came for me and stabbed my arm. I turned and then he stabbed my back, even though I didn’t feel it at the time.

“There was a bunch of girls huddled around so I just started pushing them down the stairs, telling them to get out and run.

“I was thinking ‘Where’s my sister?’ and ‘We need to get out’.”

She and many of the other victims ran to the house of a neighbour for shelter. “I just thought that I was going to die,” she said.

Killer ‘looked possessed’

The girl said she can clearly picture Rudakubana that day.

“What I remember most about him is his eyes. They just didn’t look human, they looked possessed. It was kind of like a dream and you’re on a movie set and watching yourself go through it and make these decisions.

“It’s just kind of like adrenaline. People like to think they know what they’d do in that situation but, in reality, you don’t until you’re in it.”

Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class.
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Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in the attack

Six-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, who was seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar died in the attack. It is something she finds difficult to talk about.

“I don’t think I can express how I feel about it,” the girl said. “A lot of anger and sadness.”

In January, Rudakubana was jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 52 years before he can be considered for release.

The chairman of the public inquiry into the atrocity called the attack “one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history”.

Carrying knives ‘disgusting’

The girl who survived has now launched a campaign, supported by a clothing range called “Go Anywhere, Be Anything” to raise funds, to improve the ability of schoolchildren to help in the event of knife attacks.

“Everyone that’s going out and carrying knives is getting younger and younger,” she said. “And to think that it’s people my age is like disgusting.

“I just want to try and do the best I can to let people know that it’s not okay to do that and that they need to think about what they’re doing and the risks and how they’re harming themselves and other people.”

Her sister, who was also there that day, helped design “Go Anywhere, Be Anything”.

Read more:
Missed chances to stop Rudakubana

‘Terrorism has changed’, says PM

A three-minute silence will be held in Southport at 3pm to mark one year on from the attack. In an open letter to the community, Sefton Council wrote: “This period is incredibly hard for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and all of those children and adults injured or who suffered lifelong psychological impact of witnessing the attack, and we acknowledge the huge impact on their lives, too.

“We must not forget the local people who rushed to support and to our emergency responders. They all remain always in our thoughts.”

It is a sentiment shared by the survivor.

“You live in fear every day that it could happen again,” she said.

“Physically I’m getting better every day and healing. Obviously, my scars stay as a reminder but everyone from that day is going to have mental scars forever.”

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Revealed: The scale of cheap Chinese imports flown into UK without paying any tariffs

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Revealed: The scale of cheap Chinese imports flown into UK without paying any tariffs

The scale of cheap Chinese e-commerce imports flown into Britain without paying any tariffs has become clearer following a Sky News investigation into this new multi-billion pound phenomenon.

We have uncovered the first official estimate of the value of so-called “de minimis” imports into Britain, ahead of an official inquiry into whether this legal clause – which excludes packages worth less than £135 from paying customs duties – should be allowed to continue.

Companies like Shein and Temu have become big players in British retail, not to mention elsewhere around the world, by manufacturing cheap products in China and then posting them directly to consumers, benefiting from the de minimis rules.

Inside the cargo plane

Clothing manufacturers in the UK claim that de minimis makes it nearly impossible to compete with these Chinese competitors, raising questions about the viability of domestic textile and apparel production.

However, economists argue that the main beneficiaries of the policy to exclude cheap imports from customs are lower-income households, since it allows them to spend less on their shopping. Removing it, they say, would disproportionately affect poorer families.

The government has committed to an inquiry into the rules, which are also being changed in the EU and the US, but up until now there has been no official estimate of its scale.

According to HM Revenue and Customs data released to Sky News following a Freedom of Information request, the total declared trade value of de minimis imports into the UK in the last fiscal year (2024-25) was £5.9bn.

That was a 53% increase on the previous year (£3.9bn), underlining the scale of growth of e-commerce imports into the UK.

While it is hard to gauge how much revenue this means the Treasury has forgone, an illustrative 20% tariff on flows of that order could raise more than £1bn.

De minimis trade is growing

While that sum alone would not fill the fiscal black hole faced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the coming budget, it would nonetheless be nearly enough to pay for the government’s recent U-turn on winter fuel allowances.

Sky has also obtained the first television access deep into the supply chain, helping bring those goods into the UK, as it boarded a flight that had just travelled from Chongqing to Bournemouth Airport.

We filmed inside the belly of a plane belonging to European Cargo, one of a number of air cargo firms booming as a result of these trade flows.

Read more:
The rarely examined trade clause about to become a very big deal
UK city’s clothing industry in crisis

The untold story about de minimis is that it hasn’t just had an impact on shopping habits in the UK, or for that matter, the textiles manufacturing sector – it has also changed patterns of distribution.

Struggling regional airports that never saw their passenger numbers recover after the pandemic are now re-establishing themselves as hubs for cargo.

European Cargo is now the single biggest airline at Bournemouth Airport, despite not carrying a single passenger.

Other regional airports like East Midlands Airport and Prestwick in Scotland are seeing rapid growth in flows of trade.

All of which raises the stakes for the government’s inquiry into the de minimis system.

At present, there is no timeline for its decision, but removing the clause would have far-reaching effects across the economy.

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Lionesses parade: The route and key timings as thousands of England fans to descend on central London

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Lionesses parade: The route and key timings as thousands of England fans to descend on central London

The Lionesses will celebrate with thousands of England fans in central London today as the players take part in an open-top bus procession.

The bus will carry the team through central London, allowing supporters to celebrate the team’s defence of their Women’s Euros title alongside the likes of Leah Williamson and Chloe Kelly and catch a glimpse of the silverware.

Here is all you need to know.

Where will the parade go and when?

The team’s open-top bus will travel along The Mall from 12.10pm.

It will end with a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, which is expected to start at roughly 12.30pm and end at 1pm, the Football Association (FA) announced.

The Royal Marines Portsmouth band and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force will perform on the stage and highlights from the tournament will be shown on big screens.

England manager Sarina Wiegman will then lead her triumphant team out on stage to lift the trophy.

The event will be hosted by former Lioness and football pundit Alex Scott.

Fans will be able to attend the event for free, but the FA have warned that the capital is going to be “very busy”.

“People should plan their visits carefully, both coming into central London and travelling home,” the association said.

England players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. Pic: Reuters
Image:
England players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. Pic: Reuters

How to watch

You can watch coverage of the entire event live on Sky News from 10am and follow all the action with our live blog.

Fans can also follow coverage of the event on the BBC, ITV and across England’s social media channels.

Celebrations with the deputy PM

The Lionesses landed back in the UK from Basel, Switzerland, on Monday, where celebrations continued with a reception at Downing Street.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock hosted the team ahead of today’s bus parade.

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‘It’s very, very special’

Sir Keir Starmer said: “The Lionesses have once again captured the hearts of the nation.

“Their victory is not only a remarkable sporting achievement, but an inspiration for young people across the country.”

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Chloe Kelly saves England again

An extra bank holiday?

As the team have become the first senior England side to win a major tournament on foreign soil, some have called for an extra bank holiday to mark the occasion.

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey was one of those who asked the prime minister if it was “time for that bank holiday”.

He was referring to comments made by Sir Keir in 2023. When, as leader of the opposition, he wrote on X that there “should be a celebratory bank holiday if the Lionesses bring it home”.

But with estimates suggesting an extra bank holiday would cost the economy £2.4bn, it’s understood such a move isn’t being planned by Downing Street.

‘There is no stopping them now’

The impact of the Lionesses second consecutive Euros title is already being felt across the UK.

At Bearsted Football Club in Maidstone, Kent, a mural of Alessia Russo, who levelled Sunday’s final with a goal in the 56th minute, has been unveiled.

Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Final - England v Spain - St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - July 27, 2025 England's Alessia Ru
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Alessia Russo scoring the levelling goal. Pic: Reuters

The club is where Russo first started playing, and chairman Jamie Houston told Sky News the Lionesses have helped transform the women’s game.

“Five years ago we never had a girl’s football team,” he told Sky correspondent Mollie Malone. “Now we have five separate teams for girls, and boys are accepting of more girls in the game.

“There is no stopping them now.”

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What’s next for the Lionesses?

Read more:
In pictures: The story of the Euros final
Fans celebrate at club where Lioness began journey
Analysis: England showed resolve and relentlessness

Lynda Hale, who played in the England squad in the first ever international women’s match against Scotland in 1972, reiterated that women’s football has changed drastically since she played.

“When I first started playing there was hardly anyone that would watch,” she told Sky News Breakfast.

“To put on the England shirt and think what we started has grown to this magnitude, and it is still going to grow, is absolutely fantastic. I think the sky’s the limit in women’s football.”

Asked what advice she would have for the current England squad after their win, Ms Hale said: “The girls need to make as many memories as they can and take everything in their stride.”

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