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.
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 sketchesrevealing 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.
Image: Sir Elton John performs by video link during the Platinum Party at the Palace. Pic: AP
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”.
Image: 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.
The threat of physical attacks by Iran on people living in the UK has increased “significantly” since 2022, according to a new report by parliament’s intelligence watchdog.
Iran poses a “wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat” to the UK, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
It also said Iran’s intelligence services were “willing and able – often through third party agents – to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK”.
Image: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pic: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report said there have been 15 murder or kidnap attempts against British citizens or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022 and August 2023.
Sky News has approached the Iranian embassy for a comment.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:30
Millions of Iranians unite in mourning
The report authors add: “Whilst Iran’s activity appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China, Iran poses a wide-ranging threat to UK national security, which should not be underestimated: it is persistent and crucially – unpredictable.”
The committee also says that while the threat is often focused on dissidents and other opponents to the regime, there is also an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK.
More on Iran
Related Topics:
The report warns that while Iran has not developed a nuclear weapon, it has taken steps towards that goal.
It found that Iran had been “broadly compliant” with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aimed at limiting its nuclear ambitions.
But since Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018, the report said the nuclear threat had increased and Tehran “had the capability to arm in a relatively short period”.
The UK government is also accused of “fire-fighting” rather than developing a real understanding of Iran.
Image: Iran’s president oversees a parade in Tehran in April showing off the country’s military hardware. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
Image: Missiles are paraded through the capital during the recent National Army Day ceremony. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report says: “The government’s policy on Iran has suffered from a focus on crisis management, driven by concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, to the exclusion of other issues.
“As one of our expert witnesses told the committee: ‘Strategy is not a word that I think has crossed the lips of policy makers for a while, certainly not in relation to Iran’.”
The committee concluded its evidence-taking in August 2023, the result of two years of work, but the report authors say their conclusions “remain relevant”.
But the report authors questioned whether UK sanctions against individuals would “in practice deliver behavioural change. Or in fact unhelpfully push Iran towards China”.
The committee also said the British government should consider proscribing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), although some argue it would limit the UK’s ability to talk to and influence Iran.
Responding to the report, a UK government spokesperson said: “The government will take action wherever necessary to protect national security, which is a foundation of our plan for change.
“We have already placed Iran on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme and introduced further sanctions against individuals and entities linked to Iran, bringing the total number of sanctions to 450.”
British security services say Tehran uses criminal proxies to carry out its work in Britain.
In December, two Romanians were charged after a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London was stabbed in the leg. In May, three Iranian men appeared in court charged with assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists.
Earlier this year, the UK government said it would require the Iranian state to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK, because of what it called increasingly aggressive activity.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.
And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.
There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.
Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.
Image: Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat
The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.
A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.
Image: Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene
As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.
Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.
Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.
The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.
We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.
They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.
In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.