Entertainment
Taylor Swift ‘turned down offer to perform at King’s coronation’
Taylor Swift reportedly turned down an offer to perform at the King’s Coronation.
The musician, 33, was in Nashville on her hugely successful Eras Tour during the King’s coronation on 6 May.
Royal reporter Omid Scobie reported on the declined offer in his new book Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival.
Swift was not the only high-profile name to pass on the concert – Elton John, the Spice Girls, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and Adele all reportedly said no to the offer.
Scobie reported that it was “a challenge” to put together a line-up for the concert.
Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Andrea Bocelli and Take That all performed at the event in London on 7 May.
Katy Perry performing at the coronation concert
Scobie said that while “coronation refusals may seem frivolous”, they are also a sign of “something deeper at work”.
“Charles just doesn’t have the requisite gravitas, which is understandable, given he’s spent a majority of his life in the wake of the grand-class cruise ship of his mother’s reputation,” he said.
Lionel Richie at the King’s concert
“In our era of celebrity obsession and pop culture icons, if Elton and Harry Styles can’t be bothered, why should we be?”
Perry, 39, told Entertainment Tonight in April that she thought it was “so cool” to perform for the King and Queen.
Richie, 74, also told the outlet: “To be in this part of history, I’m just blown away, I’m so excited to be there. I’m walking in history.”
Queen Camilla and King Charles III at the 7 May concert
Scobie’s new book was released in the UK today.
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Swift has finished the main US and South American legs of her Eras Tour, which is on track to gross more than $1bn (£791m) by its final show in December 2024.
Taylor Swift in Nashville on the coronation weekend Pic: AP
The film version of the tour became the most successful concert film ever before its release and has grossed more than $250m (£198m) worldwide.
Sky News has contacted Buckingham Palace and Swift’s representatives for comment.