S tars from the worlds of TV, music and entertainment were among the guests at the coronation, with celebrities including US singers Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades and Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – aka presenters Ant and Dec – watching the historic event in the abbey.
Also there were the Princess of Wales’s parents Michael and Carole Middleton, and Kate’s brother James and sister Pippa, along with the Queen’s children Laura Lopes and food writer Tom Parker Bowles.
From the world of politics came former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Theresa May, Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brow, all bar Sir John with their partners.
Actress Dame Emma Thompson waved as she arrived with her husband Greg Wise, taking their place inside the abbey alongside fellow stars Stephen Fry, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who composed a coronation anthem, and Dames Joanna Lumley and Maggie Smith.
Many of the guests were invited because of their close links to the King’s charities. Furniture restorer and TV presenter Jay is a Prince’s Foundation ambassador and filmed an episode of his hit BBC show with the then Prince of Wales last year, while Ant and Dec attended in their roles as goodwill ambassadors for the Prince’s Trust, which they have worked with for 20 years.
“We are very proud and privileged to be invited,” Ant said as they arrived. “It’s a wonderful day.”
MUSICAL BACKING
Fellow guests Kelly Jones, the lead singer of Welsh band Stereophonics, and magician Dynamo, meanwhile, both benefited from support from the Prince’s Trust in their early days.
Adding to the musical line-up of guests, Nick Cave was among 14 “outstanding Australians” invited to represent their country. Speaking before the service, he said he would not be so “damn grouchy” to miss “what will more than likely be the most important historical event in the UK of our age”.
He added: “I am not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter. What I am also not is so spectacularly incurious about the world and the way it works.”
Also in the abbey were 450 recipi
