Robbie Williams has confirmed that he turned down an invite to perform at King Charles III’s coronation concert.
During a recent interview on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the singer was asked about the rumours about him declining an offer to participate in the historic event in 2023.
Cohen noted Williams’ “ties to the Royal Family”, with the pop star then explaining that there was indeed some truth to the speculation. “There was a reason [I turned it down],” he told the host. “I was working. I got something [else] I couldn’t turn down because of money.”
Williams’ former group Take That played live at the coronation concert, as did the likes of Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.
It was previously reported that both Adele and Ed Sheeran had turned down offers to perform at the royal event, despite King Charles III being “very keen” to get them involved. Sheeran later claimed that “no one ever asked” him to attend.
Additionally, it was alleged that Taylor Swift had declined an invitation to sing at the new monarch’s coronation. Other rumoured big names included Harry Styles, Elton John and the Spice Girls, none of whom ended up performing for the King.
Williams previously served as the opening act at the 2012 Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, which was co-organised by his ex-bandmate Gary Barlow.
In 2018, the ‘Angels’ artist’s daughter Theodore was a flower girl at Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s daughter Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank (via the New York Post).
He has reportedly been connected to the Royal Family since he met Andrew’s ex-wife Ferguson on a yacht in 2011.
Elsewhere in his interview with Cohen, Williams recalled “doing shrooms at Bono’s house” and was asked about his 25-year sobriety. He was appearing on the chat show in support of his new biopic Better Man, directed and co-written by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman).
The star is portrayed by a CGI monkey in the film (voiced by Jonno Davies). In a three-star review of the movie, NME wrote: “This is ‘Rudebox’ on film: some of it good, some of it very bad, all of it a bit of a mess.
“Still, the monkey musical is a big swing that no-one else would have taken. You can’t fault the chutzpah or the ambition. If it makes back its reported budget, we’ll eat $110m worth of bananas.”
It was recently reported that Better Man had endured a difficult opening weekend in US cinemas.
Williams released a reflective single called ‘Forbidden Road’ from the biopic’s soundtrack last November. Earlier this month, the singer shared his thoughts on the song being disqualified from the Oscars 2025 shortlist.
The pop star is due to embark on a massive tour across the UK, Ireland and Europe this year. The announcement came shortly after he’d hinted to fans that he would be hitting the road again “soon”. Find any remaining tickets here.
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