The Proclaimers removed from government coronation playlist ‘due to republican views’

‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ initially featured on culture department’s playlist

The Proclaimers have been removed from the playlist for King Charles III’s coronation due to their anti-monarchy views, reports claim.

Ahead of King Charles’s official crowning in May, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have created a Coronation Celebration Playlist, featuring the likes of The Beatles’ “Come Together”, Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and the Spice Girls’ “Say You’ll Be There”.

Among the 28 songs initially announced was “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”, the Eighties classic by The Proclaimers, a Scottish duo consisting of brothers Craig and Charlie Reid.

However, BBC News now reports that the song was removed from the playlist following complaints about the band’s republican views.

Charlie recently showed his support for Symon Hill, an anti-monarchy protester who was arrested in September for shouting: “Who elected him?” at an accession proclamation for the King in Oxford.

He told The National at the time: “I thought that guy spoke for me, and he speaks for loads of other people. Not just in Scotland, but right around the UK.”

Charlie also said that the media encouraged an “unquestioning” narrative that “everyone in Britain” believes we should have a monarchy, adding: “This is just simply untrue.”

The band have criticised the monarchy throughout their career, with their 2007 song “In Recognition” criticising left-wing figures who claim to be republicans, but then accept honours.

The Proclaimers on stage at Glastonbury in 2019 (Getty Images)

“Oh, vanity / It gets them one by one / Patronage and monarchy / And all they entail, rarely fail,” they sing.

The Independent has contacted The Proclaimers for comment.

A DCMS spokesperson said: “The playlist has been created to celebrate British and Commonwealth artists ahead of the upcoming coronation.”

In February, the Dizzee Rascal song “Dance Wiv Me” was also removed from the playlist after it was added in “error”.

The previous April, the rapper was found guilty of assaulting his ex-fiancé Cassandra Jones. He lost his appeal one week before the coronation playlist was released.