Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Nick Cave shocks fans as he defends ‘inexplicable’ attachment to royals ahead of coronation

Australian singer is one of many celebrity guests who will be at the historic event on Saturday 6 May

Inga Parkel
Wednesday 03 May 2023 11:00 BST
Comments
Palace celebrates Coronation

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Nick Cave has defended himself after a fan questioned his attendance at King Charles III’s forthcoming coronation.

On Saturday (6 May), the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II will be crowned King of the United Kingdom, while his wife, Camilla, will be crowned Queen.

Among the high-profile guests expected to attend the historic event is Australian singer Cave, who has justified his appearance by saying he holds “an inexplicable emotional attachment to the Royals”.

In the latest edition of his self-published Red Hand Files newsletter, where he answers fan-sent questions, the rocker revealed that he has received several hostile messages questioning his supposed support of the monarchy.

“Why the f*** are you going to the King’s coronation?” one asked.

“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, so ideologically captured, so damn grouchy, as to refuse an invitation to what will more than likely be the most important historical event in the UK of your age,” Cave wrote.

“Not just the most important, but the strangest, the weirdest.”

He continued: “I guess what I am trying to say is that, beyond the interminable but necessary debates about the abolition of the monarchy, I hold an inexplicable emotional attachment to the Royals – the strangeness of them, the deeply eccentric nature of the whole affair that so perfectly reflects the unique weirdness of Britain itself.”

Nick Cave and King Charles III
Nick Cave and King Charles III (Getty Images)

He added: “I’m just drawn to that kind of thing – the bizarre, the uncanny, the stupefyingly spectacular, the awe-inspiring.”

Find out how to watch the coronation in the US here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in