Lionel Richie shares important lesson he learnt about royal protocol

‘Be prepared, just be sure to just say sir and ma’am,’ the singer said about the coronation

Lionel Richie has shared the most important lesson he learned about royal protocol ahead of his performance at King Charles III’s coronation in May.

The singer spoke about the upcoming coronation concert during a recent interview with E! News at the 2023 Breakthrough Prize ceremony on Saturday. When asked if he’s “well-versed” about the different rules within the British monarchy, Richie noted that this isn’t his first time around the royals, but there are still things for him to learn about royal protocol.

One thing that he’s always remembered was: “Be prepared, just be sure to just say sir and ma’am, forget everything else. Just remember sir and ma’am, and you kind of walk your way through.”

According to the royal family’s official website, there are “no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting a member of the royal family”. However, there are “the traditional forms” that some people opt to observe.

When addressing a male member of the royal family, this means that the title “Your Royal Highness” should be used in the first instance, followed subsequently by “Sir”. The same applies to female members of the royal family, with the website noting that “the first address is conventionally ‘Your Royal Highness’ and subsequently ‘Ma’am’”.

Richie also shared with E! News that there is a song he’s set to perform at the concert because the King specifically asked him to do so.

“And the answer is yes, I will do it,” he said. “We will not reveal because it’s completely enveloped in secrecy. So, all I can tell you is I’m very happy to be there.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the American Idol judge gushed about Charles and the changes he could make to the British family in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

“I’m very happy for him,” Richie said. “He’s kind of waited in that second position for a very long time. And I think what we’re gonna get now is the new version of the royal family. I’m looking forward to see what he’s going to bring to the table, and I can tell you right now, he’s gonna change it up a little bit.”

During an interview with People published on Sunday, Richie also confessed that he was somewhat “surprised” when he was asked to perform at the concert -- despite having known Charles for “a long time”.

“I mean, you don’t get in the business and say, ‘You know what? I’ll be at the King’s coronation.’ You know, that just never comes up,” the “Dancing On The Ceiling” said. “[It’s] A, a surprise. B, what an honour. And C, the fact of all the names that are out there that he could have had for this, he called my name.”

The official coronation takes place on Saturday 6 May while the coronation concert will happen the following day on Sunday 7 May.

Along with Richie, musical acts at the concert include his fellow American Idol judge Katy Perry, the reformed pop group Take That, Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and classical-soul composer Alexis Ffrench.

The event, celebrating the crowning of Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, will take place at Windsor Castle in front of a crowd of 20,000 members of the public and invited guests.