King Charles and Queen Camilla Visit Eurovision as U.K. Hosts Annual Competition for Ukraine

With just days to go until their coronation, the King and Queen Consort had the honor of lighting up the Eurovision stage for the first time

King Charles and Queen Camilla are taking the stage at Eurovision!

On Wednesday afternoon, the royal couple visited M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England for a sneak peek of the setup for the celebrated international competition. The 67th Eurovision Song Contest is being hosted in the U.K. for the first time in 25 years, set to run from Monday, May 8 to Saturday, May 13.

The U.K. is hosting Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine. The Eastern European country was initially invited to host the event after the Kalush Orchestra from Turin won last year, but it was decided that the U.K. (the runner-up of last year's Eurovision) would stage the song contest instead amid the Russian invasion. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that the BBC and UA:PBC, Ukraine's public broadcaster, are working together to incorporate Ukrainian elements into the live shows.

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King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75, were all smiles as they entered the venue, where they met BBC executives, production staff and apprentices and took a backstage tour. The royals also had the honor of unveiling the stage for the first time. As seen in a video shared on Twitter by the BBC, they playfully followed along during a countdown and together pressed the button that illuminated the space for the first time.

The King and Queen Consort then connected with this year's Eurovision hosts — Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, Scott Mills, Rylan Clark and Ukrainian host Julia Sanina. King Charles and Queen Camilla also spent time with Mae Muller, this year's Eurovision entrant for the U.K., plus the presenters and some viewers of Blue Peter, the BBC's long-running children's TV show.

The Wednesday outings mark the King and Queen Consort's latest engagements before their historic coronation on May 6. In less than two weeks, the couple will continue nearly a thousand years of royal tradition and be symbolically crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey. The church service will be followed by an epic procession back to Buckingham Palace, where the newly ennobled King and Queen will appear on the balcony of the royal residence.

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The celebrations continue the following day — with a special musical tribute! The Coronation Concert is set to be held on the grounds of Windsor Castle on Sunday, broadcast live by the BBC. Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Andrea Bocelli highlight the lineup, which also includes the British pop group Take That, plus U.K. talent Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and Alexis Ffrench.

Perry, 38, and Richie, 73, are both judges on American Idol and have known King Charles for years. The "Firework" singer has served as an ambassador of The British Asian Trust, a charity co-founded by Prince Charles to tackle poverty and transform lives in South Asia, since 2020. Meanwhile, the "All Night Long" hitmaker was appointed the First Global Ambassador and First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for The Prince's Trust in 2019.

"The concert will celebrate a new chapter in the nation's history, with themes of love, respect and optimism, celebrating the four nations, their communities and the Commonwealth," the BBC said in a statement.

The Coronation Concert will light up the night before an audience of 20,000, including members of the public and select guests. Fans can look forward to "a broad mix of music spanning pop to classical, along with spoken word and dance performances reflecting arts and culture from around the UK and the wider Commonwealth," the BBC said.

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In a glimpse of what's to come, the network added that more performers are "due to be announced shortly."

The BBC is also set to stream the concert on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

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