It’s King Charles III’s Coronation this weekend. He’s hosting a concert but not many musicians are going; most turned him down, in fact. Even The Spice Girls said no. But, wait, Nick Cave is going?!
Why? In a letter sent to fans on his Red Hand Files website, the Australian icon thoughtfully explained his reason for attending.
“I am not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter,” he wrote. “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 our age.
As Cave noted, King Charles’ coronation won’t just be a historical moment of huge importance, but also one of “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.”
Where did this “emotional attachment” come from? According to Cave’s letter, it stemmed from a brief but memorable meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II back in 2006.
“It was a mostly awkward affair, but the Queen herself, dressed in a salmon coloured twin-set, seemed almost extraterrestrial and was the most charismatic woman I have ever met,” he recalled. “Maybe it was the lighting, but she actually glowed.” W
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“The strangeness of them, the deeply eccentric nature of the whole affair that so perfectly reflects the unique weirdness of Britain itself. I’m just drawn to that kind of thing — the bizarre, the uncanny, the stupefyingly spectacular, the awe-inspiring.”
You can read Cave’s full letter here.
For more on this topic, follow the Classic Rock Observer.
