Musician Nick Cave admits he was 'extremely bored' at King Charles III's coronation

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By Kim Novak

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While the coronation of King Charles III divided many people, most would not turn down the chance to be there if they were invited.

Such was the case for legendary Australian rocker Nick Cave, who was among the attendees of the day - but he gave the proceedings a very mixed review.

King Charles was officially crowned on May 6, 2023, in a lavish ceremony reportedly costing between $63 million and $125 million - which did not sit well with many amid a cost of living crisis.

His ascension to the throne came after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 after 70 years on the throne.

Cave was one of a handful of Australians representing their country at the event, and the 65-year-old admitted he went more out of "curiosity" than a love for the monarchy himself - and found some parts of the day to be pretty dull indeed.

He explained on the UK's Channel 4 News podcast Ways to Change The World with Krishan Guru-Murthy: "I went along to the Coronation entirely out of curiosity and found the whole thing to be acutely interesting, to say the least, I would say… because I thought I would feel things when I went to the coronation.

"But I didn’t know that I would feel them in such an extreme way and they were conflicted feelings, and sometimes I felt extremely bored, other times completely awestruck by the event, extremely moved by the music."

The 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' singer may have been indifferent to the event, but he also slammed those stars who turned down the chance to experience the historical moment and snubbed their invitations.

He explained on his personal blog The Red Hand: "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 our age.

"Not just the most important, but the strangest, the weirdest."

When asked why he wanted to accept the invitation, the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds frontman told a fan: "I’m just drawn to that kind of thing – the bizarre, the uncanny, the stupefying spectacular, the awe-inspiring.

Cave also recalled meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II and later finding himself weeping while watching her funeral.

Featured image credit: newsphoto / Alamy