King Charles and Queen Camilla were among the first to witness the preparations for this year’s Eurovision, which unveiled the amazing staging.
Charles, 74, and the Queen consort, 75, were given a special tour of the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, where they met the creative team and apprentices who were preparing the venue for the much-anticipated celebrations.
The Royals also spoke with Eurovision presenters Julia Sanina, Ted Lasso actor Hannah Waddingham, and BBC Radio 2 commentators Rylan and Scott Mills.
They also met Mae Muller, a 25-year-old vocalist who will represent the United Kingdom this year.
‘It is an honour that His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort have come here today to announce the amazing staging for our Eurovision Song Contest programme,’ said BBC Director-General Tim Davie.
‘This set will be the focal point for all of the celebrations and we cannot wait to see it lighting up Liverpool and TV screens across the world.’
The competition’s grand final is scheduled for May 13, a week after the coronation event, and will be hosted in the United Kingdom for the first time in 25 years.
Martin Green CBE, Managing Director of Eurovision, remarked, “We are thrilled His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort have unveiled this landmark moment for 2023 Eurovision.”
‘It has been a fantastic collaboration between all of our partners and the BBC to get to this point and now the stage is officially set to capture everyone’s imaginations and bring together audiences from across the world.’
This comes after Charles and Camilla were greeted in Germany by the goth metal Eurovision band Lord of the Lost.
Charles and Camilla were expected to be treated to a line-up of British and German music as part of the event, which included everything from DJs to the Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland.
Photographs of the encounter show each member dressed extravagantly and sporting thick gothic makeup – and, of course, they came as their genuine selves to shake hands with the king.
Frontman Chris ‘The Lord’ Harms teased the royal meeting earlier on Friday, dressed in a skin-tight pink-and-gold bodysuit and knee-high heels and holding a vinyl record featuring his own face.
He wrote: ‘Ready for the show and I brought a little vinyl present for Charles & Camilla.’
Last year’s winner, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host owing to the ongoing Russian invasion, and with Sam Ryder coming in second, the UK has been given the privilege.
The Eurovision Song Contest kicks off Saturday May 13 at 8pm on BBC One.