Everything you need to know about the Coronation Concert

King Charles III’s Coronation Concert will feature a bespoke, ultra-patriotic Union Flag-shaped stage.

Around 20,000 members of the public are expected to attend the glittering event on Sunday (May 7) where they will be greeted by a stage lit in red, white and blue against the background of the East terrace of Windsor Castle, according to mock-up pictures which have been released ahead of the lavish celebrations by the BBC.

The stage will fan out into the audience and have a halo-like screen surrounding the roof, which the broadcaster said will "symbolise the Crown protecting the nation".

The BBC also reports that together with the parapet wall steps in the middle, the staging will create multiple levels for a 74-piece classical ensemble - formed from the strings of the Countess of Wessex's String Orchestra and woodwind, brass and percussion sections from the Bands of the Household Division - to make an abstracted Union Jack.

Four additional catwalks, which also form the flag shape, will allow fans to see the manifold acts close up.

The orchestra will sit at the back of the stage, in front of the castle.

Tom Cruise, Dame Joan Collins and Sir Tom Jones are involved

The concert, hosted by Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, will feature pre-recorded video sketches of Hollywood star Tom Cruise, Dynasty actress Dame Joan Collins, adventurer Bear Grylls and singer Sir Tom Jones who will all be revealing little-known facts about the monarch.

Lionel Richie, Take That, Katy Perry and opera singers Andrea Bocelli and Sir Bryn Terfel to perform

Katy Perry, Take That and Lionel Richie will perform, alongside Paloma Faith, Olly Murs, veteran rock guitarist Steve Winwood, Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls, opera singers Andrea Bocelli and Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and classical-soul composer and producer Alexis Ffrench.

Katy Perry, who is an ambassador for the British Asian Trust, founded by the King, said she was excited to be performing and “helping to shine a further light on the British Asian Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund, whose work includes on-ground initiatives to fundraising, with the aim to find solutions to child trafficking”.

Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen from Take That said in a statement: “This will be our first live show since the Odyssey Tour, four years ago in 2019, and what a stage to come back on! A huge live band and orchestra, a choir, military drummers, the backdrop of Windsor Castle and the celebration of a new king. We can’t wait.”

Lionel Richie, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, said: “To share the stage with the other performers at the Coronation Concert is a once-in-a-lifetime event and it will be an honour and a celebration.”

Bocelli and Terfel will perform a duet at the concert, while Ridings will perform a duet with Ffrench.

The show will include an exclusive appearance from the Coronation Choir, a diverse group chosen from community choirs and amateur singers from across the UK.

The centrepiece of the concert, Lighting up the Nation, will involve iconic locations across the UK being lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations.

The Coronation Concert will be broadcast on BBC One live from Windsor Castle on Sunday May 7 at 8pm, and will also be available on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.