Robbie Williams Confirms He Turned Down Invite to Perform at King Charles III’s Coronation

Robbie Williams has long had a cordial relationship with the British royal family. But when it came to an invitation to perform at King Charles III’s coronation ceremony in 2023, the singer said he had to politely decline. Appearing on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live earlier this week, Williams said he was, as rumored, asked to celebrate the royal passing of the torch, but had a professional conflict.

Williams told Cohen that there was definitely “a reason” he could not accept the gig. “I was working. I got something I couldn’t turn down because of money,” Williams said, without elaborating on what gig kept him from the royal honor.

Williams has shown his support for the royals before, acting as the opening act at the 2012 diamond jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, which was organized by his former Take That bandmate, Gary Barlow. And while he didn’t make it to the coronation concert held for King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 7, 2023, that glitzy event did feature sets from Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Andrea Bocelli and the other members of Take That: Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, joined by DJ Robin Schulz and Calum Scott.

Other acts who took the stage included Tiwa Savage, Paloma Faith, Steve Winwood, Olly Murs, Pete Tong and Nicole Scherzinger.

Though fans couldn’t see him then, they can catch the British superstar in his unusual new biopic, Better Man, in which a CGI monkey version of Williams takes viewers through a series of over-the-top musical numbers illustrating the singer’s wild days and nights as a boy bander and solo star.

Paramount paid $25 million to acquire the $110 million movie directed by The Greatest Showman‘s Michael Gracey, only to see it tank at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, where it took in a modest $1 million on more than 1,200 screens. To date, the movie has reportedly earned just under $5 million in Williams’ native U.K., marking it as the first major box office bomb of the year.

Watch Williams discuss the coronation rebuff below.