Nick Cave responds to fans’ questions on why he’s attending King Charles III’ Coronation

Fans of the Australian singer, Nick Cave, have questioned his decision to attend King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday, and the singer has taken a moment to defend his decision.

Cave, via his ‘Red Hand Files’ site, where he regularly answers fans’ questions, wrote a letter to fans, explaining his relationship with the royal family, and what a young Nick Cave would think about him going to the Coronation.

Not a monarchist, nor a royalist

“I am not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter,” Cave clarified in his letter, after saying he was still working out what he was going to wear for the date.

He continued: “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,” Cave emphasized that he believes the coronation with be “not just the most important, but the strangest, the weirdest” event in the U.K.

The ‘Straight to You’ singer shared a memory of a meeting he had with the late Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace, where he recalled the event being awkward, but that the Queen herself “seemed almost extraterrestrial and was the most charismatic woman I have ever met,” adding that the monarch herself appeared to “glow”.

Cave’s mother, who was the same age as the Queen, and also passed away in her nineties, cried when Cave told her the story of meeting the long-reining monarch.

A fascination for the bizarreness of the royal family

And when the Queen passed away last year, Cave recalled crying during her procession, before admitting that while he thinks talking about abolition is necessary, he “[holds] an inexplicable emotional attachment to the Royals,” before underlining that he is drawn to the strangeness of the royal family.

“I’m just drawn to that kind of thing – the bizarre, the uncanny, the stupefyingly spectacular, the awe-inspiring.”

On what a young Nick Cave would say

Cave was questioned on what a younger version of himself would think about him going to the coronation, before admitting that, like most young people, his younger self was “demented”.

“I’m a little cautious around using him as a benchmark for what I should or should not do. He was cute though, I’ll give him that. Deranged, but cute.”

The Australian crooner then ended his letter, saying simply: “I am looking forward to going the Coronation [sic]. I think I’ll wear a suit.”

King Charles III’s Coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023.