HELLO... YOUR HIGHNESS
King Charles and Queen Camilla greet singer Lionel Richie at Buckingham Palace garden party days before coronation
KING Charles and Queen Camilla beamed as they met Lionel Richie at a Buckingham Palace garden party yesterday.
Lionel, 73, who will perform at the Coronation Concert in Windsor on Sunday gushed about the momentous week in Britain saying: "We're walking in history right now”.
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Thousands of people were seen lining the garden's lawn while Charles chatted and joked with attendees.
All Night Long singer Richie - who was at the Palace with partner and model Lisa Parigi, 33 - said that he had been given one of the coveted seats inside Westminster Abbey for Saturday's coronation service.
The singer will join Katy Perry and Take That’s Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen in a special live performance for 10,000 people on Sunday May 7 at Windsor Castle.
Speaking before meeting the King, an enthusiastic Richie wearing top hat and tails, said the concert was "going to be so much fun".
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He added: "This is a once in a lifetime so to be a part of it is everything. I've known His Majesty now for a couple of years.
"There are few times in life... the '84 Olympics [where he performed All Night Long], that was a billion people watching.
"So, I mean, how many in your career, there are Oscars and then there are Grammys and then there's a coronation... are you kidding me?
"I mean, this doesn't happen every day so am I excited about this? Absolutely!
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"Come on. Let's just get serious.
"Do we have any examples of this? No. It's not like any other time in life or [any other] occasion. So, this is going to be the best thing ever!
"Once the lights hit and once the music starts, it's just going to be."
Asked about Sunday's concert, he said: "You know. I would love to tell you but I'm sworn to secrecy."
The concert will be screened live by the BBC and include soul pianist Alexis Ffrench and singer Freya Ridings.
Charles and Camilla will be joined by Kate and William for the celebration, which will feature a spectacular drone display.
Around 8,000 people - including charity workers and diplomats - were invited to Wednesday's garden party.
They were joined by the King, Queen Consort, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
The King and Queen Consort stood on the steps of the palace as the National Anthem played before meeting the crowds.
The Queen Consort, in a navy and white Bruce Oldfield dress with Philip Treacy hat, met a 99-year-old veteran who served in Normandy during WWII.
John Aitchison, 99, from Castle Douglas in Scotland, served as a Dispatch rider with the 53rd heavy regiment, Royal Artillery and showed the Queen Consort a picture of him in Normandy aged 21.
Queen Camilla, 75, joked: "Well, I hope I'm as agile as you when I'm 99."
The King met with Baroness Lawrence, the mother of black teenager Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993.
Separately the King met with police officers from the Metropolitan Police who had received Public Protection Awards.
Meanwhile, the Queen Consort met with workers from the domestic abuse charity Safelives, which is one of four charities set to benefit when 100 chairs made for the coronation are auctioned off after the service.
Chair of the Safelives trustee board, Isabel Boyer, added: "The Queen has a really personal commitment to our work to end domestic abuse."
Safe Young Lives programme lead Sally Steadman-South, 43, from Sheffield, said: "Her Majesty felt really warm and kind.
"We told her we were ecstatic to be one of the charities benefitting from the chairs being auctioned."
The Queen Consort met Jade Soer, 32, from Blackpool - a helpline manager at Silver Line, a phone line dedicated to helping the elderly which has the Queen Consort as its patron.
Ms Soer said: "We talked about the coronation. I wished her luck and the Queen said 'It's going to rain!
"I said well, we run a helpline for the elderly so we are quite good when it comes to talking about the weather!"
Camilla and Charles showed no sign of nerves ahead of their coronation on Saturday.
The atmosphere at the palace today was a million miles away from Tuesday night after David Huber, 59, allegedly threw suspected shotgun cartridges onto the palace grounds.
He allegedly ranted "I'm going to kill the King" before being dragged away by cops.
It's understood no royals were in the Palace at the time however, the King and Queen consort were there earlier on in the day.
The Firm is continuing life as normal despite safety concerns mounting.
Charles was seen earlier on Wednesday after attending a coronation rehearsal.
He appeared to be in high spirits as he waved at fans from his car.
Police were last night facing questions after witnesses told how the would-be attacker placed a bag by the gates.
The suspect reportedly threw a "number of items" out of the bag.
He was then arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon after he was searched and a knife was found.
Officers were forced to carry out a controlled explosion in sight of excited fans camping along The Mall ahead of Saturday.
It was understood the police were treating the matter as an isolated mental health incident.
Security for the historical event has been estimated to cost around £150million.
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The operation will see thousands of officers deployed along with protection squads, air support and roof-top snipers.
Drones will also be used to monitor the crowds.
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