Proclaimers hit removed from coronation playlist over duo's 'anti-royal' views
24 April 2023, 15:14 | Updated: 24 April 2023, 15:24
The Proclaimers' hit song I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) has been removed from the official playlist for King Charles' coronation following "complaints" over the duo's "anti-royal" views.
The band, fronted by twins Craig and Charlie Reid initially appeared in the government's approved playlist for the event.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, in a ceremony conducted by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at Westminster Abbey.
Other artists including The Beatles, David Bowie, Queen, and Tom Jones feature on the compilation, but The Proclaimers' track has been removed after complaints about their inclusion due to their views on the monarchy, the BBC reports.
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement: "The playlist has been created to celebrate British and Commonwealth artists ahead of the upcoming coronation."
In an interview published in September last year, Charlie Reid spoke out in defence of a protestor who was arrested in Oxford after shouting "Who elected him" at Charles' proclamation ceremony.
Speaking to Scottish paper The National, Charlie said: "The way they've acted you'd think the story was that it's just about people's grief and people respecting her but the real story is that in 2022 an unelected head of state has died.
"Her son, similarly unelected, has taken over and the media has encouraged no debate on that. They’re unquestioning. The way they report that everyone in Britain feels the same way, they don’t. This is just simply untrue.
"On the proclamation of King Charles in Oxford, I think one guy was lifted for shouting 'who elected him?' and I thought that guy spoke for me, and he speaks for loads of other people. Not just in Scotland, but right around the UK."
A special live performance to mark the coronation featuring the likes of Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie will be held at Windsor Castle, attended by Charles and Camilla and an audience of 20,000 members of the public and invited guests.
