Nick Cave defends himself against monarchist accusations ahead of king’s coronation

After it was revealed that Nick Cave would be attending the upcoming coronation of Prince Charles on Saturday, May 6th, the Australian rocker has had to defend against accusations of being a monarchist or a royalist. Cave has defended his decision stating that he “hold[s] an inexplicable emotional attachment to the royals”.

In his newsletter, the Red Hand Files, the 65-year-old described himself as “not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter”, in response to letters from three Australians and one Brit in disbelief following the news that he would be in attendance.

Cave also added, explaining “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. Not just the most important, but the strangest, the weirdest.”

The coronation, which is due to take place in Westminster Abbey will also see Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, footballer Sam Kerr, comedian Adam Hills, and the governor general, among a number of other representatives from Australia in attendance.

The Australian artist also recalled in his newsletter meeting Queen Elizabeth II at an event in Buckingham Palace, describing the late monarch as, “almost extraterrestrial and was the most charismatic woman I have ever met."

"Maybe it was the lighting, but she actually glowed.”

He also revealed he cried watching the queen’s funeral on television last year, to his “bafflement”.

“I guess what I am trying to say is that, beyond the interminable but necessary debates about the abolition of the monarchy, I hold an inexplicable emotional attachment to the Royals – the strangeness of them, the deeply eccentric nature of the whole affair that so perfectly reflects the unique weirdness of Britain itself. I’m just drawn to that kind of thing – the bizarre, the uncanny, the stupefyingly spectacular, the awe-inspiring,” Cave wrote.

In response to the letter specifically from the UK who posed the question to the singer “What would the young Nick Cave have thought of that?!”, Cave replied, “the young Nick Cave was, in all due respect to the young Nick Cave, young, and like many young people, mostly demented, so 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,” he added.

Although born and raised in his native country of Australia, Nick Cave has been living in Britain for years. In 2017 Cave was named an Officer of the Order of Australia- an honour established in 1975 by Elizabeth II.

Charles’ coronation will be the first coronation since Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953.