King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla of Britain visited the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Wednesday to unveil the stage for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. The royal couple met with Britain’s entrant, Mae Muller, and participated in a segment recorded for the children’s entertainment show Blue Peter.
The King expressed his interest in the competition and told Muller that they would be “egging [her] on.” Liverpool is set to host the event on behalf of last year’s winner, Ukraine, which was unable to stage the competition due to the Russian invasion. Britain was the runner-up in last year’s competition.
During their visit, Charles and Camilla initiated the lighting and the pulsating beat of the stage by pressing a large pink button. The formal coronation ceremony for Charles will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6, followed by a concert at Windsor Castle the next day.
The British government has made 3,000 tickets for the Eurovision Song Contest available to displaced Ukrainians and provided £10 million of funding to help host the competition, which will be hosted between May 9 and 13.