Kermit and Miss Piggy succeed Paddington on surprise guest list
THE King put his stamp on his reign by drafting in Kermit the Frog, rather than Paddington Bear as his Coronation concert was marked by a surprise cameo appearance from the Muppets.
Kermit and his close confidante, Miss Piggy, performed a sketch involving the newly crowned monarch.
And, amid the spectacular surroundings of the Windsor Castle grounds, the King’s Coronation was sealed with performances from such stars as Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Take That.
Tom Cruise, the Hollywood actor and star of Top Gun, told Charles he could be “his wing man”.
Winnie-the-pooh also put in an appearance, chatting to Piglet about the King’s well-documented love of red squirrels.
If ever the new monarch wishes to put down a marker that his reign would be different from his mother’s, this was it. While Elizabeth II deployed Paddington Bear during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, King Charles chose Kermit and Pooh Bear.
The green frog left VIP guests stunned when he popped up in the Royal Box. Seemingly quite at home, he then stayed put alongside guests including the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to watch headliners Take That.
What Kermit and His Majesty chatted about remained a tightly guarded secret. Miss Piggy took a shine to host Hugh Bonneville, partly due to her mistakenly thinking he was a real Lord with whom she could become Lady Piggy.
Cruise appeared in a pre-recorded video in which he sent a message to the King from his Top Gun Warbird plane in the clouds saying, “Pilot to pilot. Your Majesty, you can be my wingman any time,” before saluting and banking off.