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King Charles and Queen Camilla make surprise appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

09 May 2023 at 19:30 CEST
Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla meet Keith and Jim of Subwoolfer fame and notoriety.
On Tuesday 9 May, viewers of the First Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 are treated to a special guest appearance as Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla help to kick off the Contest to the 160million watching across the world.

Their Majesties feature in the opening film titled Welcome to Liverpool which begins with the moment a young Liverpudlian boy discovers that his home city is set to host the 2023 Contest. He travels across the city telling his family, friends and neighbours that the world’s greatest music competition is arriving. Along the way we see some special guests with their own personal connection to Liverpool making their own preparations to welcome Ukraine to the city

Their Majesties are no strangers to the Eurovision Song Contest, as they exclusively unveiled the staging for the Contest during a visit to host city Liverpool last month.

His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort visit and unveil the Liverpool 2023 stage Nick Robinson / BBC

The other faces that feature in Welcome to Liverpool include baker-extraordinaire and Wirral born Paul Hollywood, Ukrainian Everton football star Vitalii Mykolenko, Liverpool FC women's footballers Sofie Lungaard from Denmark and Emma Koivisto from Finland, legendary actor Ricky Tomlinson who revisits his Brookside character Bobby Grant, Ukrainian Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kuzmin and Drag Race UK contestant Sister Sister to name a few.

The late Paul O’ Grady also appears. This is one of the last things Paul filmed before he passed away last month and his appearance in the film was agreed with the blessing of his family and friends.  

His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort visit and unveil the Liverpool 2023 stage Nick Robinson / BBC

You can listen to all 37 songs of Eurovision 2024 via your favourite streaming service or watch the music videos on our YouTube channel.

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden on Tuesday 7 May (First Semi-Final), Thursday 9 May (Second Semi-Final) and Saturday 11 May (Grand Final) 2024.

Don't forget to download our app (for iOSAndroid), sign up to the official Eurovision Song Contest newsletter, and subscribe to the official podcast!