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This past weekend the coronation of King Charles III took place in London with a surreal guestlist that ranged from his estranged son Prince Harry to Katy Perry and Nick Cave. However, there was one not-so-famous guest that caught a lot of attention from TV viewers during the ceremony for his unique look. Nobody could identify the man behind the mustache or sunglasses but speculation as to who he could be raged online. Suggestions ranged from Meghan Markle to a member of a heist crew there to steal the crown jewels.
I don't know much about the #Coronation but I do know this is obviously a disguise and 100% they're going to try and steal the crown jewels pic.twitter.com/uuchDtfi2S
— Edward DeRuiter (@edwardderuiter) May 6, 2023
Unfortunately, the reality is a little less exciting but still fun for fans of '60s jazz and prog rock music. The man in question is Sir Karl Jenkins, a former member of Soft Machine, with whom he performed throughout much of the 1970s and into the early '80s. Soft Machine were formed by Robert Wyatt and came out of the same UFO Club scene in London as Pink Floyd.
Naturally, Jenkins has jumped on TikTok to celebrate his moment in the spotlight... and to clear up the rumours. "I understand there has been a lot of interest in me since I appeared at the coronation of King Charles III,” he commented in his first TikTok. “I was there because I’d written some music for the service, really. I was quite surprised that some people thought I was Meghan Markle in disguise. Someone wrote I was there, whoever I was, to steal the Crown Jewels."
Jenkins clarified that his look was nothing out of the ordinary, "I look this way all the time!… I’ve had this mustache since I was 18 years old. It was very trendy then. So that’s me. Nothing sinister about it or surprising at all."
Since leaving Soft Machine, Jenkins has worked primarily as a composer and has collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, and Mike Oldfield among others. The BBC described the piece he write for the Coronation as "haunting" and "very Welsh."