A 'mysterous' figure seen at the Coronation of King Charles III was suspected by many watching on TV to actually be Meghan Markle gatecrashing the event in a clever disguise. The video of a man in tinted glasses with a mop of blonde hair and an impressive moustache to match sitting next to Andrew Lloyd Webber went viral, reports the Mirror.
The distinctive look had amused royal fans questioning whether he was in fact the Duchess of Sussex, slipping into the event to join her husband Prince Harry. Others questioned whether he was planning to 'steal the crown jewels', but now the 75-year-old composer and musical theatre legend has confirmed it was not Meghan.
Tweeting today, he said: “I can confirm it probably wasn’t MM and had no jewels on his person as far as I could see – ALW."
The man in question is fellow composer Sir Karl Jenkins, 79, who was born in Swansea, whose work Tros y Garreg - Crossing the Stone - was performed during the ceremony. In a video shared on his social media, Sir Karl said “I was quite surprised some people thought I was Meghan Markle in disguise. I was there because I’d written some music for the service.
“I look this way all the time!” Sir Karl laughed, pointing out he has been sporting his handlebar moustache since he was 18 and insisting “it was very trendy then”.
Speaking about how honoured he was to have taken part in the star-studded event, Karl told the BBC: “It obviously sums up Welsh culture — the harp — and [King Charles III] has always supported Welsh music. I don’t know whether he chose it, but he was happy to have it there. I know he likes it, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked me."
Sir Karl was the lead songwriter of jazz-rock band Soft Machine back in the 70s and 80s, and went on to compose music for advertising campaigns for which he has won the industry prize twice, as well several choral works.
