Yet despite a high-profile fly-by from Tom Cruise – inviting the king to be his wingman – so much of the show felt trivial and unmemorable. suffers a foil shortage in coming weeks, it will be part Brexit, part Perry.) (No sign, however, of Queen’s Brian May, such a stalwart of previous royal shindigs that Channel 4’s expert royal satire “The Windsors” could claim – in its recent Coronation Special – that the guitarist had taken up permanent residence among the squirrels on Buckingham Palace’s roof.) Perry, importing tried-and-tested showstoppers “Roar” and “Firework,” looked the part in a flowing golden dress suggesting a Disney truffle wrapper. Sprayed-on pomp and ceremony abounded: a 200-piece orchestra, sweeping crane shots, Union Jacks in every hand, and a shifting lightshow illuminating Windsor Castle itself.

You half expected to find King Charles and Queen Camilla seated in rotating chairs, behind illuminated buzzers. Yet right through to Take That’s promotion over Katy Perry in the headline slot, the result felt cringingly parochial, indistinguishable in its content from the half-time slot on a Saturday night talent show. MC Hugh Bonneville, pausing between dad gags, reassured us that 100 countries were watching globally. 20,000 people – charity volunteers, NHS workers and winners of a public ticket lottery – had been invited to join the royals in the grounds of Windsor Castle, under a stage resembling a giant H.G.

Prince's gambit