Robert Smith continues to be a man of the people. On King Charles’ coronation day, The Cure frontman shared a political cartoon slamming the royal family and the “distracting profligacy” of the monarchy.
“All hail the nature arbitrary of privilege that’s hereditary,” the cartoon, by the artist First Dog on the Moon, says. “The huge cost of this ceremony could buy each British child a pony/ Yet distracting profligacy must calm the masses all, lest we the fury of the poor unleash/ Let them eat Coronation Quiche!”
As Ultimate Classic Rock points out, Smith has spoken out against the monarchy before. In 2012, he dismissed the idea of ever accepting knighthood from the royals, proclaiming, “I would honestly cut off my own hands before I would go there, because how dare they presume that they could give me an honor? I’m much better than them. They’ve never done anything! They’re fucking idiots.”
King Charles’ coronation follows the September death of the long-reigning Queen Elizabeth. Despite the undoubted significance of the rise of a new ruler, however, his ascendance hasn’t been a particularly popular event in pop culture. After British artists like Adele declined to perform at the ceremony, the King was forced to enlist American artists Katy Perry and Lionel Richie to ring in the festivities. Nick Cave, meanwhile, did accept an invitation to the event, admitting that he holds an “inexplicable emotional attachment to the Royals” and the “strangeness” of the monarchy.
Smith’s remarks come after a highly publicized battle with Ticketmaster in which the artist attempted to offer fans affordable tickets through Verified Fan sales and no tiered ticketing packages; he even demanded the company partially refund buyers for the exorbitant fees it tacks on to tickets and canceled 7,000 tickets he believed to be scalped. The tour is tied to The Cure’s upcoming album Songs of a Lost World, one of the most anticipated releases of 2023.
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) May 5, 2023
“they’ve never done anything, they’re fucking idiots”
it’s going to be a week of total Royal mania for the #Coronation so here is Robert Smith to provide some balance ?pic.twitter.com/aIfJKNB2Q4
— dave ?? ? ? (@mrdavemacleod) May 1, 2023
Robert Smith talking about how much he hates the monarchy is going to get me through today’s bullshit #Coronation pic.twitter.com/gVYuZftYKC
— Dave Kevin Williams (@DaveKWilliams) May 6, 2023