Julie Bishop opens up about attending the Coronation of King Charles III

Julie Bishop has revealed what King Charles III’s coronation really looked like from her perch in the second row ceremony.

The former Australian foreign minister joined Anthony Albanese and other dignitaries from around the world at the historic event at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday.

But she was scalded by veteran entertainment reporter Peter Ford for being inappropriate for sharing a selfie from the Abbey with her co-resident, 1980s singer-songwriter Lionel Ritchie.

“Do what you like outside, but not as soon as you enter the holy place,” Ford said.

But Ms Bishop seemed unfazed by the criticism and said she was flattered when the Dancing on the Ceiling singer re-shared her photo.

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford said Ms Bishop’s selfie was ‘inappropriate’ on Twitter (pictured)

Julie Bishop wore a fitted beige floral dress at the coronation ceremony on Saturday (pictured)

“I’ve never been to anything like it.” she told 7News on Sunday.

“I felt deeply privileged to be invited and to witness the splendor and beauty and religious and historical significance of this service was deeply moving.

“When you actually got there, there was a sense of excitement and anticipation.”

Ms Bishop said she arrived about 2.5 hours before the actual service started and the service lasted two hours afterwards.

“Everyone was a little nervous… (But) eeverything moved perfectly and there were a lot of moving parts and I had a great spot.”

“I was in the second row, so just one row back from the aisle. so I had a pretty unobstructed view of all the famous faces walking by.

“I sat next to Lionel Ritchie,” she said.

She explained that he is a global ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and she is the chairperson of the Prince’s Trust.

She also revealed that the two made comments to each other during the service.

‘During the procession we whispered to each other… I would say that’s the Papua New Guineans and he would tell me who someone else was.

“But when he sang a hymn, I was very quiet. I didn’t want to raise my voice. It’s quite an experience in itself to have Lionel Ritchie sing hymns alongside you.”

She added that she took the couple’s selfie long before the actual ceremony started.

“But he (Ritchie) was in high demand and he reposted my selfie. So that was probably just as exciting as attending the coronation.’ she joked.

Lionel Ritchie then reposted Ms Bishop’s selfie on his own Instagram account. Pictured, from left to right: Ritchie, Ms. Bishop, 2022 Young Australian of the Year Daniel Nour

Ms Bishop appeared slightly dizzy on Sunday and said she had never been to an event like this before

She added that she has met King Charles on a number of occasions and the pair got along well.

“In April 2018, we traveled together to Vanuatu to inspect the cyclone’s damage after both Britain and Australia provided assistance.”

“So we had a trip on the Royal Australian Airlines flight and back and we got on extremely well, and I had dinner with him on a number of occasions.”

“He’s very charming, very intelligent, extremely knowledgeable about Australian politics, the nuances of politics in this country.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday it was an honor to represent Australia at the coronation, where he entered Westminster Abbey behind Governor-General David Hurley and the national standard-bearer, football star Sam Kerr.

Mr Albanese, a self-declared lifelong Republican, previously said the event was one of “enormous significance” and it was entirely appropriate that he attended and pledged allegiance to the king.

Republicans had called on the prime minister to remain silent during the oath.

Mr Albanese’s frontbench colleague, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, said it was the right call for the Prime Minister to join the pledge on behalf of Australians.

“This was an important day and it is of course crucial that the Prime Minister is there and swears allegiance – I think that’s what people expect,” said Dr Chalmers.