The Eurovision Song Contest staging is unveiled by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The King and the Queen Consort revealed that the Eurovision Song Contest has kicked off and took an arena tour in Liverpool today.

Charles and Camilla were paraded around the M&S Bank Arena and met Mae Muller, the British contestant, as well as celebrity broadcasters and creative teams, ahead of the competition next month.

The grand final of the competition is scheduled to take place on May 13, a week after the coronation ceremony.

Eurovision 2023 will take place in Liverpool after the United Kingdom was chosen to host the competition on behalf of war-torn Ukraine. This will be the first time the competition has been held in the UK in 25 years.

During today’s visit, Charles and Camilla were met on the square by BBC Director-General Tim Davy, BBC Content Director Charlotte Moore and Managing Director of BBC Eurovision 2023 Martin Green.

In the lobby, they met representatives from the BBC, BBC Studios and the arena’s managing director, Fay Dyer.

They were given a backstage tour to meet the production staff before being invited to light up and animate the arena, revealing that the competition was kicking off for the first time.

The pair were also introduced to Eurovision hosts Julia Sanina, Hannah Waddingham, Scott Mills and Rylan Clark, before meeting this year’s British entrant, May Mueller, along with presenters Blue Peter.

They were awarded Blue Peter badges in honor of the king’s coronation.

Charles and Camilla’s visit to the arena is one of several royal engagements in Liverpool, in recognition of the UK-Ukraine cultural partnership and in celebration of Eurovision.

They also visited the Liverpool Central Library to officially celebrate the twinning of Ukraine’s first public library, the Odessa Regional Scientific Library.

Meet the main partners involved in a two-week cultural festival that runs alongside the competition, and Eurolearn, an educational Eurovision-inspired program for primary and secondary school pupils.

The Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council, Theresa Grant, and Liverpool’s Director of Culture and Major Events, guided the royal duo around outdoor exhibitions.

A poem for Eurovision by poet Levi Tafari, written with the help of secondary pupils from Liverpool’s many sanctuary schools, is being read in the lobby of the library.

Meanwhile, during a tour of the library space, Charles will meet Ukrainian refugees and their host families who have been supported by The Prince’s Trust while Camilla will meet young people as part of a storytelling session.

Together, the pair then meet members of the Ukrainian community in Liverpool and their host families.

Charles will later unveil a plaque to mark the twinning of the libraries, during a direct link to the site in Odessa, and the visit will end with a performance by the English National Opera.