South Africa's singer pretty Yende to perform at King Charles coronation.

The South African is set to be the first African national to sing an opera solo at a British coronation ceremony.

South African soprano Pretty Yende first met King Charles when she was invited to sing at Windsor Castle by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra last year. On Saturday, she will perform solo at his coronation.

“I’m too excited to be nervous,” she said. “It’s an incredible time of my life as a young girl, as a South African, as an artist, only joy floods my heart.”

Months after singing at Windsor, a phone call interrupted rehearsals at the Vienna State Opera to ask the 38-year-old if she would perform at the coronation in London on May 6.

“This was my audition I guess,” said Yende, recalling the evening at Windsor during a backstage interview at the opera house.

“That was the first time I met the king,” she said. “He was very kind, very warm.”

Yende is the first African national to sing an opera solo at a British coronation. Nigerian-British Afrobeats superstar Tiwa Savage is also expected to perform at the event, alongside Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and other artists.

Savage’s performance has sparked controversy in Nigeria, with Lagos-based writer Innocent Chizaram saying that “the Crown wants to use an African woman artiste who isn’t their first or second pick to salvage their image somehow” and noting that famous British singers Adele, Ed Sheeran and others declined to perform.

In Yende’s South Africa, there have been calls for the UK to return the world’s largest diamond, known as the Star of Africa, which is set in Charles’s royal sceptre. The diamond was discovered in South Africa in 1905 and presented to the British monarchy two years later by the colonial government in the country, which was then under British rule.

“All proceeds of colonialism, slave trade and imperialism are illegitimate transactions,” Everisto Benyera, associate professor of African politics at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, told Al Jazeera.

‘Dream come true’

Still, millions are expected to watch the televised event, likely the biggest audience in Yende’s career so far and a “dream come true”, she said.