Fuming royal fans have branded Ticketmaster "shameful" after its system for allocating tickets for the Coronation Concert has caused mass confusion.
On May 7, the day after the Coronation, a huge concert will be staged in the grounds of Windsor Castle to celebrate the crowning of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Those wanting a ticket to be at the gig had to enter a ballot for a pair of tickets, with it being said that tickets would be allocated and spread to people from all corners of the UK.
However, confusion was sparked today when many fans were emailed at lunchtime to say they had been successful in a supplementary round of the ballot.
The messages came at 12.04pm and read: "Congratulations, you have been successful in the ballot for a pair of standing tickets to The Coronation Concert, At Windsor Castle on Sunday 7 May 2023.
"Tickets in this supplementary round are being offered to a randomly selected group of ballot winners on a first come first served basis, so you will need to act quickly in claiming your tickets to ensure you secure them."
The email added: "You will have until 12:00 on 27th April to claim your tickets. If you do not claim your tickets by this date then they will be re-allocated."
However, just minutes later at 12.32pm, Ticketmaster tweeted to say the tickets had all gone.
The statement said: "Tickets for the supplementary first-come, first-serve round of The Coronation Concert ballot have now sold out. Enjoy it in your own way next month, whether its in Windsor or at home with friends!"
But many fuming fans took to Twitter to bemoan the fact they'd been congratulated in the email - only to find there were no tickets left.
One wrote: "The email was very misleading, made it sound like we had been allocated 2 tickets for the Coronation concert that we needed to claim before the 27th April but after following link no tickets available! Very disappointed."
Another said: "Absolute shambles not sure why email sent from Ticketmaster stating congratulations you have received tickets when actually you still had to apply for them , a very strange ballot system as if get through the ballot should have received 2 tickets as stated on email."
One moaned: "Not impressed. Don’t send out a big congratulations email unless the person has actually got something. I hit the claim button as soon as I got the email and went straight to a message saying no tickets. Very upsetting."
While another added: "I would like to complain on behalf of many of us who were sent an email today informing us that we had been successful in the coronation concert ballot - we were not told it was first come first served - shameful behaviour Ticketmaster."
A spokesperson for Ticketmaster told the Mirror: "Everyone who was successful in the two main ballot rounds for the Coronation Concert was offered a guaranteed pair of tickets, provided they claimed them within three weeks.
"Today, any unclaimed tickets were released on a first-come, first-served basis to those who had previously applied to the ballot (and were unsuccessful). These inevitably went very quickly.”
The event on May 7 in the grounds of Windsor Castle will be in front of a crowd of 20,000 members of the public and invited guests and broadcast across BBC television and radio stations.
Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are among the musical stars who will perform at the concert to celebrate the crowning of the King and Queen Consort.
The line-up will also include Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and classical-soul composer Alexis Ffrench, with more acts to be announced soon.
