Sir Elton John made a surprise appearance at Kevin Spacey’s sex assault trial, quipping that he “wouldn’t notice the Queen” when being bundled through crowds outside West End theatres.
The Rocketman superstar was called on Monday as a witness as part of Spacey’s defence case, and faced questions about a picture of him leaving the Victoria Palace theatre after a performance of Billy Elliot.
Sir Elton told jurors: “I’m looking straight forward at my car there.
“When I come out of the theatre, it’s always a mad rush to get into the car.
“Anyone who is on my periphery, I wouldn’t notice them. It could be the Queen and I wouldn’t notice her.”
Sir Elton was asked if he had noticed anyone else in the photo, and replied: “I’m just looking at my exit which is in the car there.”
Sir Elton wrote the music for the Billy Elliot stage show when it opened to critical acclaim in the West End in 2005. He said he saw it for the first time at a press preview.
The singer, who gave evidence across 20 minutes via videolink from Monaco’s top prosecutor’s office, gave his name to the court as “Elton Hercules John”.
He recalled Spacey flying in at the last minute for one of his White Tie and Tiara Ball, held to raise funds for the Sir Elton John Aids Foundation.
“He arrived in white tie, he came in a private jet and came straight to the ball”, he said.
When asked to confirm Spacey had flown in by private jet, Sir Elton replied: “I assume so” and joked “I don’t think he was wearing white tie on a commercial flight.”
The court has heard Spacey bought a red Mini at a charity auction during the ball, and the actor himself told jurors it was “the most expensive Mini Cooper ever”.
Sir Elton said Spacey stayed the night at their home in Windsor after the ball, and the red Mini remained in storage there for some time.
The singer, wearing a dark suit and orange-tinted glasses, struggled to hear over the videolink on occasions during his evidence, gruffly asking for questions to be repeated to him by a lawyer in the room in Monaco.
Sir Elton’s husband, David Furnish, also gave evidence to the trial, decribing the arrangements for the annual White Tie and Tiara Balls.
The possibility of Spacey attending more than one of the balls has formed part of the evidence at the trial.
Furnish said OK magazine sponsored the events, and it was known to guests that they would be photographed arriving.
“If someone came to the ball and didn’t want to be photographed, was that wish abided by?”, asked prosecutor Christine Agnew KC.
Furnish replied: “It never happened. It was understood we were promoting a charity involving the eradication of stigma surrounding disease.
“For celebrities wanting to come to our event, it was always understood they needed to be photographed.”
He remembered the year when Spacey agreed to come as a surprise guest: “He was an Oscar winning actor, there was a lot of buzz and excitement that he was at the ball.”
Both Furnish and Sir Elton told the court they could not remember Spacey visiting their home in Windsor apart from to attend the Ball on one occasion.
During the morning, details of Elton’s private life emerged, including his preference to occasionally ride upfront when being driven so that he could select the CDs they listen to.
“I usually chose the CDs, and whoever is driving puts them on”, he said, before adding: “Sometimes I sit in the front but if coming out of the theatre I would definitely get in the back of the car.”
Furnish told the court: “Elton is very specific about his driver.
“It involves a great understanding of the way he likes to travel, the routes he likes to take, the way he likes to be brought.”
He said Elton likes “to have his own driver who understands that and does it consistently - that’s very important for us”.
Spacey is on trial accused of sexually assaulting four different men in the UK between 2001 and 2013.
Spacey has pleaded not guilty to four counts of indecent assault, seven counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The trial continues.
