King Charles III was officially proclaimed as Britain’s new monarch on Saturday at a ceremony in London’s St James’s Palace.
Charles automatically became king the moment his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on Thursday, but the ceremony is an important constitutional step in introducing the new monarch to the country.
An Accession Council made up of hundreds of politicians, bishops and senior civil servants proclaimed his succession at the ceremony on Saturday. It was the first proclamation of a monarch to be televised.
Charles’ son and heir to the throne William, wife Camilla and Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, were among those to sign the proclamation.
The proclamation, accompanied by gun salutes, will also be read publicly in the other capital cities of the United Kingdom, including Edinburgh in Scotland, Belfast in Northern Ireland and Cardiff in Wales.
Elizabeth died at Balmoral, a royal estate in Scotland, at the age of 96. She was Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign and the world’s oldest monarch.
Charles succeeds his mother as Britain’s head of state, as well as the head of state for other countries in the Commonwealth who still recognise the monarch, including Australia, Canada and the Bahamas.
On Saturday, the 73-year-old officially took his vow as the new king, saying he was “deeply aware” of the “duties and heavy responsibility of sovereignty”.
Charles’ first address as King
On Friday, Charles made his first address as the monarch mourning the death of his mother.
“Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived, a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing,” he said.
Charles also said that after taking over as the king, his life would change and it would no longer be possible for him to focus on charities and matters for which he cares deeply.
The monarch has been call for action on global warming since 1990. At the COP26 climate conference last year in Glasgow, Scotland, Charles had warned world leaders that they must adopt a “war-like footing” to deal with the global threat of climate change and biodiversity loss.
The new King of Britain ended the address with a personal note to his mother, “…To my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this, thank you. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years.”
Charles’ succession to throne comes at a time when the United Kingdom and Europe are undergoing a politically and economically uncertain period.
On September 6, Truss took over as the new prime minister of the United Kingdom after she was named as the leader of the country’s ruling Conservative Party following her predecessor Boris Johnson’s resignation.
The war in Ukraine has also driven up energy bills in Europe and overall inflation in the continent, including England.
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