LONDON: With a trumpet fanfare and gun salutes, Charles III was officially proclaimed king at a pomp-filled ceremony on Saturday, at which he pledged to emulate his late mother Queen Elizabeth II and serve for the rest of his life.
A court official wearing a feathered bicorn hat declared Charles “our only lawful and rightful” monarch from the balcony of St James’s Palace after a historic Accession Council meeting of senior royals, clergy and government.
The centuries-old tradition of the council was televised live for the first time as it officially announced the 73-year-old Charles as monarch after seven decades as heir apparent.
“I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty, which have now passed to me,” Charles said in a speech before swearing an oath.
“In taking up these responsibilities, I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set.”
Eight trumpeters accompanied the proclamation that was followed by a rousing three cheers for the new king by red-jacketed Coldstream Guards soldiers, doffing their distinctive bearskin hats.
Ceremonial gun salutes boomed simultaneously across the United Kingdom and the proclamation — a relic from the past where the new monarch needed to be announced to their subjects — was also read publicly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Charles automatically became monarch upon the queen’s death aged 96 on Thursday, but the proclamation is the latest step in the set piece 10-day programme building up to her state funeral.
An emotional Charles set the tone for his reign in a televised address on Friday in which he hailed his “darling mama” for her “unswerving devotion” during her record-breaking seven decades on the throne.
The speech dominated the front pages of Britain’s newspapers on Saturday, with his heartfelt tribute to his mother headlining the Daily Telegraph, Daily Express, Daily Mail and The Sun.
Charles looking pensive as he arrived at Buckingham Palace for the first time as king made the front page image on The Independent, The Guardian and The Times, which also carried the words “God Save the King”.
The new king also named his elder son and heir Prince William, 40, as the new Prince of Wales, while expressing love for his younger son Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan.
The move means William’s wife Kate assumes the Princess of Wales title once held by his mother and Charles’ ex-wife, the late Princess Diana.
Crowds have massed outside Buckingham Palace both to mourn the queen and to wish Charles well, greeting him with cheers and even kisses when he arrived from Scotland on Friday.
“I’m sad, but you have to move on. I think the king will be different,” said 53-year-old Londoner Sarah Berdien as Charles was formally proclaimed nearby. “The queen has always been the queen — always the same, no drama.”
Recruitment worker Dany Van Laanen, 36, said Charles has “big shoes to fill” as he replaces his widely venerated mother, who was the only monarch that most in the UK had ever known.
“I do hope he will manage to modernise the monarchy,” he said.
Charles — who has seen his popularity recover in recent years from the time of Diana’s death in a 1997 car crash — takes the throne at a moment of deep anxiety in Britain over the spiralling cost of living and international instability caused by the war in Ukraine.
The constitutional monarch, who is supposed to remain outside politics, has intimated he will now steer clear of pronouncements on issues that he has previously been outspoken on such as climate change.— AFP
