On Saturday, King Charles III was solemnly declared the ruler of the United Kingdom in a historic event at St. James’ Palace. After his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on Thursday, Charles automatically became King, and the Accession Council confirmed him as the sovereign—officially certifying his status. The Accession Council, which consists of leading politicians and bureaucrats who advise the queen, attended the event at St. James’s Palace, a royal home in London. God save the King were the words used by those present to reaffirm the clerk of the council’s declaration.
King Charles III was joined to the ceremony by his wife, the Queen Consort, and his eldest son, Prince William, who will now be the successor to the throne and known as the Prince of Wales. On Friday, King Charles III set the tone for his rule by promising to continue the queen’s ‘lifelong service’ in a televised address.
‘…to my lovely Mama, as you embark on your final grand journey to join my wonderful late Papa, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you for your love and commitment to our family and the family of countries, which you have served so zealously over the years,’ the king said of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday, the 73-year-old former Prince of Wales took the throne, and Saturday’s event marked his ceremonial declaration and oath taking at St. James’s Palace in London. King Charles was accompanied by his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, and his son and heir, the new Prince of Wales, Prince William.
On Friday, the King returned from Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the Queen’s health worsened and she died. Flags lowered atop the palace in grief for the late Queen were raised to full mast following the Accession Council proclamation, which was followed by a wave of other proclamations around the UK leading up to Sunday, when flags will be lowered to half-mast in a state of mourning for the Queen.
The Garter King of Arms read the Principal Proclamation in public for the first time from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St James’s Palace, accompanied by a 41-gun salute fired by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in London’s Hyde Park.
The Privy Council, which consists of politicians, senior clergy, and Supreme Court justices, initially met without the King to declare the new king and to conduct business related to the proclamation. Following the proclamation, King Charles III convened his first Privy Council meeting and made his personal vow to ‘take the obligations and responsibilities of sovereignty’ and follow in his late mother’s footsteps.
On Friday, the King met with British Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace, where he was met with shouts and cheers by vast crowds gathered at the palace gates in grief for the Queen and hoping to catch a sight of the new monarch and his Queen Consort. It was extremely moving to see so many people. It’s a moment I’d dreaded, but one must strive to keep on, Charles was heard saying to Truss in a small film released to his first audience as the Prime Minister extended her sympathies.
While Buckingham Palace will reveal formal plans, the Queen is anticipated to lie in state at Westminster Hall in London for the people to pay their respects. The Queen’s coffin will leave her Balmoral estate in the following days for the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the British monarch’s official residence in Scotland. It will then be brought in procession to St. Giles’ Cathedral in the city, where the Queen will be laid to rest, with the public able to view her casket. The casket will then be transported to London, where it will lie in state for four days before to her burial.
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