New Delhi: Prince Charles, now King Charles III, who has been heir to the throne since the age of three, will be formally proclaimed the monarch at St James’s Palace in London on Saturday.
His mother Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning sovereign in Britain, passed Thursday afternoon aged 96 at her Scottish highland retreat Balmoral Castle. She was surrounded by all four of her children and grandsons William and Harry.
Charles, 73, automatically became the king after his mother’s passing. According to custom, an accession council is convened within 24 hours after the death of a monarch to formally proclaim the new sovereign.
But in this case, it will be a day late since the Queen’s passing was announced Thursday evening, leaving very little time to arrange the established procedures by Friday.
Historically, the entire privy council – past and present politicians who advise the sovereign on matters of the state – is summoned to oversee the accession of a monarch.
The accession council must take place before the Parliament meets, and Parliament should meet as soon as practicable after the death of a monarch, The Guardian reported.
“The accession council is divided into two parts, and is presided over by the lord president of the council, who has ministerial responsibility for the privy council office,” the report said.
Charles’s coronation, which requires detailed planning, is unlikely to take place for some time. Queen Elizabeth was coronated 16 months after her formal accession, in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from across the world.
As the new king, Charles paid tribute to his “beloved mother” in a statement Thursday, saying her death was “a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family”. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother,” he said.
A statement from His Majesty The King: pic.twitter.com/AnBiyZCher
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 8, 2022
The former Prince of Wales’s wife Camilla will be known as Queen Consort, after an edict from the Queen during her platinum jubilee earlier this year. A report said the former Queen Mother’s crown, set with the 105.6-carat Kohinoor diamond, would be worn by her.
The crown with the diamond – kept on display in the Tower of London – was created for the deceased Queen’s mother, Queen Elizabeth (later known as Queen Mother), when her husband George VI was crowned king in 1937.
Charles’s reign will begin by playing a key role in “carefully choreographed” programmes during the national mourning period, leading up to the Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey, likely on 19 September. Earl Marshal – the Duke of Norfolk – is in charge of both the funeral and the accession.
Charles is likely to meet the Earl Marshal and Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday. Truss, one of the last visitors the queen received, has described the late monarch as “the rock on which modern Britain was built”. In a televised address from outside her official residence 10, Downing Street, Truss said: “She was the very spirit of Great Britain and that spirit will endure.”
On Tuesday, the queen undertook her final constitutional duty by appointing Liz Truss the new Prime Minister, the 15th under her reign.
The government will confirm the length of the national mourning – which is likely to be 12 days till a day after the Queen’s funeral – and Charles will decide the length of the royal mourning for members of the household.
He will also make a televised address to the nation, upholding his duty as the new sovereign.
The new king’s eldest son Prince William is now heir to the throne and has inherited the title Duke of Cornwall. He will be known as the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge.
As soon as the official mourning was announced, flags on important buildings in Britain and across the Commonwealth were lowered to half-mast. Reports said church bells would be rung around Britain at noon on Friday.
The Queen’s coffin is expected to lie in rest for 24 hours at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday for the public to pay their respects.
What happens till the late Queen’s funeral?
On the first day of mourning Friday, ceremonial gun salutes will ring out in London – 96 rounds to mark each year of the Queen’s life — and a minute’s silence will be held.
King Charles will meet Prime Minister Liz Truss and later address the nation. He will also finalise his mother’s funeral plans with the Earl Marshal.
The Accession Council – which comprises senior government officials and the Privy Council — will meet at St James’s palace on Saturday to formally proclaim the new king. The proclamation will be read out from the balcony of the palace.
On the day of the proclamation, flags will be at full mast for 24 hours before returning to half-mast till the funeral.
The new king will then meet the Prime Minister and her Cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Westminster.
The Queen’s coffin will leave Balmoral by road and will be taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. There will also be proclamations in the devolved nations at Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
There will be a ceremonial procession to St Giles Cathedral for a service to be attended by the royal household. The Queen will lie in rest there for 24 hours.
The coffin will then be flown to London.
The King will visit Northern Ireland, and attend a prayer meeting at Belfast’s St Anne’s Cathedral for a prayer service.
In London, the late Queen’s coffin will be kept in Buckingham Palace for a few hours and will be taken in a ceremonial procession – possibly on a gun carriage — from the palace to Westminster Hall, the oldest building in the British parliamentary estate. Here, she will lie in state for five days.
The coffin will be kept in the middle of the hall on a decorated wooden platform, known as a catafalque, for the public to pay their respects. The hall will be open 23 hours a day.
King Charles will then attend a service at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales. He will meet the Welsh first minister during this visit.
As Commonwealth and international dignitaries pour into London for the funeral, on its eve, Charles will personally receive foreign royal families.
The state funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey, the royal church, where it will be taken from the Westminster Hall in a procession.
This will be followed by a two-minute silence across the entire nation. The funeral service will likely last for an hour. The coffin will then travel in another ceremonial procession to Hyde Park, from where it will be taken in a state hearse to Windsor, a town 35 kilometres west of London. The town is home to Windsor Castle, a residence of the British royal family.
There will be a procession through Windsor, and a prayer service at the castle’s St George’s Chapel. During this event, the coffin will be lowered into the royal vault, according to The Guardian.
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