Charles III formally proclaimed King, Princes William and Harry appear together

LONDON –

Two days after the death of his mother put him on the throne, King Charles III. was officially proclaimed Britain’s monarch on Saturday in a pompous ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism – and broadcast live on television and online for the first time.

Charles, who spent seven decades as heir to the throne, automatically became king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on Thursday. But the accession ceremony was an important constitutional and ceremonial step in introducing the new monarch to the country, a relic of a pre-mass communication era.

“I am deeply aware of this great legacy and the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty that have now passed to me,” he said as he assumed the duties of the monarch.

Hours after the ceremony, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, later joined Prince William and Princess Kate at Windsor Castle to view the sea of ​​floral tributes left by the public in honor of the prince’s grandmother. It was the couple’s first public appearance since the Queen’s death. The princes and their wives were seen shaking hands and speaking to members of the public.

Queen Elizabeth II will lie in the Houses of Parliament for four days from Wednesday, palace officials said after her body was taken from Balmoral first to Edinburgh and then to London. The state funeral will take place on September 19 at Westminster Abbey.

Organizers described the ceremony as “a fitting farewell to one of the defining figures of our time.”

The palace made the announcement hours after the first accession ceremony since 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss and five of her predecessors were among dozens of senior current and former British politicians who gathered in the ornate State Apartments of St James’s Palace for the Accession Council meeting.

They met without Charles and officially confirmed his title, King Charles III. The king then joined them, vowing to follow his mother’s “inspiring example” as he assumed monarch’s duties.

“I know how deeply you and the whole nation, and I think I may say the whole world, sympathize with me in this irreparable loss that we have all suffered,” he said of his own grief.

The new king officially approved a number of decrees, including one making the day of his mother’s funeral a public holiday.

Charles was joined at the ceremony by wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, and eldest son Prince William, who is now heir apparent to the throne and is known by the long-held title of Charles, the Prince of Wales.

In his first statement since his grandmother’s death, William said the Queen was “by my side in my happiest moments. And she was by my side through the saddest days of my life.”

“I knew that day would come, but it’s going to take some time before the reality of life without a grandma feels really real,” he said.

Saturday’s accession ceremony ended with a royal official greeting King Charles III from a balcony of the palace. publicly declared monarch. In centuries past, this would have been the first official public confirmation of their new ruler.

David White, the Garter King of Arms, made the proclamation, flanked by trumpeters in gold-trimmed robes, before cheering — “hip, hip, hooray!” — for the new king.

Gun salutes rang out in Hyde Park, at the Tower of London and at military bases across Britain as he announced the news, and scarlet-clad soldiers in the palace courtyard doffed their bearskin hats in a royal salute.

The proclamation was read elsewhere in the UK, including the medieval City of London.

Two days after the 96-year-old Queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after an unprecedented 70 years on the throne, people still turned out in their thousands to pay their respects outside Buckingham Palace in London. The scene was repeated at other royal residences in the United Kingdom and at British embassies around the world.

For many Britons, her death, although long-awaited, is a destabilizing experience. Queen Elizabeth II is the only monarch most have ever known, and her death comes as many Britons grapple with an energy crisis, the rising cost of living, the uncertainties of the war in Ukraine and the fallout from Brexit.

The country has also just experienced a change in leadership. Truss was appointed by the Queen on Tuesday, just two days before the monarch’s death. On Saturday, Truss and other senior British lawmakers lined up in the House of Commons to take an oath of allegiance to the new king.

Normal Parliament has been suspended during a period of mourning for the Queen. The House of Commons held a rare Saturday session to allow lawmakers to pay tribute to the late monarch.

Charles struck a sign of continuity on Friday, vowing in a televised address to continue the Queen’s “lifelong service” with his own stamp of modernization.

Looking both to the past – noting his mother’s unwavering “devotion and devotion as sovereign” – and to the future, the new monarch sought to strike a reassuring note of permanence while signaling that he was a 21st-century monarchy will be.

Reflecting on how the country had dramatically transformed into a “many cultures and many faiths” society during the Queen’s reign, he vowed to serve the people of Britain and the 14 other countries where he is king, “independently of your background or beliefs. “

In his first hours as monarch, he also attempted to overcome his reputation for aloofness by spending time shaking hands with some of the thousands who came to leave flowers and pay tribute to the Queen outside the gates of Buckingham Palace . He was greeted with shouts of “Well done, Charlie!” and “God save the king!” A woman gave him a kiss on the cheek.