Following her passing on Thursday at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth put into motion elaborately planned preparations for days of commemoration and a memorial service that will take place in less than a week.
King Charles:
Although Charles, 73, instantly succeeded his mother, the Accession Meeting took place on Saturday to officially crown him as king. Liz Truss, the new premier of Britain, along with his wife Camilla and son and heir William, all signed the document.
Six past national leaders, a number of bishops, and legislators all chanted “Jesus Protect King” during the authority’s scheduled meeting.
Charles said, “I am well conscious of this tremendous heritage and of the obligations and weighty obligations of Monarchy which have now transferred to me.
“In accepting these duties, I shall endeavour to defend constitutional government in the spirit of the inspiring example I have been set, and to pursue the peace, harmony, and prosperity of the peoples of these islands as well as of the Commonwealth realms and territories across the world.”
Later, while trumpets blew, the Garter King of Arms, David White, together with others wearing traditional heraldic garb, read out the Principal Proclamation from the Proclamation Gallery, a balcony above Friary Court of St. James’s Palace.
A few hundred spectators were permitted entry into the court at St James’s, the oldest royal residence in the United Kingdom and one that Henry VIII had built in the 1530s. Among them were young children on their parents’ shoulders, a woman holding flowers, and the elderly in wheelchairs.
The declaration was also scheduled to be read out in public in several United Kingdom towns, including Cardiff, Wales, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Edinburgh, Scotland.
There have been several tributes paid to Elizabeth, who was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, both domestically and internationally. Buildings around Europe, America, and Africa have been lit up in the British flag’s red, white, and blue as a way to commemorate her life.
Early on Saturday morning, crowds began forming outside of royal residences in Britain. Thousands flocked to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects to the queen and Charles, who had just been proclaimed king at nearby St. James’s Palace.
Elizabeth, sometimes referred to by her grandson Harry as “the country’s grandmother,” has been designated to be mourned in Britain until her royal funeral. Although a date has not been set, it is anticipated in a little more than a week.
The burial is likely to draw world leaders, including American ones, to London. Joe Biden, the president, confirmed on Friday that he will go.
When her father King George VI passed away on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth—the world’s oldest and longest-serving head of state took the throne at the age of barely 25.
She oversaw a fundamental shift in the social, political, and economic makeup of her country over the years.
Despite intensive media scrutiny and the struggles of her family, which were frequently made public, she was praised for leading the monarchy into the twenty-first century and modernising it in the process.
Charles, who according to polls is less well-liked than his mother, is now charged with ensuring the institution’s existence.
