Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

King Charles III proclaimed Britain’s monarch in historic ceremony

King Charles III was on Saturday proclaimed Britain’s new monarch in a historic ceremony of the Accession Council that was televised for the first time in history. “God save the King” were the words with which those gathered reaffirmed the proclamation made by the clerk of the council.

The throne had passed to the 73-year-old former Prince of Wales following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday and Saturday’s ceremony marked his formal declaration and oath taking at St. James’s Palace in London. He was joined by his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, and his son and heir Prince William — the new Prince of Wales.
Britain’s William, Prince of Wales and Queen Consort Camilla listen as King Charles III speaks during the Accession Council at St. James’s Palace, where he is formally proclaimed Britain’s new monarch in London on September 10, 2022.

Flags lowered atop the palace in mourning for the late Queen were brought back up to full mast after the Accession Council proclamation, which followed a wave of further proclamations across the U.K. to go into Sunday — when flags will return to half-mast in a state of mourning for the Queen.

A Principal Proclamation was read in public for the first time by the Garter King of Arms 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 at Hyde Park in London.

The Privy Council, which includes politicians, senior members of the clergy and Supreme Court justices, first gathered without the King to proclaim the new monarch and arrange business relating to the proclamation. Following the proclamation, King Charles III held his first Privy Council meeting and made his personal declaration to "assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty" and follow in the footsteps of his late mother.

In his declaration to the Accession Council, a centuries-old body of senior British royals, and political and religious leaders, the new monarch noted the “heavy responsibilities” of his new duty. “I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Liz Truss and senior members of her government took oaths of loyalty to the king. House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was the first to pledge he will “bear true allegiance to his Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors,” followed by senior MPs and the Prime Minister.