On his first full day on the job, Britain’s new king is likely to meet with the prime minister and give a speech to the whole country.
King Charles III, who just took over the British throne, came back to London from Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Friday, a day after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died, to give his first speech to the country.
The speech, which will be shown on TV in the late afternoon, will be the most important part of a day of remembering the queen. But it will also show that Britain’s government stays the same because the new king will meet with the new prime minister, Liz Truss, who started her job earlier this week.
Before the king came to the capital, gun salutes from Hyde Park and other places echoed through the city. There were 96 rounds, one for each year the queen had lived. At noon, bells rang at Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Windsor Castle, all of which are outside of London. The Queen spent most of the last years of her life at these places.
Then Charles went with Camilla, who is now the queen consort. Her mother-in-law really wanted Camilla to get this title. In February, the queen celebrated her 70th year on the throne. She knew this moment of change was coming and asked Britons in a personal statement to be kind to Charles and Camilla.
“When the time is right and my son Charles becomes King, I know you will support him and his wife Camilla the way you have supported me,” the queen wrote. “I hope with all my heart that, when the time comes, Camilla will be called Queen Consort as she continues to serve the country.”
That answered a tricky question about what Camilla Parker-Bowles would be called after Charles became king. When Charles was married to Diana, Princess of Wales, they went out together. After he and Diana split up, he married Camilla. Charles had been pushing for a long time for Camilla to be named queen consort when he became king.
In a week full of big changes in Britain, Charles is the second important person to give their first speech. On Tuesday, the day the queen named her prime minister, Ms. Truss spoke in front of Downing Street. She walked out to the same lectern two days later to swear loyalty to the new king.
The speech by the king is the first step in a carefully planned series of events that mark the change from Elizabeth to Charles. After a meeting of the Accession Council at St. James’s Palace on Saturday, Charles will be officially proclaimed king. This is done after the death of a monarch and is a tradition.
