King Charles Is Proclaimed Monarch in Arcane, Very White-Looking Ceremony

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King Charles, with Queen Consort Camilla and son and heir Prince William by his side, was proclaimed monarch at St James’ Palace in London Saturday morning by a gathering of the “lords spiritual and temporal” who make up the so-called Accession Council.

In the declaration he read out, Charles said: “I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me. In taking up these responsibilities, I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony and prosperity of the peoples of these Islands and of the Commonwealth realms and territories throughout the world.”

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The event, televised for the first time, ran smoothly despite a heart-stopping moment when Charles, who had opted to sign the scrolls declaring his new role with an antique fountain pen, came close to knocking a pot of ink in which he had dipped the pen, all over the parchment.

Otherwise, the event, a quintessentially bizarre and British ceremony, went like clockwork, featuring crenelated castles, men in funny uniforms, plenty of gold brocade, and gun salutes across Britain—in London, Cardiff Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Hillsborough Castle, Gibraltar, Colchester, York and naval bases in Devonport and Portsmouth. There were trumpets, and cries of “Hip, hip hooray.”

David White, the garter king of arms, read the formal proclamation of Charles’ appointment from a balcony above St James’ Friary Court at 11am, local time. Then the assembled crowd sang the re-gendered anthem “God Save the King” with the Band of the Coldstream Guards.

However, with just a smattering of non-white people visible among the attendees, it seemed an oddly regressive way for a monarch who desires to be forward looking and relevant to a wide swathe of society to usher in his reign, especially given the controversies over recent royal tours to the Caribbean and the growing willingness of many former colonial realms to get rid of the British monarch as head of state.

The council, the Times reported, comprises about 200 dignitaries including a selection of privy counsellors and the high commissioners of the 14 Commonwealth countries where the monarch is head of state.

Concrete moves are underway in at least six countries in the Caribbean—Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis—to remove the monarch as their sovereign. Barbados fired the queen and became a republic in November 2021.

Social media critics were quick to pick up on how white and male the composition of the Accession Council looked on screen.

In one striking blow for equality, however, women were generously permitted to attend the gathering for the first time. The point was made by Sky News’ royal historian Alastair Bruce.

Indeed, the only women to have attended an accession council in the last two hundred years are Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.

Women present Saturday included the former prime minister (PM) Theresa May and the present PM Liz Truss. All living former PMs (and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer) were present in their roles as members of the Privy Council, an advisory body to the monarch with some 700 members.

Technically all privy council members are allowed to attend the Accession Council. However, numbers were capped at around 200 for the two-part ceremony, which was held in the picture gallery and throne room at St James’ Palace, the most ancient of the royal palaces and the spiritual headquarters of the monarchy. St James’ Palace is just a few hundred yards for the monarchy’s operational headquarters, Buckingham Palace.

“My lords, ladies and gentlemen, it is my most sorrowful duty to announce to you the death of my beloved mother the queen,” Charles told the council.

In his declaration, Charles added: “I know how deeply you, the entire nation, and I think I may say the whole world, sympathize with me in the irreparable loss we’ve all suffered. It is the greatest consolation to me to know the sympathy expressed by so many to my sister and brothers. And that such overwhelming affection and support should be extended to our whole family in our loss.

“Her reign was unequalled in its duration, its dedication and its devotion. Even as we grieve, we give thanks for this most faithful life.”