LONDON: A day after Queen Elizabeth II’s death at her Scottish retreat, the new King Charles III left Balmoral and returned to London on a day marked by gun salutes and tolling bells.
The 73-year-old head of state, who has spent his whole life as a king in waiting, was accompanied by his wife Camilla, now Queen Consort.
Friday (9th of September, 2022) timeline:
– 11:20 am (1020 GMT) –
Charles leaves Balmoral, in northeast Scotland, bound for London in a convoy of cars.
Queen Consort Camilla looks pensive in the front seat of the vehicle headed for Aberdeen airport for the flight back to the capital.
Charles sits in the back.
– 12:00 pm –
Church bells toll across Britain in tribute to the late monarch, including at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and at the late monarch’s residence Windsor, west of the capital.
– 12:15 pm –
Buckingham Palace announces Charles will be formally proclaimed king at the Accession Council, starting at 10:00 am on Saturday.
– 1:00 pm –
Cannon fire rings out across all four corners of the country and beyond, in a ceremonial “death gun salute” in memory of the queen.
Ninety-six shots – one for every year of her life – are fired from Hyde Park and the Tower of London in the capital.
Heavy guns are also fired at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland and Cardiff Castle in Wales, as well as the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.
– 1:35 pm –
The plane carrying Charles and Camilla lands at RAF Northolt in west London. They drive to Buckingham Palace where greet crowds gathered there.
One well-wisher kisses Charles while others cheer and sing “God Save the King”.
Charles, dressed in a black suit, shakes hands with people in the crowd who offer words of condolence.
The Royal Standard flag, which is flown at royal palaces when a monarch is in residence, is later raised at Buckingham Palace for the first time in Charles III’s reign.
– 4:13 pm –
Charles holds his first in-person audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace.
Such private meetings between the politically neutral monarch and prime minister typically take place weekly and occured throughout Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign.
– 6:00 pm –
Charles makes his first televised address to the nation and the Commonwealth as king, paying an emotional tribute to his “darling mama”.
He announces that Prince William and his wife Kate are to become the new Prince and Princess of Wales.
A memorial service follows at St Paul’s cathedral, not attended by the new monarch.
– 7:06 pm –
The first official public rendition of “God Save the King” rings out for the first time at the church service for the queen at the cathedral in central London, with Truss in attendance.
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King Charles III vowed to emulate his late mother’s long life of service to Britain and the Commonwealth, and elevated his heir William to become the new prince of Wales, in an emotive televised address.
In his first spoken remarks since ascending the throne upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Charles also declared his “love” for his estranged younger son Harry and Harry’s wife Meghan.
The new monarch further said he could “count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla” after she became queen consort.
Charles said he shared the public’s “sense of loss beyond measure” after his mother passed away on Thursday aged 96, after a record-breaking reign of 70 years.
“That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today,” he said.
“As the queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.”
Addressing his “darling Mama”, joining his father the late Prince Philip, who died last year, “I want simply to say this: thank you”, the new king said.
“Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
As heir to the queen, Charles was duke of Cornwall and duke of Rothesay in Scotland, titles that passed immediately to William on Thursday.
But the highest title for the heir to the throne, prince of Wales, remained in the monarch’s gift to bestow or withhold.
“Today, I am proud to create him prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru (in Welsh), the country whose title I have been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty,” Charles said.
“With Catherine beside him, our new prince and princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given.”
The date of the queen’s state funeral has yet to be confirmed but is expected on September 19.
“In a little over a week’s time we will come together as a nation, as a Commonwealth and indeed a global community, to lay my beloved mother to rest,” Charles said.
“In our sorrow, let us remember and draw strength from the light of her example,” he said.
“On behalf of all my family, I can only offer the most sincere and heartfelt thanks for your condolences and support.
“They mean more to me than I can ever possibly express.”
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