King Charles III has been proclaimed the United Kingdom’s monarch in a pomp-filled ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism – an event which has been for the first time, broadcast live online and on air.
The ceremony on Saturday was followed by gun salutes and the reading of proclamations in London and in the other capital cities of the UK – Edinburgh in Scotland, Belfast in Northern Ireland, and Cardiff in Wales.
Charles, who spent seven decades as heir apparent, automatically became king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on Thursday. But the accession ceremony was a key constitutional and ceremonial step in introducing the new monarch to the country, a relic of a time before mass communications.
Dozens of senior British politicians past and present, including Prime Minister Liz Truss and five of her predecessors, gathered in the ornate state apartments at St James’s Palace for the meeting of the Accession Council.
They met without Charles, officially confirming his title, King Charles III. The king then joined them, pledging to follow his mother’s “inspiring example” as he took on the duties of monarch.
