in the streets of London, the British divided on their new king

Above Buckingham Palace in London, a ballet of helicopters warns the few thousand people gathered in front of the gates that the time to write history with a capital H is approaching. On this Friday, September 9, for a few minutes, the crowd was plunged into deep silence. It is 2 p.m. when, suddenly, a cry rises: “Long live the king !” The clamor rises, accompanied in its movement by a coordinated deployment of selfie sticks. The thousands of curious people shout, intone the God Save The King and applaud, while Charles III, new king of England, and his wife Camilla, just arrived, come to meet them.

>> Proclamation of the new King Charles III: find the latest information in our live

It is the new king’s very first interaction with his subjects since the death on Thursday of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. A walkabout during which Charles III received – in addition to condolences – compliments, flowers and even kisses.

King Charles III, wearing a black suit and tie, is outside the gates of Buckingham Palace as he greets members of the public.

One woman has kisses him on the cheek as he stopped in front of her.

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At 73, the ex-Prince of Wales naturally accedes to the throne, but will he manage to gain access to the hearts of the British?

“Let’s be clear, succeeding the Queen is an impossible task”, underlines Janice, 79 years old. But this Londoner, who came “neighbor”rejoiced at the warm welcome given to the king. “I have faith in his ability to bring us together. I think people are just now realizing that Charles has done a lot more than they thought for our country.”, believes this lady, who stands straight, arms crossed, leather jacket on her back and tears in her eye. An opinion still little shared recently: at the end of 2021, a survey by the YouGov institute (in English) placed him in seventh position among the most popular members of the royal family, behind his sister, Anne, or even his niece, Zara Phillips. In May, the same institute revealed that as many Britons (32%) believed that Charles would sometimes make a good king, sometimes a bad one. Indifference narrowly prevailed, with 34%.

“He is no longer the shy Charles of old. He has changed a lot when he meets Camilla”swears Janice’s wife, Mary, 75. “She is a calming presence for him. With her by his side, he will be a very good king”, she abounds, her eyes full of tenderness behind sunglasses. Before sighing: “I wish he had never married Diana.”

Difficult indeed to approach the question of the unpopularity of Charles without evoking the aura of his first wife. By publicly revealing the prince’s infidelities on television in 1995, the hugely popular Lady Di shattered the illusion that guaranteed Charles the polite affection of his subjects. “He’s our king now, we must love him, but Diana’s memories are fresh”, remarked Stephen Johnson, a 56-year-old man met by AFP in front of Buckingham Palace. And this 25 years after the death of “the people’s princess” in a car crash.

Among younger generations, the series The Crown, on Netflix, is responsible for maintaining the image of a haughty Charles, cold and secretly jealous of the natural charisma of the mother of his children. A work of fiction in direct competition with the story carried by Clarence House and Buckingham Palace: that of a grandpa “who takes his grandchildren on his knees (…) and reads them Harry Potter imitating all the voices”according to the Queen consort.

For his first steps in his king’s costume, “He seemed accessible, warm even, especially in these difficult circumstances!”, enthuses Angie, 56. Arriving in England on Tuesday with her husband for the installation of their son in Nottingham, in the center of the country, she was able to exchange a few words with the monarch, pressed against the barriers erected in front of Buckingham Palace. “I sent my condolences to him and said we were from Singapore. He smiled and replied naturally: ‘Hey, I haven’t been there for a while!'”, she says, incredulous. She will soon bring back her anecdote and the memory of a handshake in this Commonwealth republic.

For Sean Coughlan, specialist in the British crown at the BBC, Charles has become well and truly in recent years “a relaxed and accessible figure, who hooks his audience by practicing self-mockery”he writes on the site of the public media (in English). “Perhaps that will change with his status as a monarch, but as Prince of Wales he has developed an affable and more consensual grandfather style”.

“Already, he has more humor [que la reine]“, whispers a man in his sixties, with a smirk, who has come out of curiosity to the outskirts of the palace and unimpressed by the media circus. Beside him, a lady nods, shaking up and down her salt and pepper scarf: “And he took positions on global warming before anyone else. That’s a good point for him.”

To this credibility acquired on the international scene through the environmental issue, are added “many commitments to charities”emphasize Janice and Mary: “He is associated with a life of privilege, but in his action he has always defended the weakest, the most vulnerable, the poorest”, they list in unison. A displayed sensitivity which can prove invaluable when many voices are raised to denounce a monarchy whose splendor contrasts with the sacrifices imposed on the citizens by the most important recession that the country has known for forty years.

“It will be interesting to see the tone and the style that Charles III will adopt in the months to come”, anticipates Tim, 40, over a pint shared with a childhood friend, in a pub at the gates of the historic business district of the capital, the City. According to him, it is his experience of the reign that will definitively decide the question of his popularity: “There, he has just lost his mother, and we our queen. Everyone can identify with what such a loss represents. It is normal in these conditions to attract sympathy. On the other hand, over time, he will have to prove themselves, he points out, and “bringing the British people together.”

But on this Friday evening, the royal word does not carry. Peter asked a waitress to turn up the sound, but it was impossible to listen to Charles III’s first speech in the hubbub leaving the offices. A lack of enthusiasm, perhaps? “It is William who will carry the torch of the monarchy”, slice the 39-year-old man, who works in the neighborhood, and lives in Essex. “Charles comes to the throne at a difficult time. I think he’s going to pave the way for his son. Transition, in a way.”

In April, an Ipsos poll revealed that 42% of Britons wanted Charles to let his son reign in his place. This evening, Peter and Tim did not hear the king promise, on the contrary, that he would ensure his mission until the end. But they already know that he will be less popular than his mother and his son after him.