All his life, he will have been the crown prince, the one who would succeed his mother on the British throne. And finally, on Thursday, at the age of 73, Prince Charles takes on the role he has been waiting for all these years: King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms.
Posted at 1:53 p.m.
Updated at 2:27 p.m.
The new British sovereign takes the name of Charles III, his services, Clarence House, announced on Thursday.
The new King Charles described in his first intervention as sovereign, the death of his mother Elizabeth II as “a moment of very great sadness” which will be felt “around the world”.
“The passing of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a very sad moment for me and all my family members. We deeply mourn the loss of a beloved sovereign and a beloved mother. I know his loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, kingdoms and commonwealth, and by countless people around the world,” the king said in a statement.
New British Prime Minister Liz Truss called Charles “His Majesty Charles III”.
“Today the Crown passes, as it has for over a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new Head of State, His Majesty King Charles III,” said the Prime Minister, who had been received in audience by Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday.
How will he be received by his subjects? Unlike his mother, a highly consensual figure, Charles Windsor is far from unanimous.
Over the years, the man has polarized public opinion, being alternately applauded, booed or ridiculed, and has long been a whipping boy in the gossip press. Just think of his environmental flights of fancy (Harmony, A new way to look at the worldreleased in 2010), his controversial lobbying of certain ministers (the black spider memoswhere he gives his opinion on a host of subjects, from agriculture to architecture), his apology for homeopathy, his backward-looking architectural visions and, of course, his intimate conversations with Camilla Parker Bowles, who, exhibited at the big day, will reveal a romantic with a language that is audacious to say the least.
“His angle is going to be different”
These controversial episodes are now far behind. But doubts about Prince Charles’ stature have not completely disappeared. This stigmatized heir, who has often seemed to lack a filter, does he have the stature to replace a sovereign as neutral and irreproachable as Elisabeth?
For Penny Junor, author of two biographies on Prince Charles, the question simply does not arise.
Had the Queen died in the mid-1990s, after Diana’s death, there would have been a bigger question mark. Because at the time, Charles was deeply unpopular. But it’s been a long time. Today, public opinion has changed towards him.
Penny Junor, author of two biographies of Prince Charles
According to the British writer, Charles could even surprise as a sovereign. Where Elizabeth had accustomed us to royal reserve, avoiding pronouncing on matters of public interest, Charles’ reign could be distinguished by a new way of doing things, marked by greater involvement in modern issues.
“Elizabeth was a conservative queen. She was popular but did not innovate. Charles respects the monarchy, but I think his angle is going to be different. People know what he thinks of urbanity, pollution, the environment, organic farming, renewable energies and rural life. These are questions that interested him before they became popular. My impression is that he will be more willing to listen to ordinary people. »
Confound the skeptics?
Monarch historian Carolyn Harris agrees. Charles will be a monarch who could surprise, she believes, like her great-great-uncle Edward VII, who confounded many skeptics after his accession to the throne.
“When he succeeded Queen Victoria, Edward was best known as a fun-loving person. But he ended up becoming a very popular figure and establishing himself as a diplomat. When he died he was so beloved that some even speak of an Edwardian era. »
Elisabeth has been in the job for so long that it’s hard for the public to see anyone else in her place. But who knows, maybe Charles will grow into the role.
Carolyn Harris, historian of the monarchy
Under royal protocol, Charles automatically succeeds his mother to the throne. While in the past some have raised the possibility that the Prince of Wales might decide to pass the torch directly to his son William, an overall more popular figure, Phillip Murphy, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, brushes aside speculation .
“No chance,” he said. It’s the job he’s been waiting for all his life. »
with Agence France-Presse