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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Queen Elizabeth’s son Prince Charles was officially declared King Charles III in an elegant ceremony Saturday two days after the Queen’s death.
Several
senior British politicians both past and present as well as new 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, The Associated
Press reports.
Speaking at
St. James’s Palace in London, King Charles III said:
“I am deeply aware of this great inheritance
and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now
passed to me,” according to the Washington Examiner.
“I know how deeply you and the entire nation,
and I think I may say the whole world, sympathize with me in this irreparable
loss we have all suffered,” the new King added.
King Charles
used the ceremony to declare the day of his mother’s funeral as a public
holiday in the U.K.
Following
the queen’s death, Charles automatically became King although the ceremony
Saturday was a key constitutional and ceremonial step in the introduction of the
new monarch to the country.
At the meeting
of the Accession Council, in the absence of Charles, he was official given the
title, King Charles III, according to the Associated Press. The king then
joined them, and vowed to follow his mother’s “inspiring example.”
The King
said he was consoled by the outpouring of sympathies and best wishes during his
mother’s death.
"It is
the greatest consolation to me to know of the sympathy expressed by so many to
my sister and my brothers and that such overwhelming affection and support
should be extended to our whole family in our loss. To all of us as a
family," he said, Newsweek reported
"As to
this kingdom and to the wider family of nations of which it is a part, my
mother gave an example of lifelong love and of selfless service," the king
went on.
The date of
the queen’s state funeral has not been announced but is expected to be around
September 19, according to The Associated Press.
The last
time the accession ceremony was held was in 1952 when Queen Elizabeth II was proclaimed
Queen.
How old was Prince Charles when he became king?
Charles
became king at the age of 73, waiting more than seven decades to ascend the
throne of his fathers. He became the oldest British monarch to be crowned king
after King William IV who was crowned at the age of 64, according to the
Washington Examiner.
Charles was
accompanied at the ceremony by his wife Camilla, now the “Queen Consort”, and
Prince Williams his eldest son who is now the Prince of Wales, the Washington
Examiner quoted Buckingham Palace as confirming the new roles.
President
Joe Biden praised the Queen for her sterling qualities following her demise.
“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than
a monarch,” Biden said in a statement Thursday, according to Washington
Examiner. “She defined an era.”
The proclamation
was make by David White, the Garter King of Arms, flanked by trumpeters in gold
trimmed robes before leading cheers - “hip, hip hooray!” – for the new king,
according to The Associated Press.
It was
briefly followed by gun salutes in Hyde Park, at the Tower of London and at
military sites around the U.K. as scarlet-robed soldiers in the palace
courtyard doffed their bearskin hats in a royal salute.
96-year-old
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday shortly
after doctors said they were “concerned” about her Majesty’s health. She had
been on the throne for 70 years, becoming the country’s longest serving monarch.