Speech, grandiose coronation and first state visit: the first year of the reign of Charles III was marked by many unprecedented moments for the monarch, who took over from his mother Elizabeth II a year ago, on September 8, 2022.
This first year alternated historical moments and a more traditional agenda for this head of state of 15 nations, with an eminently ceremonial function.
Known for his strong positions on issues such as the environment, organic farming and education when he was Prince of Wales, Charles slipped into constitutional reserve without apparent difficulty.
No public event is planned to mark the anniversary of Charles’ accession to the throne, who is currently staying at the Scottish castle of Balmoral, where Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, after a record 70-year reign.
• The time of mourning: first speech
The day after Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, her son, who became King Charles III, appeared on British screens. Visibly moved, he paid tribute to his mother’s long reign and promised to serve the British “with loyalty, respect and love.”
“To my dear mother, as you begin your last great journey to be reunited with my dearly departed dad, I simply want to say this: thank you,” he says, letting his feelings shine through.
In this speech recorded from Buckingham Palace, Charles refers to his eldest son and heir William, Prince of Wales, a title he himself held until his accession to the throne, and expresses his “love” for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan , now on the throne. USA.
Shortly before, upon returning from Scotland, where the queen had died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle, the monarch had greeted at length the crowd that had come to pay tribute to the late sovereign. Before the funeral, national mourning lasts 10 days during which the new sovereign will tour his kingdom.
• A very popular Christmas speech
On December 25, Charles III gave his first Christmas speech, an unmissable event since 1932 and televised since 1957.
Recorded from St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where his mother and father Philip rest, he thanks the British “for the love and sympathy they have shown to our entire family”.
In the midst of a cost of living crisis and at a time when historic strikes are shaking the country, the king thinks of those “looking for ways to pay their bills or feed and warm their families.”
More than 10.6 million people watched the speech, a record.
• A grand coronation
Charles was officially crowned on May 6 with great fanfare at Westminster Abbey in front of an audience of prestigious guests but without much popular fervor.
Together with his wife Camilla, also crowned queen, Charles receives the crown of Saint Edward from the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury during a Christian ceremony marked by the weight of the history of the monarchy. The event is somewhat modernized with a shorter duration, representatives of the main religions and guests show more of the diversity of today’s United Kingdom.
After a procession to Buckingham Palace, the royal family sacrificed themselves to the ritual of greeting from the balcony, without Prince Harry, who a few months earlier had published very harsh memoirs towards his family.
• A state visit… to Germany
For his first state visit, Charles III was due to travel to France at the end of March to celebrate the long-standing Franco-British friendship, before immediately traveling to Germany. But this French visit had to be postponed, prevented for security reasons in the midst of the social movement against the pension reform.
The royal couple will finally travel to Paris and Bordeaux, from September 20 to 22.
In Berlin, in a historic speech delivered mainly in German in Parliament, the king called for unity against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, deploring the return of the “scourge” of war in Europe.
• Awakening of the anti-monarchists
Inaudible under the popular Isabel II, pro-Republic activists have regained vigor, although they remain a minority.
Often present in the crowd during the king’s official trips, they are clearly visible with their posters and t-shirts flanked by the slogan “Not my king.”
During the coronation, hundreds of them gathered in Trafalgar Square in London and around 60 were detained in a police operation that sparked controversy, with some calling for a crackdown on free speech.
The king also had to face egg-throwing on several occasions during some of his travels, such as in York (northern England) in November where a man, then sentenced to 100 hours of community service, justified his act by the “violence implemented by the British State.”
Source: BFM TV
