The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, hailed this Saturday the “moment of joy” which was the coronation of King Carlos III and Queen Camilla, which he attended in London, which he considered the beginning of “a new historical cycle “. .
Speaking to journalists after the ceremony, the president saluted “our oldest ally, the United Kingdom, for this moment which is a moment of joy with the coronation of first the king and then the queen”.
“It is a new historical cycle that is beginning,” he stressed, recalling that he was in the British capital in September for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II “at a very sad time”.
“The contrast was clear,” he stressed, recalling “the weight of a queen who had marked an era in the life not only of the United Kingdom, but of Europe and the world.”
In addition to the coronation ceremony, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa attended a reception for heads of state and government at Buckingham Palace this morning at Westminster Abbey on Friday evening.
There he said that “the affection they have for Portugal was visible on the part of the royal family”, in particular the king, “obviously very attentive to the fact that this year we celebrate the 650th anniversary of our alliance, the oldest in Europe, and among the oldest in the world”.
The head of state said he had taken advantage of that meeting with the dignitaries invited by Carlos III for some bilateral and multilateral meetings with counterparts, as was the case with the Brazilian Lula da Silva and the Angolan João Lourenço.
“We talked about the CPLP summit to be held in August,” last week, an event that will mark the end of a Presidency and the beginning of a new Presidency of the Community of Lusophone Countries.
King Charles III was crowned today at Westminster Abbey, along with the Queen Consort, Camila, in a religious ceremony with around 2,000 guests that lasted two hours.
The ritual involved anointing with consecrated oil and presenting to the sovereign several crown jewels symbolizing the transference of powers.
In addition to being head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth countries, the sovereign is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, “Defender of the Faith” as well as leader of the Anglican Church and Britain’s “Fountain of Justice”.
After the ceremony, the King and Queen followed in procession to Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn carriage and accompanied by about 6,000 soldiers.
The festivities ended with an appearance on the palace balcony along with other members of the royal family to wave to the crowd and watch military jets fly overhead.
Source: DN
