King Charles III be proclaimed at Accession Council today
UK: Britain’s Royal family will observe a period of mourning that ends on the seventh day after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, with flags at royal residences to remain at half mast. “Following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, it is His Majesty The King’s wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen’s Funeral,” a statement said.
A gun salute was fired in London at 1 p.m. in Hyde Park on Friday, with one round fired for each year of the 96-year-old queen’s life, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.
The palace did not say when the funeral would be held, but it is likely to take place around 11 days after the Queen’s death on Thursday. Buckingham Palace said flags at royal residences would remain at half mast until the morning after the mourning period and that royal residences would remain closed, although floral tributes could be left outside.
King Charles III will be proclaimed at the Accession Council at 10 a.m. today (Saturday) in the State Apartments of St James’s Palace, Buckingham Palace has said.
Dressed in a black suit and tie, the grieving king, left Balmoral last afternoon seated in the back of a car, with his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, in the front passenger seat, as they were driven in convoy to the airport. The couple spent the night at Balmoral following the death of the 96-year-old monarch, who he described as a “cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother”.
The King returned to the capital to hold his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss, before he addresses the nation.
The 73-year-old was by his mother’s side at her beloved Scottish Highlands home for much of on Thursday after catching the royal helicopter from Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
King Charles III acceded to the throne immediately following the death of Elizabeth II on Thursday, and described losing his mother as “a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family”.
During this period of mourning, he said he and his family would be “comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held”. Meanwhile, The Queen’s coffin is set to lie in state to allow the public to pay their last respects. Lying in state is usually reserved for sovereigns, current or past queen consorts, and sometimes former prime ministers.
– BBC NEWS, SKY NEWS