Following the tragic passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the eyes of the world have been firmly fixed on the Royal Family, particularly King Charles III who has been forced to grieve the death of his beloved mother while navigating his new role as Head of State.
King Charles III has featured heavily in the public eye of late, not only has he officially ascended to the throne as King but he has also joined mourners across Britain in bidding a final farewell to the Queen after he led the procession of the late Monarch’s coffin through the streets of London during Her Majesty’s state funeral on Monday, September 19.
Despite a few pen-related mishaps the new King has received high praise from the public regarding his approach to what has surely been a mammoth undertaking. One such figure who commended King Charles was former Palace butler Martin Higgins who told Today that King Charles had been “majestic in every sense” despite recent events “clearly taking an emotional toll”.
“I think in the last few days the toll that has been put on, the King especially, and the Royal family, obviously they’re going through their own personal grief as well as having media attention and the world on them and performing these duties,” Higgins said.
“Of course they can’t put a foot wrong, because it will be disrespectful to Her Majesty so they’ve done brilliantly.”
Higgins also revealed that he believes King Charles will “be a phenomenal Monarch”.
Emotions ran high during the Queen’s state funeral as hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets of London and leaders and dignitaries from around the world joined members of the royal family to say their final goodbyes to Queen Elizabeth II.
King Charles’ final goodbye to his mother took the form of a handwritten note that sat atop her coffin.
The note sat among a wreath of colourful flowers taken from the gardens of the royal residences which included English oak, rosemary and myrtle that had previously been featured in the Queen’s wedding bouquet
The simple yet touching note read, “In loving and devoted memory. Charles R.”, the letter R stands for Rex which in Latin means King.
Before the state funeral service commenced, the country’s first since Winston Churchill’s, a bell rang out 96 times to symbolise each year of Her Majesty’s life.
The Queen’s flag-draped coffin sat atop a gun carriage which was drawn by rope by 142 Royal Navy sailors before being taken by pallbearers into Westminster Abbey where presidents, prime ministers and dignitaries made up the 2000 strong congregation.
Following a series of readings and hymns during the funeral service, the ceremony concluded with two minutes of silence across the country before attendees sang God Save the King.
Following a procession through the streets of London the Queen’s coffin was taken to St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle for a committal service where 800 guests were in attendance.
As the service reached its conclusion the sovereign’s crown, orb and sceptre were removed from the coffin in a symbolic separation of Queen Elizabeth from her crown for the last time.
As King Charles placed the Queen’s company camp flag on top of the coffin, Lord Chamberlain broke his wand of office before also placing it atop the coffin, marking the end of his service to the Queen before the coffin was eventually lowered into the Royal Vault.
During a private family service, later in the evening, the coffins of the Queen and Prince Philip were moved from the vault to be buried together.
King Charles III was officially proclaimed Britain’s new Monarch in a history-making ceremony on Saturday, September 10 that was televised for the first time.
Accompanied by his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, and his eldest son Prince William, King Charles joined approximately 200 senior politicians and officials at St James’ Palace for the Accession Council where he was officially proclaimed King by Clerk of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Richard Tilbrook.
King Charles delivered a declaration to the ceremony where he pledged “to follow the inspiring example” set by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in “upholding constitutional government” and vowed “to seek the peace, harmony and prosperity of the peoples of these islands and of the Commonwealth realms and territories throughout the world”.