With the death of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) on Thursday afternoon (September 8), her first-born son Charles (73), the longest-serving Prince of Wales to date, became the head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other nations, including Canada and Australia. Shortly after the official announcement of his mother’s death, King Charles III. an explanation. In it, he described the death of his beloved mother as a moment of great sadness for him and his family.
Throughout his life, spanning more than 70 years, Charles has lived patiently in the shadow of her accomplishments, continually being inducted into the role of the throne-holder. He knows the nation has revered the Queen as the epitome of constitutional monarchy. In this respect, it is unlikely that he will betray his mother’s legacy. So what can the world expect from the future king?
Charles will carry out his new post and the ceremonies that come with it impeccably and, where appropriate, probably as humorously as his mother. After all, he has practiced dealing with public tasks long enough. His advanced age and now scandal-free relationship with King’s wife Camilla (75) also minimizes the risks of personal misconduct that overshadowed his youth and his unhappy first marriage to Princess Diana (1961-1997).
This is where the resemblance between King Charles and Queen Elizabeth could end, however, as mother and son are very different personalities. Elizabeth II’s legendary ability to avoid hurting or alienating anyone was a brilliant strategic move. But Prince Charles has on many occasions been more outspoken and outspoken than his mother.
And on some topics he always found particularly clear words. King Charles, who is also very interested in modern architecture and music, has long advocated environmental protection and organic farming. In early 2020, he gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he called for the fight against climate change, “the greatest threat humanity has ever faced”, and said: “Let us go down in history as the people who have done nothing to restore the balance?” He didn’t want to be like that, as “CNN” reported about the event. It remains to be seen in which form he will use his new position.
As king, however, Charles is now also obliged to respect the monarchy’s impartiality towards prime ministers and parliament. Absolute confidentiality applies to the weekly audience with the prime minister, and the Guardian sees a danger here: “Charles is a man of intellectual passion, a royal David Attenborough.” Both men believe that not only the British nation but also the planet Earth is facing a catastrophe, “and Charles may think that this is more important than constitutional subtleties” and intervene in the conversation with the Prime Minister. Sir David Attenborough (96) is a British wildlife filmmaker, naturalist and writer.
The new monarch is likely to reform the image of the monarchy. While Elizabeth II upheld the traditions, Charles III is known to have done so. allegedly that he wants to loosen up the office and make it more “informal”. It is said that he wants to move out of Buckingham Palace as his official residence and convert it into a royal office building and museum, while keeping Clarence House as his London residence. In this context, according to media reports, it is also conceivable that he will connect the palace’s extensive private gardens with Green Park to form a green corridor from Whitehall to Kensington Palace.
King Charles III should also want to slim down the monarchy in terms of personnel. In this way there would be an heir to the throne and a small circle of senior royals, but the entire extended family would no longer enjoy the existing privileges and lifestyle – and would no longer be the focus of the world press.
Most royal families in Europe already have significantly slimmer monarchies. This was also confirmed by royal expert Julia Melchior in an interview with spot on news on the fringes of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th jubilee:
“In the other European royal families, there is a tendency to streamline them, so that only the direct line plays an official role. The second and third-born have no more duties – and no privileges either,” she said. This step must also be taken in the British royal family. With Prince Andrew (62), the Queen had done it after his involvement in the Epstein scandal. “He still remains a member of the family, only that he is now responsible for himself, whether for his livelihood or before the judiciary,” Melchior summarized the advantage.
Prince Harry (37) and Duchess Meghan (41) resigned as Senior Royals themselves at the beginning of 2020 and thus lost their privileges. With a slimmer monarchy, her children, Archie (3) and Lilibet (1), would probably lose the right to a prince and princess title that they received with the death of the Queen.
King Charles III has not yet announced its future plans in detail. The most important and probably most challenging task for the new king will nonetheless be to ensure the continued existence of the monarchy against voices critical of the royal. So it shouldn’t be boring during his reign.
