Time to reflect for Charles

THE new king is tired and has elected to have a day of private reflection.

King Charles is expected to temporarily hand over the baton of royal public mourning to the new Prince of Wales William and his wife who were late on Thursday night Australian time due to stage a walkabout at the gates of Sandringham to view floral tributes for the Queen.

Further north in Manchester, his brother The Duke and Duchess of Wessex were expected to shoulder their share of the public limelight and light a candle at Manchester Cathedral for the late monarch.

King Charles has been visibly suffering with grief since losing his mother last Thursday who died peacefully at her Balmoral residence in Scotland.

In a detailed planning for the aftermath of the Queen’s death – known as “Operation London Bridge” – a day was set aside at this point for the new monarch to have some time removed from public duty.

The period will allow the King to contemplate the momentous events of the past week which saw him proclaimed king in a public ceremony steep in pomp. He was also forced to put his raw grief on display when he walked with his siblings behind their mother’s coffin through Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

King Charles exposed his sensitivity, again, when he stood guard at her coffin in Edinburgh’s St Giles Cathedral as part of the Vigil of the Princes ceremony. And again when he marched behind his “darling mama’s” cortege through London to Westminster Hall.

During his day of rest, it understood he will be preparing for his mother’s state funeral on Monday and his new role as monarch, which involves receiving his red boxes of state papers.

Every day of the year, except Christmas Day, King Charles will receive from government ministers – and from representatives in Commonwealth and foreign countries – information in the form of policy papers, cabinet documents and Foreign Office telegrams.

The correspondence also includes a daily summary of events in parliament, letters and other state papers which are sent by his private secretary in red boxes also used by Government ministers to carry confidential documents.

All of the papers have to be read and, where necessary, approved and signed.