Napier Courier

King Charles III finally assumes the throne at age 73

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Prince Charles has been preparing for the crown his entire life.

Now, at age 73, that moment has finally arrived.

Charles, the oldest person to ever assume the British throne, yesterday became King Charles III following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. No date has been set for his coronation.

After an apprentice­ship that began as a child, Charles embodies the modernisat­ion of the British monarchy.

He was the first heir not educated at home, the first to earn a university degree and the first to grow up in the ever-intensifyi­ng glare of the media as deference to royalty faded.

He also alienated many with his messy divorce from the much-loved Princess Diana, and by straining the rules that prohibit royals from intervenin­g in public affairs, wading into debates on issues such as environmen­tal protection and architectu­ral preservati­on.

His accession to the throne is likely to fuel debate about the future of Britain’s largely ceremonial monarchy, seen by some as a symbol of national unity and others as an obsolete vestige of feudal history.

Charles will be the head of state for the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Charles has said he intends to reduce the number of working royals, cut expenses and better represent modern Britain. But tradition matters, too, for a man whose office previously described the monarchy as “the focal point for national pride, unity and allegiance.”

Tensions persist inside the royal family, underscore­d by the decision of Harry and his wife, Meghan, to step away from their royal duties and move to California in 2020.

In a televised interview, they later said amember of the royal family had raised “concerns and conversati­ons” about the color of their baby’s skin before he was born.

The explosive revelation forced William to publicly declare the family wasn’t racist.

Charles soldiered on, increasing­ly standing in for the queen in her twilight years.

In 2018, he was named the queen’s designated successor as head of the Commonweal­th, an associatio­n of 54 nations with links to the British Empire. The process accelerate­d after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, on April 9, 2021.

As Elizabeth declined, he sometimes stepped in at the last moment.

On the eve of the state opening of Parliament on May 10, 2022, the queen asked Charles to preside, delegating one of her most important constituti­onal duties to him — evidence that a transition was underway.

Camilla said in a 2018 documentar­y that Charles was comfortabl­e with the prospect of being king.

“I think his destiny will come,” she said.

“He’s always known it’s going to come, and I don’t think it does weigh heavily on his shoulders at all.”— AP

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King Charles III

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