Charles III, our new King
As he finally takes the crown at 73, how monarch has devoted his life to fulfilling his destiny
THE new King Charles III has finally inherited the crown at the age of 73.
He grew up knowing that it was his destiny to be the monarch – but even he could never have imagined that he would become the longestserving heir to the throne in all of British history.
Knowing that this responsibility would only come about on the death of his mother, he always felt deeply pained at any mention of it.
But he was confirmed as King at 6.30pm yesterday, when the official message announcing the Queen’s death concluded with a reference to the new ‘King and the Queen Consort’.
Charles then issued his first statement as monarch shortly afterwards, in which he said: ‘ The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
‘We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved Mother.
‘I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
‘During this period of mourn ing and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held.’
The strain of Charles’s long apprenticeship, and the ‘enormous weight of expectation’ he once said he felt in having to step into the Queen’s shoes, has in part fed his notorious tendency to introspection.
‘The difficulty is most of the time not feeling that one is worthy of it, inevitably,’ he once said. In his 1994 biography of the future king, Jonathan Dimbleby wrote: ‘Prince Charles is far more aware of the prospective burdens of kingship than its pleasures.’
But admirably Charles chose not to sit idly on his hands.
He has devoted his life to trying to make life better for his future subjects, starting inspirational charities such as The Prince’s Trust – whose work has changed futures of thousands of disadvantaged young people – and working late into the night writing his infamous ‘black spider memos’ (a reference to his scrawled writing), which has led on occasions to accusations of meddling in government policy.
He has always squared his shoulders against the brickbats and continued with his work, impatient to get as much done as possible before acceding to the throne.
Charles was once quoted as saying: ‘I’ve had this extraordinary feeling, for years and years, ever since I can remember really, of wanting to heal and make things better.
‘I feel more than anything else that it is my duty to worry about everybody and their lives in this country, to try and find a way of improving things if I possibly can.’ royal aides insist that the prince knows he will have to put deeply held personal beliefs on everything from urban regeneration to architecture to one side now – although he will never lose his progressive zeal and belief that he can still harness his passions positively.
It is likely that he will set the tone when he addresses the nation at 6pm tonight.
Personally, it has been a difficult time for the prince of late, losing both his father and suffering the devastating blow of his younger son’s decision to quit as a working royal and criticise his parenting.
He has only met his youngest granddaughter Lilibet once and barely knows Harry and Meg
‘Strain of a long apprenticeship’
‘Has not sat idly on his hands’
son archie, as a result. But he has been cheered by the Queen’s embracing of his second wife Camilla and her public endorsement of her as Queen Consort after 17 years of service.
as King, Charles – who stayed at Balmoral last night – will be unable to grieve in private. Today he and Camilla will return to London, where he is expected to hold an audience with the Prime Minister as well as record his first televised address to the nation as monarch.
amid his deep personal grief, it will be a crumb of comfort to Charles, however, that he was able to be with his mother in her final hours.