London Two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her son Charles (73) will become the new British King Charles III on Saturday. called out. As announced by Buckingham Palace on Friday, the ceremony is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. (CEST) at St. James’s Palace in London. The proclamation will be read from the Castle balcony an hour later and then from other locations around the UK. On Friday evening there was still a memorial service in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and the new king also wanted to give a speech to the nation.
There is mourning around the world, with many countries setting flags at half-mast, including far-flung kingdoms like Thailand and Malaysia, as well as remote South Pacific states like the Cook Islands.
With the death of the Queen, the crown passed directly to Charles. The proclamation on Saturday is therefore more of a formality committed with great pomp. The Queen died Thursday at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, aged 96.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss assured the new king of Britain’s loyalty on Friday. He also deserves loyalty, said Truss in Parliament in London in front of a full house of mostly black-clad MPs.
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Truss said of the Queen: “Her Majesty was one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. Your words of wisdom have strengthened us in the most difficult of times. In the darkest moments of the pandemic, she gave us hope that we could meet (with others) again.” King Charles has also done a lot for the country in his life, for example through his efforts to protect the environment. “We owe him loyalty and devotion,” she said. “The crown will live on, the nation will live on, and in that spirit I say, long live the king.”
State funeral expected in ten days
Bells rang in hundreds of British churches on Friday midday, and an hour later ceremonial gun salutes were fired across the country in memory of the late Queen. Cannons were used at the Tower of London, in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Plymouth, York, Stonehenge and in Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of Spain, and on board several warships, as the Ministry of Defense reported.
Soldiers, some in ceremonial uniform, fired a shot about every ten seconds, for a total of 96, one for each year of Elizabeth II’s age.
“It’s like grandma died” – people mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen’s state funeral, expected in ten days, is likely to be one of the biggest events of the 21st century. An online condolence book has been set up on the royals’ official website, allowing people from all over the world to leave messages of condolence with their name, email address and place of residence.
As the palace announced on Friday, mourning should continue for seven days after the funeral. Until then, the flags at the royal palaces should also be flown at half-staff, with the exception of the royal standard when the king is present.
The funeral is expected to take place on Monday, September 19th. But that has not yet been confirmed by the palace.
Politicians from all over the world pay their respects
The new King Charles III. traveled with his wife Camilla, the new Queen (Queen Consort) of Scotland to London on Friday to meet the new Prime Minister Truss for a first meeting. Truss was formally commissioned by the Queen to form a government in Balmoral on Tuesday.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, stressed the importance of the Queen to the British people on Friday. “It feels for people around the world, especially in the UK, that a part of our lives that we have taken for granted has been taken away from us,” the Church of England’s top minister said in an interview with the BBC. For many people it is not only a time of mourning, but also of uncertainty, in which they wonder what is permanent.
Years ago, meticulous plans were made for what would happen after the Queen’s death. The new king, for example, will embark on a funeral tour of the UK in the coming days.
Politicians from all over the world paid their respects to the Queen. Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the queen as a “role model and inspiration for millions, also here in Germany”, French President Emmanuel Macron added the words to an initial reaction from Thursday on Friday: “For you she was your queen, for us she was her Queen.” No other country has visited the Queen as often as France.
The Queen’s state funeral, expected in ten days, is likely to be one of the biggest events of the 21st century.
(Photo: AP)
US President Joe Biden called the Queen a unique stateswoman and “more than a monarch”, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recalled the Queen’s “wisdom, compassion and warmth” and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern the monarch’s “unwavering sense of duty”.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote that the Queen personified “dignity and decency in public life”.
Born in 1926, the Queen became Queen in 1952. She completed hundreds of trips abroad, including several to Germany. Most recently, she visited the Federal Republic on a state visit in 2015. The monarch always stayed out of political affairs. She also did not comment on her country’s exit from the EU (Brexit).
After the death of the Queen, Danish Queen Margrethe II (82) has significantly reduced the program for her 50th anniversary celebrations this weekend. In view of the sad news, the program will be adjusted at the Queen’s request, the Danish royal family announced on Friday. In concrete terms, this means that the greatest opportunities for the population to see the monarch at the weekend will not take place.
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