Death of Elizabeth II: King Charles III succeeds his mother on the British throne
Charles III succeeds his mother Elizabeth II.
AP - Alastair Grant
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Prince of Wales for 64 years, Charles III became king at the age of 73 after literally a life to wait.
A life he devoted to the crown, assisting his mother in countless official engagements.
He is chairman or benefactor of 420 charities including the Princes' Trust which has helped over a million young people in difficulty.
Charles, a prince both well and poorly known to the British.
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"
Today the Crown passes, as it has for over a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new Head of State, His Majesty King Charles III
," said the newly-minted Prime Minister, whom the queen had received Tuesday at Balmoral Castle to ask him to form a new government.
Charles III accedes to the throne after 70 years of patience, a record in the history of the British monarchy.
He increasingly replaced his mother Elizabeth II in declining health.
In May, Charles had delivered the Speech from the Throne to Parliament
for the first time in his place
, one of his most important constitutional offices.
Raised the hard way, according to the wishes of his father, Charles is a kind of embodiment of the British spirit: “
Never explain, never complain
” (“
never complain, never explain
”, in French).
He doesn't open up, doesn't explain himself, even when he had to face the public wreckage of his marriage
to Princess Diana
.
Which earned him a fragile popularity.
Last I heard, his popularity was only 54% favorable, far behind his mother who was loved by 80% of his subjects, but especially by his likeable and glamorous son, William, who peaks at 78%.
Always impeccably dressed, famous, very funny, Charles is known for his passion for architecture - traditional - and watercolors which he practices as an amateur.
Concerned about climate change
We know in particular that he has been concerned about ecology for a very long time.
He defends organic farming, gentle doctors, short circuits.
He publishes his ecological footprint every year (3,133 tonnes of CO2 in 2020 compared to 5,070 in 2019), does not eat a lot of meat and has an electric jaguar.
"
We literally have no more time,
" he told world leaders
at COP26
in Glasgow in November 2021.
Commitments that he will have to silence to respect the obligation of neutrality imposed on the crown.
He takes the reins of an institution with a diminished role in the world, at a time and an age which are a double challenge.
Challenges that he will take up alongside Camilla, his lifelong love whom he was finally able to marry in 2005 and who will be queen consort.
►Also read: Death of Elizabeth II: the long and not so quiet reign of a popular queen
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