Europe 1 with AFP 8:42 p.m., September 8, 2022
Prince Charles, 73, automatically becomes the new sovereign of the country by virtue of the Latin maxim "Rex nunquam moritur", "the king never dies".
His accession to the throne after 70 years of patience is a record in the history of the British monarchy.
He will deliver a speech on Friday.
After a life of waiting, the often unloved and misunderstood Prince Charles, 73, finally becomes king with the death of his mother Elizabeth II on Thursday, at an age generally more conducive to retirement than major reforms.
His accession to the throne after 70 years of patience, a record in the history of the British monarchy, was immediate upon the death of the queen, by virtue of an old Latin maxim "Rex nunquam moritur" (the king never dies ).
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It is likely that the new king will choose to be called Charles, but nothing obliges him to do so.
"He could surprise us and use another of his first names, as his great-grandfather had done in 1901," Bob Morris, author of several books on the future of the monarchy, told AFP.
The mystery will be lifted in the next few hours, when he will be proclaimed king by the Accession Council, a ceremonial body meeting at Saint James's Palace in London.
His coronation, a timeless ceremony, unique in Europe, should take place in a few weeks at best.
Camilla, queen consort
Queen Elizabeth II herself was crowned in June 1953, 16 months after being proclaimed queen.
It was "the last imperial hurray", with "8,250 people crammed into Westminster Abbey", recalls Bob Morris.
According to him, Charles should prefer "a faster and smaller coronation", but everything could depend on the date, in order to avoid a coronation in the dead of winter.
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His second wife Camilla will become queen consort, a wish expressed by the queen last February.
The subject remained sensitive among the British.
After her remarriage with Prince Charles in 2005, Camilla had chosen not to take the title of Princess of Wales, too associated with Princess Diana whom Charles had cheated on with her for many years.
Strange fate than that of this prince with a singular personality, much less popular than his mother, whose death he awaited to enter the light.
Born on November 14, 1948, he became, as the eldest son, the heir to the crown at 3 years and 3 months, in February 1952, when Princess Elizabeth, 25, became queen on the death of her father. George VI.
He replaced his mother more and more
Since his first official engagements in the 1970s, the role of the Prince of Wales has been to "support Her Majesty The Queen, as the focal point of national pride".
He has thus welcomed dignitaries in the United Kingdom on his behalf, attended State dinners, traveled to a hundred countries, awarded thousands of decorations, attended inaugurations, honored heroes, wrote or recorded countless messages of encouragement or congratulations.
Moreover, he increasingly replaced his mother in declining health.
In May, Charles had delivered in his place for the first time the speech from the throne in Parliament, one of his most important constitutional functions.
But the British know him best from the wreckage of his marriage to Princess Diana, which caused him considerable harm in the 1990s, and his remarriage to Camilla.
56% favorable opinions
A man of passions, Charles occupied this very long wait to the best of his ability, early defender of the environment, lover of alternative medicine, passionate about sustainable urban planning and an inspired gardener who speaks to his trees.
Since 2007, it has published its "ecological footprint" (total 3,133 tonnes of CO2 in 2020 compared to 5,070 in 2019).
He is in total president or benefactor of more than 420 charities, the main one of which, the Prince's Trust, has helped more than a million young people in difficulty since its creation in 1976.
Yet he was given only 56% favorable opinions in a recent YouGov poll in May, far behind the Queen (81%), her son Prince William (77%).
Since the death of his father, Prince Philip in the spring of 2021, and while the queen was less present, Charles has tightened the royal circle, around him, Camilla, his eldest son William, his youngest brother Edward.
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.
No one yet knows how he will be able to embody it, but one thing is already certain: his years of reign are numbered for him.