King Charles III has publicly addressed the nation.
The 73-year-old former Prince Of Whales gave a public address on Friday evening (September 9) following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. He spoke about his late mother’s historic legacy in a pre-recorded message from Buckingham Palace.
In his speech, he acknowledged the “profound sorrow” he and his family and the world were feeling. He vowed as king to “endeavor to serve you with loyalty, respect and love as I have throughout my life.”
King Charles proudly announced that his eldest son, Prince William, and daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton, are the new Prince and Princess of Wales. These are the titles he and the late Princess Diana held before.
He also referenced his younger son, Prince Harry, and Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, saying:
“I want to also express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.” Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal life in 2021.
Read King Charles III’s speech right here:
Throughout her life, Her Majesty the queen, my beloved mother was an inspiration and example to me and to all my family, and we owe her the most heartfelt debt any family could owe to their mother for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example.
Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived, a promise of destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service, I renew to all today.
Alongside the personal grief that all my family are feeling, we also share with so many of you in the United Kingdom, in all the countries where the queen is head of state in the Commonwealth and across the world, a deep sense of gratitude for the more than 70 years in which my mother as queen served the people of so many nations.
In 1947 on her 21st birthday, she pledged in a broadcast from Cape Town to the Commonwealth to devote her life, whether it be short or long, to the service of her peoples. That was more than a promise, it was a profound personal commitment, which defined her whole life. She made sacrifices for duty. Her dedication and devotion for sovereign, never wavered through times of change and progress, through times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss.
In her life of service, we saw that abiding love of tradition along with that fearless embrace of progress, which makes us great as a nation. The affection, admiration, and respect she inspired, became the hallmark of her reign. And as every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humor and an unerring ability to always see the best in people.
I pay tribute to my mother’s memory and I honor her life of service. I know that her death brings great sadness to so many of you. And I share that sense of loss beyond measure with you all.
When the queen came to the throne, Britain and the world was still coping with the privations and aftermath of the second World War and still living with the conventions of earlier times.
In the course of the last 70 years, we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many faiths. The institutions of the state have changed in turn, but through all changes and challenges, our nation and the wider family of realms of whose talents, traditions and achievements I’m so inexpressibly proud of, have prospered and flourished. Our values have remained and must remain constant.
The role and the duties of monarchy also remain, as does the sovereign’s particular relationship and responsibility toward the Church of England, the church in which my own faith is so deeply rooted. In that faith, and the values it inspires, I’ve been brought up to cherish a sense of duties to others and to hold in the greatest respect, the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of Parliamentary government.
As the queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom or in the realms or territories across the world and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavor to serve you with loyalty, respect and love as I have throughout my life.
My life will, of course, change as I take up my new responsibilities. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues to which I care so deeply, but I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.
This is also a time of change for my family. I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla, in recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort. I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty of which I have come to rely so much.
As my heir, William now assumes the Scottish titles which have meant so much to me. He succeeds me as Duke of Cornwall and takes on the responsibilities to the duchy of Cornwall which I have undertaken for more than five decades. Today I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I’ve been so proud to bear. With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground where vital help can be given.
I want to also express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.
In a little over a week’s time, we will come together as a nation, as a Commonwealth, and indeed a global community to lay my beloved mother to rest. In our sorrow let us remember and draw strength from the light of her example. On behalf of all my family, I can only offer my most sincere and heartfelt thanks for your condolences and support. They mean more to me than I can ever possibly express. And to my darling, Mama to join my late Papa I want simply to say this, ‘Thank you, thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May flights of angels send thee to thy rest.’
King Charles III officially ascended the British throne following his proclamation on Saturday morning. The proclamation took place in the State Apartments of St. James’s Palace in London. He automatically became the new King of England after Queen Elizabeth’s passing. The Accession Council convened on Saturday for the constitutional formality to recognize his sovereignty.
