King Charles the Third on Monday (September 12) addressed the British parliament for the first time as monarch.
“I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us,” the 73-year-old king told lawmakers at Westminster Hall in London, where he received parliament’s formal condolences.
In his speech, King Charles vowed to follow the “example of selfless duty” set by his “darling late mother”. Charles immediately became British monarch after his mother Queen Elizabeth the Second passed away on Thursday.
Charles then headed to Edinburgh, where he will walk in procession with other senior royals behind his mother’s coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where it rested overnight, to St Giles’ Cathedral.
In the evening on Monday, King Charles will lead a family vigil in the 12th-century cathedral. The public will be able to pay their respects in the cathedral as well before the coffin is flown to London. The Queen’s funeral is slated to take place on September 19.
Prince Harry — Charles’ younger son, who renounced royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States — paid tribute to his grandmother, his “guiding compass”.
“You are already sorely missed,” the 37-year-old Harry said in his first public statement since the queen’s death. He added that he and his American wife Meghan “now honour my father in his new role”.
Thousands of people, many in tears, had packed the streets of the Scottish capital on Sunday to see the hearse carrying the queen’s oak coffin arrive from the Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands where she died.
It was a taste of the crowds expected in London when the late monarch lies in state at Westminster Hall. Her coffin will be there for four days from Wednesday, with reports suggesting there could be queues of up to 20 hours for people wishing to pay their respects.
(With inputs from agencies)
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