What can the world expect from King Charles III?

Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96: Britain fires its monarch 5:03 London (CNN) — Following the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, Charles ascended the British throne after more than 70 years as heir apparent.
In a statement issued shortly after the official announcement of her death, Carlos described the death of his “dear mother” as “the most sad moment for me and for all members of my family.” The next few days will be a time in that Charles will take up his new duties and face a great personal loss. After a lifetime in the public eye, he is a familiar figure to many in Britain and around the world. But no one yet knows what kind of monarch he will become. King Charles III, a title he has adopted after years of speculation. As a royal correspondent for CNN, I have reported on Britain’s new king for many years and traveled the world with him. One of the best sights I ever had was when I was invited with a group of other journalists to Dumfries House, his stately home near Glasgow in Scotland, in 2018 ahead of his 70th birthday. I spent two days there and had unusual access to Carlos and many of his close associates. They went to visit the farm, have tea, have dinner and attend a spectacular bagpipe concert by a campfire. This is the place that brings it all together for the new king, all of his great passions and causes, from music to protecting rare breeds, learning underprivileged youth, and organic farming. The entire farm is in constant activity, and I could see the emotion that comes from walking around and asking questions of his staff. Every Friday night, wherever he is in the world, Carlos receives a voluminous report on the farm’s work and returns it first thing on Saturday morning with notes. His wife Camila will tell you that he stays up late every night reading, writing, and responding to requests for support and advice. While many of his predecessors viewed the role of Prince of Wales as a free pass to a playboy lifestyle and a guaranteed income, Charles professionalized it and made it his own. He wanted a legacy, but he didn’t want to wait to be king. In my experience, he is impatient and driven, and gets incredibly frustrated if one of his projects doesn’t work out or come to fruition. “The signs were there from youth,” Kenneth Dunsmuir told me during a visit to Dumfries House. Dunsmuir runs The Prince’s Foundation, an educational charity created by Carlos to help teach traditional arts and crafts. “His concern of his for the social problems of the community and the ecological problems was there and the only thing that has happened is that he has become more and more involved and has had time to do it.” Dumfries House is Charles’s stately home near Glasgow, in Scotland. Dunsmuir’s comment points to the other reason Charles achieved so much during his tenure: he was the longest-serving Prince of Wales due to the longevity of his mother’s reign. Dunsmuir thinks of Dumfries House, he said, as a “fantastic physical legacy to that work which will always be here and always remain.” Carlos has often struggled to contain his passion for his work, expressing his hopes and fears during speeches over the years and often sounding more like an activist than a constitutional monarch in waiting. This has prompted accusations that it threatens the independence and impartiality of the monarchy. For example, climate change, which he has been speaking about since 1968. Since then, it has become a topical issue and, for some, a political issue. Carlos was a prominent supporter of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and discussed the issue with Donald Trump over tea in December 2019, as the then-president was preparing to pull the United States out of the pact. The following month, at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Carlos delivered a powerful speech in which he asked, “Do we want to go down in history as the people who did nothing to bring the world back from the abyss in time to restore the balance when we could have? I don’t want to. I sat down with Carlos for an interview that same day and he insisted that the Paris Agreement was still feasible. “We can’t go on like this, with every month another temperature record being broken. If we leave it too long, and we have, growth is going to become difficult,” he said. Despite criticism, and sometimes derision, for his quest to be the royal’s “green warrior,” Carlos has continued to be a pioneer on green issues in recent years. Carlos was in his element at the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November 2021, where he implored countries to work with industries to create solutions to climate change. Carlos has spent his entire life preparing to be sovereign and has proven without a doubt that he is not lazy to work. “We know this will take trillions, not billions, of dollars,” he said then. Climate change and biodiversity loss pose a great threat and the world must go on a “war footing” to combat them, he added. US President Joe Biden on the spot commented on Carlos’ efforts over the decades, paying him the ultimate compliment by saying that he had set “everything in motion” and “that’s how it all started.” Carlos has spoken candidly on a whole host of sensitive topics, from genetically modified crops to homeopathic medicines and architecture. This has made him a more controversial figure than his mother, who barely gestured during his reign, let alone expressed an opinion. Elizabeth’s legendary ability to neither offend nor alienate was more strategic than many realize, but Charles has always insisted that he intends to follow her lead and stop meddling when she ascends the throne. Carlos, in the photo with Camila, professionalized the role of Prince of Wales and assumed it as his own. Carlos walks around Cambridge in 1967 when he began his studies at Trinity College. In 2018, Carlos told the BBC: “The idea, in a way, that I’m going to stay exactly the same, if I have to take the throne, is complete nonsense because the two, the two situations, are completely different.” When specifically asked if he would continue his campaigns, he said, “No, he won’t. I’m not that stupid.” In all the conversations I’ve had with family members and their aides, there’s also never been any talk of the more popular Prince William jumping his father to the throne. Carlos has spent his entire life preparing to be sovereign and has proven beyond a doubt that he does not shy away from work. For his part, William has never been in a rush to take the crown, rather he has preferred to build his royal portfolio while he focused on his young family and developed his own set of interests and causes. Charles and William bonded personally and professionally when Prince Harry stepped down from his royal duties in 2020, leaving the remaining royals a much more compact group. The relationship between the new king and his heir will now be key to the future stability of the monarchy, as will the dynamic between the new king and his wife. I have seen that Camila has always been a source of support for Carlos. I’ve seen how irritable and frustrated she can get when she’s faced with an obstacle in her work, and she has a unique talent for dispelling any tension with a sense of humor and charisma that isn’t evident on camera. . Charles and William, pictured with Prince Harry in 1997, bonded personally and professionally when Harry stepped away from his royal duties in 2020. In 2015 I sat down with Charles at another of his Scottish residences: Birkhall in the Highlands. It was to celebrate the couple’s 10th wedding anniversary before a US tour. He told me, “It’s always wonderful to have someone who, you know, you feel understands you and wants to cheer you up. Although he certainly makes fun of me if I get too serious. And all of that helps.” After the interview, I went with him to a room where Camila joined us as we waited for the cameras to prepare for some montage shots. Camila asked us how she had been and joked about our outfits, and he immediately felt more relaxed in his company. Her ability to calm an entire room has become a national asset, as the wife of the country’s head of state and a symbol of stability. With Camila by his side, Carlos will put his stamp on the monarchy. After decades of waiting, he is not only the head of state of the United Kingdom, but also of 14 other nations, including Canada and Australia. The eyes of the world are on him as he assumes the position of king.