Death of Elizabeth II: her son Charles becomes king and takes the name of Charles III – Le Monde

Prince Charles, on May 10, 2022, during the speech from the throne in Parliament which he delivered in place of Queen Elizabeth. ALASTAIR GRANT / AP He will no longer be referred to as Prince Charles. The eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II succeeds his mother, who died Thursday September 8 at the age of 96, and takes the name of Charles III. “The passing of my beloved mother, Her Majesty the Queen, is a moment of very great sadness for me and all members of my family,” the new king, 73, said in his first statement as sovereign. “We deeply mourn the passing of a beloved sovereign and a beloved mother. I know his loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, kingdoms and commonwealth, and by countless people around the world. “Read also: Death of Elizabeth II, live: throughout the United Kingdom, scenes of sadness The accession to the throne of Charles III was immediate on the death of the queen, under an old Latin maxim “Rex nunquam moritur” (the king never dies). A supporting role for the queen Her coronation should take place at best in a few weeks, once the trauma of the death of Elizabeth II has passed. She herself had been crowned in June 1953, sixteen months after being proclaimed queen. Read also Death of Queen Elizabeth II: after seventy years of an extraordinary reign, the sovereign leaves a lasting mark on the monarchy His second wife Camilla will become queen consort, a wish expressed by the queen last February. The subject is 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, who died in 1997 and from whom Charles had divorced in 1996. Born on November 14, 1948, Charles had become, 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. Since his first official engagements in the 1970s, the Prince of Wales’ role has been to “support Her Majesty The Queen, as a focal point of national pride”. He has therefore welcomed dignitaries in the United Kingdom on his behalf, participated in State dinners, traveled to a hundred countries, presented thousands of decorations, attended inaugurations, honored heroes, wrote or recorded countless messages of encouragement or congratulations. 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 the most important constitutional functions of the sovereign. Very long wait A man of passions, Charles spent at best the very long wait before acceding to the throne – seventy years, a record in the history of the British monarchy. An early defender of the environment, he is also a 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). Read also Article reserved for our subscribers Queen Elizabeth II was the oldest head of state in the world He is president or benefactor of more than 420 charities, the main of which, the Prince’s Trust, has helped since its creation in 1976 more than a million young people in difficulty. But he is much less popular than his mother, who has been entirely devoted to her role for seventy years and of absolute neutrality. The wreckage of his marriage to Princess Diana and his remarriage to Camilla also did him considerable damage in the 1990s. Since the death of his father, Prince Philip, in the spring of 2021, and while the queen was less present , Charles tightened the royal circle around him, Camilla, his eldest son William, his youngest brother Edward. The world