as King Charles III’s Reign Officially Begins On Saturday
Funeral Planned for “a little over a Week”
In his first public address since Thursday afternoon’s passing of the longest reigning British monarch in history, Queen Elizabeth II, in her home in Balmoral estate in Scotland, her eldest son, King Charles III – formerly Prince Charles till yesterday – paid tribute to his “beloved mother” in a recorded video message.
In the broadcast to the nation, before the memorial service held in the late 96-year-old monarch’s honour began on Friday evening at the St Paul’s Cathedral, London, the new King said “thank you, thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of the nations you have served so diligently all these years.” He ended the address, praying that:” May flights of angels sing to thy rest.” He also praised her for making “sacrifices to duty “ at various times in the nation’s history.
About two thousand mourning members of the public, politicians and government officials, including the country’s Prime Minister, Liz Truss, attended the service. Truss, who was appointed just four days ago at the Balmoral estate by the late Queen, read a bible passage at the service. The newly tweaked version of the United Kingdom’s national anthem was sung at the end. Both the title and lyrics have now been changed from “God Save the Queen” to “God Save The King” and “her victorious” to “him victorious” respectively.
The new king, whose reign officially begins on Saturday, also used the occasion of the address to “pledge me to uphold “ the same principles that the Queen stood for.
Earlier on Friday, bells rang out at the venue of the service, at Windsor and also at Westminster Abbey. There were also gun salutes across the country to mark the passing of the Queen.
The King himself was busy, starting with flying back to London from Aberdeen and then greeting crowds outside Buckingham Palace on arrival. Crowds sang “God save the King” as he greeted them
Though exact details of the time her body will be flown back to London for both the lying-in-state and funeral have not been fully revealed, the King said it’s going to be “in just over a week .”