![]() The Guardian spent 10 years trying to release memos Charles had written to government ministers, lobbying for various causes. He also has publicly embraced causes, from the defense of fox hunting to alternative medicine to organic farming. He’s had scandals, of course, including his separation from Princess Diana. Charles is not as popular as the queen was, or even as his son William is, but some experts have said Charles’s popularity often has as much to do with which episode of the drama series The Crown people are watching, as it does to what Charles is actually up to.īut Charles has a public record going back 70 years. She has maintained a degree of inscrutability, always cautious and careful in what she said, which sometimes has allowed some Brits to project onto her what they want. In her 70-year reign, the longest of any British monarch, Elizabeth ruled during the decolonization of large swaths of Africa and the Caribbean, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the end of the Cold War, the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, and more.Įlizabeth took the throne at a young age, being as much shaped by the role as she shaped it. Queen Elizabeth II and Charles, Prince of Wales, during the opening of Parliament in London, England, in October 2019. “She has helped the nation weather all of these crises over the last seven decades, and so their identity, British national identity, is really wrapped up in the figure of Queen Elizabeth,” said Brooke Newman, a historian of early modern Britain and the British Atlantic at Virginia Commonwealth University. Queen Elizabeth has ruled for an entire generation. King Charles’s succession is monumental, in part because it took so long for it to happen. Prince Charles, the “environmentalist king-in-waiting” And this may be the guiding principle for the new king: making sure the monarchy survives. ![]() “The reason the monarchy has survived is by constantly searching out new roles for itself,” said Ed Owens, a historian of the modern British monarchy. His public record may offer some clues as to how he will rule, but so might the institution of the monarchy itself. Charles, after waiting 70 years in the wings, is likely to have his own views on how he can use his soft power and influence. The British monarchy has always been a tool of soft power, both within the country and without. Brexit is testing the unity of the kingdom itself, just as a new prime minister, Liz Truss, has stepped into office amid inflation, energy crises, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The United Kingdom has left the European Union, and is trying to establish its position in the world in the aftermath of Brexit. “There will be uncertainty politically, uncertainty perhaps culturally, perhaps uncertainty socially.”Īnd King Charles will begin his reign at an uncertain time for Great Britain and the world. “There will be moments of uncertainty, and those uncertain moments will be in every field where the monarch has a position,” said Onyeka Nubia, a historian at the University of Nottingham. Though Charles has taken on more and more royal duties in recent months, it does not change the momentousness of this succession. In 2018, the queen also named Charles the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, which is the United Kingdom plus a group of 53 countries that have cultural or political ties to it, including as part of its former empire.Ĭharles has been the longest serving heir-apparent, and his positions, causes, and scandals have been scrutinized his entire life. The coronation - the crowning ceremony for the new sovereign - won’t happen for a number of months, but his status as king is already set.Īs king, Charles is also Britain’s head of state, as well as the head of state for other countries in the “Commonwealth Realm” who still recognize the monarch, including Australia, Canada, and the Bahamas. Charles is now officially King Charles III.
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