I was in Westminster Hall to watch King Charles’ address to Parliament – he couldn’t have been more regal
MY God, we do these things beautifully in Britain.
First came the Yeomen of the Guard, marching stiffly in their beefeater uniforms, then the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, proud and plumed, an ancient unit that last saw action in the English Civil War.
The Band of the Household Cavalry played the kind of music that makes every British heart swell.
Then came the Speakers of the Lords and Commons, preceded by their maces, which were ceremonially draped in cloth for the King’s arrival.
It was slightly sad to see that neither man wore his official wig. But I had no time to get huffy about it, for at that moment, a blare of trumpets rang out.
The King and his Queen Consort mounted the steps to the spot where, in 1649, judges representing what was left of the House of Commons charged the first King Charles with being “a tyrant, traitor, murderer and a public and implacable enemy to the Commonwealth of England”.
It comes as…
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- The King pledged to follow his mother’s selfless duty in an emotional address at Westminster Hall
- Charles and Camilla jet off to Edinburgh for an emotional procession following the Queen’s coffin
- It’s revealed Prince Andrew ‘will have central role’ at the Queen’s funeral – despite stepping back from royal duties
- But the Duke of York is banned from wearing military uniform at the service
- Prince Harry thanks his beloved ‘granny’ the Queen in heartfelt tribute before referencing his ‘darling wife’ Meghan
- Brits will hold a minute’s silence on Sunday night to honour the late Queen Elizabeth
There, under the oak beams of a thousand-year-old hall, bathed in light from a stained-glass window installed by MPs and peers in 2012 as a gift for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the third King Charles accepted the Addresses of the Lords and Commons.
It’s a ceremony that has, until now, been carried out in private at one of the royal residences. It used to be fashionable to say that the monarchy would struggle after the Queen’s death.
In the event, the King could not have been more regal. He was confident without being cocky, polite without being obsequious, modest without being in the least bit unsure of himself.
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He was, in a word, kingly
He smiled the smile of a man comfortable in his skin and reconciled to the weight he has assumed. He was, in a word, kingly.
We often struggle to imagine people in a new role until they occupy it. It is true of prime ministers and it is true of monarchs. Rituals of the kind we are witnessing this week are an important part of that process.
But it would be a mistake to see the ceremony in Westminster Hall simply as an example of the pomp and flummery that tourists enjoy.
Properly understood, the ceremony exalts our constitution and reminds us of who — and of how lucky — we are.
Mr Speaker made a well-judged speech recalling the highlights of the Queen’s reign, including her celebration of the anniversary of the Glorious Revolution of 1689.
“It is perhaps very British to celebrate revolutions by presenting an address to Her Majesty,” he joked, eliciting a smile for our new King.
He added: “But those revolutions led to our constitutional freedoms, set out the foundation for a stable monarchy, which protects liberty.”
It is perhaps very British to celebrate revolutions by presenting an address to Her Majesty.
Mr Speaker
Indeed. For all the palaces and golden carriages, for all the oaths and military reviews, monarchs have served at our pleasure since 1689. If we chose a different system of government, they would step aside without a cheep of protest. But, precisely for that reason, we don’t choose a different system.
It’s a paradox — the sovereign is the fount of all authority, yet at the same time the servant of the country. And that arrangement gives us something that republics don’t have: a referee above politics, a commander-in-chief who is not a general, a final backstop against coups or civil wars.
It surprised some commentators when the King chose to reign as Charles III. One of the worst kept secrets in Fleet Street had been that he intended to use one of his middle names, acceding to the throne as George VII.
You could see why he felt that way. George V and George VI — his great-grandfather and grandfather — were exactly the kind of kings the British like: dim, dull and dutiful. The two Charleses, by contrast, were sly, stubborn and slippery.
God Save the King!
Charles I, who wanted to rule without Parliament, was so unwilling to stick to his word that he ended up being put to death.
His son, Charles II, was more charming — he had 14 children by seven mistresses — but was stunningly unpatriotic, at one stage selling British territory to the French so that he wouldn’t need to summon a Parliament to raise taxes.
Like his father, he would have ruled as a dictator if he could.
Yet the ceremony that played out in Westminster Hall yesterday reminded us of something that is often overlooked.
When the monarchy was restored 11 years after Charles I’s execution, it was Parliament that made the decision. There was a free election, then the new MPs invited Charles II to be king.
The supremacy of Parliament was enshrined in 1689, since when MPs have set the terms of the succession — most recently in 2013, when they changed the rules so that elder daughters should accede to the throne before younger sons.
Steeped in 900 years of history
By PROFESSOR MARK ALMOND, Oxford historian
WESTMINSTER Hall is the theatre where so many historic events of the past 900-plus years have been staged.
It dates from the 1090s and survived the Parliament fire in 1834 and the Blitz bombings in World War Two.
Medieval monarchs used it for feasts and grand receptions until warrior King Edward I turned it into the court where treason trials were held. He put William “Braveheart” Wallace on trial there in 1305, before his execution.
In 1535 under Henry VIII, Catholics such as Thomas More were on trial for their religion. Gunpowder Plotter Guy Fawkes was convicted there in 1606.
English history’s most famous trial took place in the Hall in January 1649 after King Charles I lost the civil war.
In 1688, James II put seven bishops on trial for refusing to bow to his will. They got off, heralding the Glorious Revolution that established our modern constitution and rule of law.
This week the public will be allowed to see the hall for the first time since the Queen Mother lay in state in 2002.
No one questions their right to set these terms. In reality, Britain is a kind of Crowned Republic.
The new King knows it.
In his short but well-judged speech, he pledged to follow his mother’s example and to “maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation”.
What are those principles? That the law applies to everyone equally, including the king. That the people we elect are representatives, not rulers.
That those in charge don’t get to change the rules as they go along. That we are free to do anything not expressly prohibited.
A constitutional monarch has several jobs. To speak to and for the country. To suffer with us in times of privation, and celebrate with us in times of joy.
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To preside at ceremonies with dignity.
And to protect the constitution, ensuring our democracy and society endure. Charles III understands those duties very well. God Save the King!