To my darling Mama, thank you, thank you

“I speak to you today with feelings of profound sorrow,” said the new King Charles III, as he addressed the country from Buckingham Palace for the first time since the death of his “darling mama.”

In an exceptionally moving speech, the King talked about his mother in the most personal terms and of his own duty as the future king and public servant: “Queen Elizabeth was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing … That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.” 

Charles III arrived in London today from Scotland to huge crowds gathering outside the palace to lay flowers for the Queen while thousands of mourners lined Pall Mall and the surrounding area. As flags fly at half-mast and the sound of gun salutes ring out across the country – and much of the world – a ten-day period of national mourning in Britain has begun. 

And it was a day of new beginnings. Just hours after King Charles lll arrived at the palace, the UK’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, was escorted by police motorcade to the palace for her first in-person audience with the new monarch. The PM had already spoken to the new King on Thursday night, offering her condolences via a phone call.

The country will now be in mourning until after the Queen’s state funeral, expected to be held on September 19. As Her Majesty died at the Balmoral Estate, her body will be moved to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, before a procession to St Giles Cathedral, where she will lie for 24 hours, while the public views her coffin.

From there, her coffin will be transported – probably by plane – to London, where a procession will take it from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. The coffin will be borne on a gun carriage, which may be pulled by sailors from the Royal Navy.

The Queen will lie in state for four days in Westminster Hall, as members of the public come to pay their respects. It is then most likely that the funeral will be held on Monday week, with the coffin taken, again, on a gun carriage, from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, followed by senior members of the royal family.

A one-hour long, televised funeral service will be officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by a national two-minute silence. The coffin will then be taken via state hearse to Windsor Castle, where a committal service will be held at St George’s Chapel, and the coffin will be lowered into the royal vault.

Both houses of parliament have been postponed until September 21, although they were open today and tomorrow for MPs and peers to pay their tributes.

Speaking to a crowded chamber of members dressed in black earlier today, the PM described the Queen as “one of the greatest leaders the world has known.” Her predecessor Boris Johnson echoed this sentiment, calling her “Elizabeth the Great”. Johnson also made what was generally considered to be one of his finest speeches, praising the Queen for her undying devotion and selfless duty. Sir Keir Starmer also paid tribute to the Queen, saying “it feels impossible to imagine a Britain without her.”

Tomorrow morning at 10 am, Charles will be formally proclaimed king at the Accession Council to be held at St James Palace, a formality that must take place within 24 hours of the death of a sovereign. For the first time ever the ceremony will be televised and no doubt watched by millions of people worldwide.