An official announcement will be made as soon as possible, at an accession council at St James’s Palace. Members of the Privy Council, which advises the monarch on matters of state, will be invited to the meeting. Those traditionally invited include members of the House of Lords, the Lord Mayor, aldermen and other leading citizens of the City of London, as well as the High Commissioners to London of the Commonwealth member nations. AGB Russell, the Herald of Lancaster, reads the proclamation of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II from a royal carriage at Charing Cross after the death of her father, King George VI. Photo: Fred Morley/Getty Images Tradition also dictates that the new monarch’s first public proclamation will be read outdoors at St James’s Palace by the King of Arms, in the presence of the Earl Marshal (who is the Duke of Norfolk) and two of the sovereign’s representative sergeants-at-arms. After the proclamation, Charles will read a declaration and swear to uphold the Church of Scotland. He must also take an oath related to the Church of England: the declaration of accession, to maintain the established Protestant succession, which is usually taken at the next State Opening of Parliament after the succession. As the proclamation is read at St James’s, similar ceremonies will be held in Edinburgh, by Lord Lyon, the King of Arms, and in Windsor and York, where traditionally the mayor drinks to the health of the new sovereign from a golden goblet. The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, dressed in his investiture regalia in 1969. Photo: Associated Press Traditionally, an accession carriage procession will form at St James’s Palace accompanied by a captain of the household cavalry. It will march through the capital’s streets, which will be lined with troops, to the three other locations for royal proclamations: the statue of Charles I on the site of the original Charing Cross, once considered the center of London, Chancery Lane and Royal Exchange. At Temple Bar, at the entrance to the City, the lord mayor and his officers will await the procession. Details have yet to be released, but the ancient ceremony there traditionally sees the earl marshal’s horseman, and then a gunner accompanied by two trumpeters ride ahead and stop at the red cord. After an exchange of trumpet calls, the town marshal steps forward and challenges with the words, “Who’s coming there?” The pursuer then replies with words similar to: “His Majesty’s officers of arms, requiring entry into the City of London to proclaim His Royal Majesty King Charles III”, if that is the name Charles chooses as a king. Prince Charles with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II from the royal box at Westminster Abbey. Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images An order in council is read aloud by the common crier and sergeant of the City, whereupon the lord mayor declares, “Admit the horseman.” The royal procession enters the city and the proclamation of accession is read at the two sites in the city, with the lord mayor raising his tricorne hat to call “three cheers for the king” as salutes are fired from Hyde Park and the Tower of London . . Charles’ coronation will require detailed planning, which will be undertaken by the earl’s marshal, and so is unlikely to take place for some time. His mother’s coronation, attended by heads of state from around the world, took place 16 months after her accession.
