And everyone in the line of succession takes one step forward.
Minus the anthem - the United States analogy would be the passing of FDR. Back then, many young soldiers serving in WWII said they only remembered him as President.
From BBC
The symbolic high point of the accession will be the coronation, when Charles is formally crowned. Because of the preparation needed, the coronation is not likely to happen very soon after Charles’s accession - Queen Elizabeth succeeded to the throne in February 1952, but was not crowned until June 1953.
For the past 900 years the coronation has been held in Westminster Abbey - William the Conqueror was the first monarch to be crowned there, and Charles will be the 40th.
It is an Anglican religious service, carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the climax of the ceremony, he will place St Edward’s Crown on Charles’s head - a solid gold crown, dating from 1661.
This is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, and is only worn by the monarch at the moment of coronation itself (not least because it weighs a hefty 2.23kg).
Unlike royal weddings, the coronation is a state occasion - the government pays for it, and ultimately decides the guest list.
There will be music, readings and the ritual of anointing the new monarch, using oils of orange, roses, cinnamon, musk and ambergris.
No mention of carriage, I doubt he’ll borrow Harry’s restomod E-type, though.
Can you still get ambergris these days?
I suppose if anyone can, it’s the King of England.
Crowned Queen on June 2, 1953. To put this in perspective:
My web search turned up these contemporaries:
- Harry S. Truman was president.
- Nikita Khrushchev became First Secretary only a few months later.
- Mao Zedong was Chairman of the People’s Republic of China.
There was no such thing as rock’n’roll…
Eisenhower became president on Jan. 20, 1953.
Perfect!
So wait if King Charles III were to suddenly die in a boating accident next week, would Prince Andrew become King? Is he still in the running?
As the King’s oldest child, William is now next in line.
Nope; the moment that Charles’s son, William, was born, he became next in the line of succession after Charles.
Edit: After William, my understanding is that the line of succession now is:
- Each of William’s three children
- Henry
- Each of Henry’s two children
- Then, Andrew
How many boating accidents would Prince Andrew have to engineer to be King?
There’s still at least 7 people in line in ahead of him. The Washington Post had a convenient graphic:
Interesting that Princess Anne is skipped in the line of succession for Prince Andrew, despite being older than him.
Great info thanks!
So what would happen if the new King and his kids and grandkids went on the Titanic 2s maiden voyage and it sank with all lives, would Britain be in a Monarchy Crisis if Andrew was next in line despite him “voluntarily” giving up most of his Royal duties?
Harry
Oops, yes, my typo there.
Parliament has the power to remove him from the line, should they choose. They have so far, not.
One thing I don’t understand is how royal houses work. Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudors because she had no heirs and they had to go up her family tree and then over to get to James, right? What would end the House of Windsor? I don’t see it happening- Elizabeth was pretty prolific and it’s hard for me to figure out a scenario where one of her progeny was not the monarch.
His proper name is Henry.