With one and the same voice, sometimes with tears in their eyes and a wreath of flowers clutched against their chests, the crowd had come in large numbers on Saturday in front of St. James’s Palace in London, hoping to catch a glimpse of Charles III during the ceremony of proclamation of the new king.
“We have the opportunity to see the new king… I hope he will come from that side. I still prefer to see him rather than hear the proclamation!”, explains Nicola Parmar, 49.
Visibly moved, she says she originally came from Yorkshire, where she lives, to go to the theater with her mother, but she had to review her plans when the death of Elizabeth II was announced.
“What moves me is their dedication, their loyalty to the country,” she says of the new monarch and her late mother, as she holds a purple bouquet in her hands.
A car with tinted windows approaches, it stops to try to see its occupants, like the other thousands of people around who scrutinize the procession.
“We would love to see him”: the surprise outing of Charles III to meet the public in front of Buckingham Palace on Friday gave ideas to Sarah and Gerard Berdien, 53 and 54.
From their new sovereign, they expect more than anything “stability”: “the queen has always been the queen. No drama”.
“We hope he’s not going to ruin everything. She hasn’t had a scandal in 70 years,” added Gerard.
– “Good luck” Charles III –
Between “the cost of living, the war in Ukraine, the new Prime Minister”, Charles III arrives in “a very difficult moment”, admits Malcom Tyndall, director of a charity organization in London, 54 years old.
He came to “wish him good luck”, convinced that he will necessarily be “of a different kind”: “He can’t be like his mother. May he change in the sweetest way” .
After the ceremony, Malcom will leave flowers in Green Park for Elizabeth II. Just like Dany Van Laanen, another 36-year-old Londoner who admits to being “surprisingly sad”.
“I came to encourage him, but above all to pay homage to her. The challenge is great for Charles. I hope he will manage to modernize the monarchy”.
Others came to attend this event “out of curiosity”, like Leendert Van Denberg, a 52-year-old Dutchman.
“It’s a historic moment, it’s still been 70 years since it’s been the same queen!” he explains.
Before adding: “It’s a bit weird: a week ago, Charles was not taken seriously (…) And there we are all waiting for his appearance”.
Coming from The Hague with a group of friends for a football match – canceled due to national mourning – they finally decided to follow the ceremony.
“We came for the football. And now we are going to a funeral,” laughs his friend Ronald Sarurdears, 57.
Suddenly, several hundred laptops rise in the air at the end of outstretched arms. A few horn and trumpet notes announce the imminence of the reading of the king’s proclamation. Silence is instantaneous and, serious, the crowd listens to the text read for barely 2 minutes.
Then a cry: “God save the King:” immediately taken up in unison by the thousands of curious people gathered for more than an hour. In the distance cannon shots resound.
And to sing, solemn, and with one voice the national anthem with for the first time “God save the King” and no longer the queen before applauding. Some “Hip Hip, Hooray!” fuse.
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