King Charles III is proclaimed to the nation as new head of state
The Accession Council has formally confirmed the the new monarch.
The nation’s new monarch King Charles III has been formally declared head of state during a historic ceremony televised for the first time.
Charles’s role as King and the name he will use was confirmed during a meeting of the Accession Council attended by privy councillors at St James’s Palace in London.
Following tradition, the new King was missing from proceedings and did not witness senior figures from national life including the Queen, the new Prince of Wales and the Prime Minister taking part in the ceremony.
More than 200 privy councillors – a group of mostly senior politicians past and present, some members of the monarchy and other national figures – were present to hear the Clerk of the Council read the Accession Proclamation.
The new monarch became King the moment his mother died, but an Accession Council must be convened following the death of a sovereign – usually within 24 hours.
