Charles automatically became king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died on Thursday aged 96. But the pending Accession Council is the next official step in 73-year-old Charles’ budding journey as sovereign — just as it was for his late mother. his grandfather, King George VI. and also for Queen Victoria. Unlike those previous occasions, this one will be televised. Sarah Richardson, deputy head of the Department of History at the University of Warwick, said the Accession Council process was not particularly familiar to many Britons, despite their familiarity with the monarchy. “The general public understands[s] that when a monarch dies, the next monarch is immediately in place… but the official adoption of that monarch by institutions like Parliament and the Church is less understood,” Richardson told CBC News via email. A tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth is on display at London’s Piccadilly Circus on Friday. (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images) “But I think what’s more widely known is the anxiety the country is facing for the accession of a new monarch and certainly in the past the need for key individuals to pledge allegiance,” he added. It’s also a process that hasn’t unfolded since 1952, when Elizabeth — the only monarch most Britons had known until now — ascended the throne after her father’s death. In an email, Iain McLean, emeritus professor of politics at the University of Oxford, said “the whole thing is completely obscure” to many people.
Two-part process
The Council of Accession is usually convened within 24 hours of a monarch’s death, according to the UK Office of the Council of Accession website. The Scotsman reports that this particular council is taking place a little later due to the timing of the announcement of the Queen’s death. A woman in Edinburgh uses her phone to watch Charles address the nation during a televised address on Friday. (Carl Recine/Reuters) The gathering is chaired by the Lord President of the Council — in this case Penny Mordaunt, a Tory cabinet minister who was among the frontrunners to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister. There are two parts to the process. The first part includes both the formal announcement of the death of the previous monarch and the reading of the declaration of accession aloud and then the signing by a party of the platform. The new monarch does not participate in this first part of the process. However, various members of the Privy Council and British officials are present at this part of the Accession Council, and the website of the privy council office indicates that High Commissioners and Acting High Commissioners of the Kingdoms — including those from Canada — are invited to attend this first part. The Canadian High Commission in the United Kingdom told CBC News that High Commissioner Ralph Goodale will attend on Saturday. The second part of the Accession Council process involves only the new monarch and the privy councillors. Charles will make a personal declaration on the death of the previous monarch and vow to preserve the Church of Scotland. After the meeting, there will be the main proclamation from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St. James’s Palace. Other announcements by the new monarch will be made later across the UK and in London. Richardson of the University of Warwick said it was “very important” that symbolic institutions formally recognize the new monarch. “Though more ceremonial today than in the past, the monarch is head of state, head of the judiciary, head of the church and so on. This theoretically gives them enormous power,” Richardson wrote via email. WATCHES | Elizabeth’s Life and Legacy:
Queen Elizabeth has died aged 96
Queen Elizabeth, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, has died. CBC’s Margaret Evans takes a look at her life and legacy. “We saw last week that Liz Truss, the elected leader of the biggest political party in the UK had to be invited to form a government by the Queen,” he said, referring to the change of prime ministers Britain has also seen in recent days. “So it is important that the new monarch in turn gains the trust of the institutions (and the people within them) they lead.”
