New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she expected her country’s relationship with the royal family to “deepen”, while Australia declared a one-off holiday in national mourning for Queen Elizabeth II. New Zealand held the official Declaration ceremony on the grounds of Parliament, with proceedings led by Governor-General Cindy Kiro and Ardern, beginning with the national anthem and a prayer in te reo Māori – the indigenous language. Ardern said she believed New Zealand’s close connection with the royal family would continue and be strengthened under the new monarch. “King Charles has long had an affection for Aotearoa New Zealand and has consistently demonstrated his deep care for our nation. This relationship is deeply valued by our people. I have no doubt it will deepen,” he said. He paid tribute to the Queen’s “unwavering duty” at the country’s ceremony to recognize King Charles III as head of state. “With her death we enter a time of change – a time filled with sadness for her death, but also gratitude for the life she lived and the example she set. We are forever grateful for her close bond with our country, but it is a bond and affection that spans her entire family,” he said. Australia also officially recognized King Charles as the country’s new sovereign, with the governor-general and executive council making their public proclamation in Parliament, followed by a 21-gun salute. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was “an outpouring of grief” following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. “In the words of Queen Elizabeth, that sadness is the price we pay for love, I think is an apt statement for how so many Australians are feeling right now,” he said. Updated at 06.18 BST Proclamation ceremonies were held in Australia and New Zealand on Sunday to recognize King Charles III as the new head of state. The Army Band plays at the King Charles III Proclamation in Parliament Forecourt, Canberra, Sunday, September 11, 2022. Photo: Tracey Nearmy/AAPPeople gather to watch a 21-gun salute by the Australian Defense Force during a proclamation Ceremony of Accession of the King of Britain Charles III to Parliament in Canberra. Photo: Gary Ramage/AFP/Getty Images An Aboriginal dancer performs as Governor-General David Hurley (R) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (C) look on during the proclamation of King Charles III, in the forecourt of Parliament in Canberra. Photo: Mick Tsikas/EPAN New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attends a Declaration of Accession ceremony for Britain’s King Charles III at Parliament House in Wellington on September 11, 2022. Photo: Andrew Turner/AFP/Getty Images The Queen’s funeral procession will begin on Sunday morning in Scotland. Here is a more detailed program: 10 am. The group is expected to leave Balmoral Castle, where the Queen died on Thursday. Crowds can gather along the route from Balmoral to Edinburgh. 10.12 am The team will first head to the nearby town of Ballater in Aberdeenshire, passing along the A93. The tributes will be led by the Lord Lieutenants of Aberdeenshire, as well as senior officers and councillors. The team will then travel along the A93, through Aboyne, Banchory and Drumoak. 11.20 am It is then expected to arrive in Aberdeen, where the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, in his role as Lord-Lieutenant, will pay tribute at Duthie Park. 14:00 The team will arrive in Dundee. Members of the public are asked to pay their respects in safe standing areas along the A90 Forfar Road and the Kingsway. 16:00 The group will then head to Edinburgh, where First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and other party leaders in Scotland are expected to watch the coffin as it passes the Scottish Parliament. The coffin will then be taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where it will remain overnight. It is now 5.30 am. of Sunday in the UK, D-Day +2. (The announcement of the Queen’s death came late on Thursday, so plans were pushed back a day to allow arrangements to be put in place.) Today, proclamations will be made in the devolved nations simultaneously at midday and the Queen’s coffin will be carried from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh. The King will also meet the Commonwealth Secretary General at Buckingham Palace before hosting high commissioners of the realm and their spouses in the Bow Room. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s happened since Saturday afternoon in the UK:
The time of the state funeral for the Queen has been confirmed and will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September. Before that, the Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall for four days to allow the public to pay their respects, the royal family said. New Zealand, Australia and Canada held proclamation ceremonies to recognize King Charles III as their new head of state. Enthronement ceremonies are a constitutional and ceremonial event that officially transitions to a new monarch for the countries. The leaders of these countries paid tribute to the queen as they recognized her successor. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country was “full of sadness at her death, but also grateful for the life she lived”. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Queen was “admired for her devotion to duty, her commitment to the people of the United Kingdom, the people of the Commonwealth including Australia and indeed the world”. The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda said after the queen’s death that he would call for a referendum to make the country a democracy within three years. The country will retain a British monarch for now, but Prime Minister Gaston Brown said a referendum would be “the final step to complete this cycle of independence, to ensure we are truly a sovereign nation”. King Charles III held his first audience at Buckingham Palace on Saturday afternoon, with Prime Minister Liz Truss, members of her cabinet and opposition leaders, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury Liz Truss will accompany King Charles III on tour of Britain. The UK’s new prime minister will join King Charles on a royal tour of Britain’s four nations to mark days of national mourning for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
