Brown said he expected Charles to carry out his duties in a more informal and “approachable” way than his mother Elizabeth II, with a slimmed-down royal family on screen. Like the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Denmark are all constitutional monarchies, but their rulers have long adopted a less formal style than British queens and kings, with less emphasis on pageantry and ceremony and smaller royal families that participate in official duties. Another former prime minister, Theresa May, agreed that the monarchy would evolve under Charles, but said she expected to make any changes “gradually and very carefully”. Speaking to BBC1’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Mr Brown pointed to the new king’s decision to meet crowds outside Buckingham Palace to thank them for paying their respects to the Queen, receiving kisses on the cheek and hand from female well-wishers . “I think what Charles has already indicated is that the royal family will be smaller,” said the former Labor prime minister, who served from 2007-10. “It will look more like a Scandinavian monarchy in the future. “But not in a bad way, but in a ‘more informal’ way. “He stopped on his way into Buckingham Palace and talked to people in the crowd and that was a message he was sending that he wanted people to feel that he was approachable and that he wasn’t going to be absent from the public or unapproachable.” Queen Margrethe of Denmark Brown said he respected the former Prince of Wales’ views on the environment but believed he would put aside personal interests and charity work as King “in favor of concentrating 100 per cent on the duties of the monarch, which will include a huge amount of traveling not only in Britain but all over the world.” He added: “It’s good for Britain that we have a monarch who is prepared to be outgoing, prepared to speak to countries around the world.” Mrs May, Conservative prime minister from 2016-19, said: “If you look at the monarchy and the royal family, they have steadily evolved a different approach, a different way of doing things, over time. “I’m sure King Charles will continue to push it forward. And of course he is a different person and may want to change things in some ways. “But I think critically – as the Queen has done – any change to the way things are done would be done gradually and very carefully.” Ms May said audiences would expect from Charles “a sense of continuity but also that sense of recognition that the world is changing, changing, continuing to change and a willingness to evolve alongside it”. He described the new King as “a very thoughtful person, but with his mother’s sense of fun as well.” Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia attend the premiere of pop group Abba’s Voyage show (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) And another former prime minister, David Cameron, described Charles III as “extremely clever and charming”, revealing that wife Samantha always hoped to sit next to him at official events, saying: “He’s the best person to sit next to , the most charming company. .” “While it is incredibly sad to mourn the loss or our greatest monarch, I think the constitutional monarchy is in great hands,” Mr Cameron told Kuenssberg. All prime ministers were invited to weekly audiences with the Queen during their tenure, a tradition that will continue under King Charles. However, no one would discuss details of the talks at the meetings, which are held in strict confidence. Mr Cameron revealed he also attended audiences with Charles while the Queen was still alive as the then Prince of Wales prepared for his eventual ascension to the throne. He dismissed suggestions that it was inappropriate for the then-Prince to “meddle” in politics to promote his pet issues. “I never felt that he tried to influence me improperly in any way,” Mr Cameron said. “I think the heir to the throne has a perfect right to care about issues like the environment and the preservation of wildlife and the built environment. “In fact, many of the causes he took up in the 1960s and 1970s may have seemed rather fringe, but he chose his subjects exceptionally well and became an expert on things like climate change and the environment long before politicians were talking about them. I think his pursuit of that was absolutely justified.” Cameron was Prime Minister when an intelligence tribunal ruling forced the release of so-called “black spider notes” sent by Charles as Prince of Wales to government ministers, raising concerns about a wide range of issues. He defended the future King’s practice of addressing ministers directly in this way: “I think it’s absolutely right that the heir to the throne should be able to discuss things with politicians and write them letters and all the rest. Why not? I can’t see why there should be any public concern about this.” Mr Cameron predicted the new monarch would be “brilliant at this job – brilliant at listening, at asking questions, at giving sage advice and sage advice”. “This was probably the biggest apprenticeship in history,” said the former Tory prime minister, who served from 2010-16. “He knows so much about so many subjects and like his mother is an excellent diplomat. I’ve seen him in action at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings and he knows every leader personally, interacts with them seamlessly, with the soft power that a British monarch brings to helping a prime minister and a government with all these international relationships.” The UK’s six living former prime ministers – Brown, Cameron, May, Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson – met at Saturday’s accession council meeting at St James’s Palace, where they were seen chatting together as they waited for the official proclamation that Charles III was the King. However, Mr Cameron said the “batch” between the six was not about high politics or constitutional affairs, but “the children and grandchildren and things like that”. He joked that “our newest member” – Mr Johnson – might not be “happy to join the club”.
