House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was the first to pledge he will “bear true allegiance to his Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors,” followed by the longest-serving lawmakers and the prime minister.
Britain’s King Charles III during his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace, London, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. (Yui Mok/Pool photo via AP)
All lawmakers pledge allegiance to the monarch after they are elected. Making a new vow when the monarch changes is not a legal requirement, but all 650 lawmakers will have a chance to retake the oath in the coming days if they wish.
From left, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, former prime ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Theresa May and John Major ahead of the Accession Council ceremony at St James’s Palace, London, London, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, where King Charles III is formally proclaimed monarch. (Kirsty O’Connor/Pool Photo via AP)
Normal parliamentary business has been suspended during a period of mourning for the queen. The House of Commons is holding a rare Saturday session so that lawmakers can pay tribute to the late monarch.
A royal official has publicly proclaimed King Charles III as Britain’s new monarch during a ceremony at St. James’s Palace.
King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort during the Accession Council at St James’s Palace, London, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, where King Charles III is formally proclaimed monarch. (Victoria Jones/Pool Photo via AP)
David White, the Garter King of Arms, read the proclamation from a balcony at the London royal residence flanked by trumpeters in gold-trimmed robes.
Gun salutes rang out in Hyde Park, at the Tower of London and at military sites around the U.K. as the proclamation was made.
A member of the Coldstream Guards on duty in Friary Court outside of St James’s Palace in London, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, before the Accession Council ceremony, where King Charles III is formally proclaimed monarch. Charles automatically became King on the death of his mother, but the Accession Council, attended by Privy Councillors, confirms his role. (Daniel Leal/pool photo via AP)
Scarlet-robed soldiers in the palace courtyard presented arms and doffed their bearskin hats in a royal salute.
King Charles III has declared that the day of his mother’s funeral will be a public holiday.
Police officers on guard at St James’s Palace in London, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022 where King Charles III will be proclaimed at the Accession Council. The Accession Council, a body made up of members of the Privy Council which only meets on these occasions, will gather on Saturday morning at St. James’ Palace to formally proclaim King Charles III the new monarch. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday Sept. 8. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)
Charles approved the decision during his formal accession ceremony on Saturday.
The date of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral has not been announced but is expected to be around Sept, 19.
People visit a makeshift memorial after the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch Queen Elizabeth II at The Queen Elizabeth II 9/11 Garden, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
This will be the second extra public holiday for Britons this year — a holiday was declared in early June for celebration’s to mark Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee, for 70 years on the throne.
