King Charles III Visits Buckingham Palace as New Ruler

On Friday, bells rang out across Britain, and people gathered at the palace gates to say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II. The country was getting ready for a new era with a new king. People all over the world remembered, praised, and talked about her great rule.

King Charles III spent most of his 73 years getting ready for his job as king. He planned to meet with the prime minister and talk to a country that was mourning the death of the only British monarch most people alive today had ever known. He takes the throne at a time when both his country and the monarchy as a whole are uncertain.

People from all over the world went to British embassies to pay their respects to the queen, who died Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The country is in mourning for 10 days.

In London and at military sites across the UK, special guns fired 96 shots over the course of 16 minutes to honor the queen’s 96 years on earth.

In Britain and its former colonies, a lot of people liked Elizabeth as a person, but they didn’t like the institution she represented or the history of the empire she was a part of.

On Friday, the king’s first full day of work, he left Balmoral and flew to London, where he was supposed to meet the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

He went to Buckingham Palace in London for the first time as king. People shouted “God save the king!” and “Well done, Charlie!” as he got out of the official state Bentley limousine. They also sang the national anthem, which is now called “God Save the King.” One of the women kissed him on the cheek.

He was supposed to give his first speech to the country as king in the evening. This was happening at a time when many Britons were worried about the energy crisis, the rising cost of living, the war in Ukraine, and the effects of Brexit.

Credits: Boston Globe