During his first national address as the United Kingdom king, Charles III who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth II after her death on September 8 paid tribute to the latter, whose rule lasted 70 years. “I pay tribute to my mother’s memory, and I honour her life of service,” the King said during the televised speech. “I know that her death brings great sadness to so many of you, and I share that sense of loss beyond measure with you all,” he added. The monarch added that the affection, admiration and respect the Queen inspired became the hallmark of her reign. “As every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humour and an unerring ability always to see the best in people,” the 73 year-old monarch said. The King also pledged to uphold the constitutional principles just like the late Queen did “with such unswerving devotion”. “When the Queen came to the throne, Britain and the world were still coping with deprivations and aftermaths of the Second World War, and still living by the conventions of earlier times. In the course of the last 70 years, we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many fates. “The institutions of the states have changed and turned, but through all changes and challenges, our nation and the wider family of realms of whose talents, traditions, and achievements, I am so inexpressibly proud have prospered and flourished,” Charles III said, adding that the values of the UK have remained and must remain constant. Charles III whose official coronation is expected on Saturday, September 10, assumed his role as King immediately after Elizabeth II died without ceremony. He will be the oldest British monarch to be crowned, and he has endured the longest wait to ascend the throne of any heir in British history, although as his mother’s health deteriorated in recent years, he took on more of her public ceremonial roles. He had been an heir-apparent since he was only three years old, when his mother was crowned. Charles’s son, Prince William, succeeds him as Duke of Cornwall. The King ended his national address referring to the Queen as ‘Darling mama’ and thanking her for love and devotion as she joins his “late papa”, in reference to her husband who died last year. “May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest,” he ended his speech.
