Addressing the nation for the first time as sovereign, this was Charles III’s first “King’s speech” – a form of carefully chosen words designed to bring reassurance and a sense of continuity to a grieving nation.
What we ended up with was one of the most remarkably personal speeches to have ever been delivered by a reigning monarch. The last time Britain experienced sorrow like this, Queen Elizabeth II famously spoke to her subjects as both “your Queen and as a grandmother”.
In exactly the same vein, this was not just the King speaking as head of state - but as a loving son, husband and father. Broadcast simultaneously as thousands of mourners gathered in St Paul’s Cathedral for a special service of thanksgiving, there cannot have been a dry eye in the house as he ended the deeply poignant and thoughtful address with the tender words: “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,” taken from Hamlet.
A time for reflecting on the past, as well as looking forward to the future, the contemplative tone struck the perfect note as the 73-year-old grandfather referenced his beloved mother’s “inspiration and example”.
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