How King Charles III is shaking up the monarchy as Prince Harry’s book looms
Dubbed, ‘the people’s King’, King Charles’ popularity has soared as the royals are living in fear of Prince Harry’s book. See how he is shaking up the monarchy.
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Under leaden skies as thousands upon thousands of military veterans filed past, the King laid a wreath signed “Charles R” and it seemed at once as if both everything and nothing had changed.
Charles had been accustomed to the well-rehearsed ritual, having performed it for the past five years in place of his mother Queen Elizabeth.
But this time he lay the wreath as King Charles – the head of state – just over two months since his “darling mama” in September, aged 96.
As the next generation of the royal family step up and undertake their duties seamlessly, just as the Queen had wished before her death, the British public is trumpeting the new monarch as “the people’s king”.
Courtiers say his private five-year manifesto, to balance tradition and progress, is “working extremely well.”
“The King is all about safeguarding the monarchy, it’s still early days and he has stepped into formidable shoes, but the people around him say he’s excited and optimistic of the changes he can bring to his kingship and his manifesto that maps out his five-year reign is working extremely well,” royal writer and author of The New Royals Katie Nicholl said.
“The public is seeing him as ‘the people’s king,’ he’s familiar and comforting.
“Charles and Camilla are still riding on the crest of good will in the wake of the Queen’s death but he’s proving very popular, he’s taking his time, showing his authentic side and has plugged into the mood of the nation.
“The laying of the wreath on Remembrance Sunday was seamless, it showed continuity at a time Britain is mired in political and economic instability,” Ms Nicholl said.
“He met crowds outside Buckingham Palace before meeting the then prime minister Liz Truss, he performed Remembrance Sunday with the right level of solemnity. You’d have thought he had done it a million times before, he’s hitting big markers.
“There are big family challenges hanging over him with the new Netflix series of The Crown and Prince Harry’s book in the new year but the King has vowed to maintain a dignified silence, even though his biggest fear is that the book and series will be very damaging and harmful to the monarchy’s future popularity.
“He doesn’t want that to happen in his reign and is bracing himself for big challenges ahead.”
King Charles has seen his popularity soar since he acceded to the throne on September 8, following his mother’s death.
He was the longest-serving heir apparent in British history and was the oldest person to assume the throne, doing so at the age of 73.
A poll this month showed his son William, the Prince of Wales, was still the nation’s favourite royal topping a survey which asked 1,095 British adults to rate their opinion of senior members of the royal family this month.
Almost 70 per cent said they found Prince William ‘favourable’, with his wife Catherine second on 67 per cent. In third place was Anne, Princess Royal, with 64 per cent.
King Charles came fourth with a 54 per cent favourability rating.
But this was an increase of 11 percentage points compared to the last time pollsters Ipsos conducted the survey in March.
As the King turned 74 this week, royal watchers say he is beginning to draw a firm line under a time the public thought it inconceivable he should reign as king and called for Prince William and his wife Katherine instead.
King Charles is pinning his hopes for a popularity boost on May 6 when his coronation will cement his “very different” reign to the Queen’s and provide desperately-needed stability and a sense of national identity at a time the UK is rocked by political unrest and economists predict the country will enter a “long, deep” recession.
“The King the Queen Consort have had a popularity boost helped by the Queen sorting out her title when she was still aliveduring the Platinum Jubilee, but the King won points with his ascension speech promising unswerving devotion and loyalty,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said.
“He’s backed out of COP 27 honouring his pledge not to be political. The coronation will get him the world’s affirmation,” Mr Fitzwilliams said.
“He’s very different to the Queen, she commanded gravitas with 70 years on the throne and oversaw 179 individuals serve as her realms’ prime ministers but the King’s reign will assume its own momentum in time – the monarchy does not change radically.
“At such an unstable time, the country is grateful for the continuity of the monarchy.
“The king knows Harry’s book is coming and he’s desperate not to be associated with the spectre of the past – a messy affair with Camilla, now his Queen consort, and the way he was thought to have Diana, the new series The Crown,” he said.
“The next 20 episodes will cause enormous concern at the Palace.
“The facts are cruelly distorted. This could be hugely damaging and dangerous for the future of the royals.”
For that reason, the King of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms is adamant he will “clean up” and “slim down” the working monarchy and have a cheaper coronation ceremony than his mother’s amid Britain’s cost-of-living crisis.
While he elevated his son Prince William and his wife to Prince and Princess of Wales in the wake of the Queen’s death, he left the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their existing titles and allegedly refused Harry’s request for a wreath to be placed at the London Cenotaph on his behalf because he is no longer a working royal.
Since quitting royal duties in January 2020, Prince Harry is no longer permitted to wear military dress after being stripped of the right when he left the Royal Family.
The King has carried out the Queen’s wishes too of barring his brother Andrew, the Duke of York from returning to royal duties.
It was widely reported Prince Andrew was left feeling “bereft” and “tearful” by the decision.
Insiders say Prince Andrew’s hopes of returning to public life were dashed at a private meeting at the King’s Birkhall estate in Scotland, just days before the Queen’s death.
Prince Andrew believes he could “still be of value” as a working member of the Royal Family despite his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and has lobbied persistently to regain his former roles.
The Duke settled the civil case in February for a reported £12 million without accepting liability and he continues to deny any wrongdoing.
“Charles is doing brilliantly at the moment because the country is going through a very rocky time, he’s familiar, he’s the Queen’s son, he’s cheered and, yes, he’s had an egg thrown at him recently but so did the Queen in her lifetime,” prominent and respected royal writer Ingrid Seward said.
“The royal family is on edge with Harry’s book and with the Queen no longer here, it’s feared it will be gloves off,” Ms Seward said.
“The royal family is today more about continuity rather than drastic swift changes.
“If it were the mid 90s when everyone was doing well and earning good money, Charles might have been seen as a fuddy duddy, but he’s fulfilling the need for stability in the country where there has been too much change and, frankly, we love him”.
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