What a year of King Charles has shown us about
how he wants to reign
Clues to the king’s aspirations can be seen in the
‘informal formality’ of his royal receptions, reforms to his household and his
upcoming anti-food waste project
Caroline
Davies
Fri 8 Sep
2023 06.00 BST
As the king
spends the first anniversary of his mother’s death, and of his accession, at
his Scottish highland retreat on Friday, he may reflect back on a year of
historic transition not seen in 70 years.
Suggestions
that Charles, 74, sees himself as a “caretaker king”, keeping the throne warm
for the new Prince of Wales, who will be the real reformer, is not a scenario
recognised at Buckingham Palace.
There have
been no eye-catching reforms in his first year, and he can be fairly described
as the “cautious” king. But there are clues to his aspirations in the small
changes.
He has
turbo-charged royal receptions, harnessing their soft-power to the maximum,
sources point out, in the knowledge he can no longer speak out publicly on
subjects he remains passionate about.
So, the
“convening” king is a label it seems he will accept.
When
advised by Liz Truss’s government not to attend the Cop27 climate conference in
Egypt, he instead hosted an eve of Cop27 reception for international
representatives at Buckingham Palace. He found a way to remain a leader in the
field of the climate crisis, albeit within the new constitutional parameters
that constrain him.
Now,
“informal formality” are the bywords. Receptions are larger-scale events – such
as that in February for the British east and south-east Asian communities. The
nature of these receptions has changed from the late queen’s days, precisely
because Charles is no longer able to become involved in certain areas, sources
indicate.
He also
sees himself, as head of state, of being a symbol of continuity and stability,
said sources. The political turbulence of the early days of his reign saw him
no sooner having his first meeting with one prime minster than he was on to his
second.
He has made
his debut as king on the international stage, addressing the German Bundestag,
a first for a British monarch, and a similar honour will be accorded in France
this month when he addresses their parliamentarians. He has also hosted the US
president, Joe Biden, and the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
But, while
he would like to be seen as a unifying figure, the challenging dynamics of his
own fractured family have dominated his first year. The Duke and Duchess of
Sussex’s protracted onslaught against the royal family and institution in
general, and Harry’s criticism of his father in particular, have played out
across the world.
From
Charles there has been silence. It has never been an established position that
nothing would be said, rather in what way would saying something make things
better. So far, there has not been a day when he has thought saying something
was going to make things better, the Guardian understands. His love for his
younger son, though, is demonstrated in his invitation to Harry and Meghan to
his coronation, although only Harry turned up and then made a swift exit back
to LA.
Another
early challenge was the race row involving Lady Susan Hussey, the late queen’s
lady-in-waiting, and a black female charity reception guest, Ngozi Fulani, of
Sistah Space. Some royal observers were surprised at the speed and ruthlessness
with which Charles’s aides dealt with the fallout. Hussey immediately resigned
from the royal household for making “unacceptable and deeply regrettable
comments”, and later offered an apology in person, which Fulani accepted.
For Charles
– who is very close to Hussey, godmother to William – it was a difficult
situation. “One could almost argue it was dealt with too swiftly. The reaction
to that was surprising, particularly from the Prince of Wales,” said Joe
Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, noting Hussey was soon back in the
royal fold.
“I suppose
it was important to be seen to be addressing the issue head on, as opposed to
the way that other issues, such as bullying allegations, are being treated as
private matters,” Little added, referencing bullying allegations made against,
and denied by, Meghan.
Another
challenge Charles faces is the “slimmed-down” monarchy he is said to have
wanted, which now looks positively skeletal. The Princess Royal may have had a
point when she told Canada’s CBC News that a slimmed down monarchy “doesn’t
sound like a good idea from where I’m standing”.
With Andrew
and Harry out of the picture, and the death of the late queen, what to do with
all the patronages is a big question. In the official coronation photograph
featuring the remaining 11 working royals, the Duke of Kent and Princess
Alexandra are 87 and 86 respectively, the king, 74, the queen, 76, Princess
Anne, 73, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester 79 and 77 respectively, the Duke
and Duchess of Edinburgh 59 and 58 respectively, while the Waleses are both 41.
“The Duke
of Kent and the Gloucesters and Princess Alexandra, they can’t take on anything
more. They will keep going as long as they can,” said Hugo Vickers, a royal
historian. “You’ve lost Prince Andrew and Prince Harry. It’s a big issue, I
think. You can see what Princess Anne means.”
How the
king will overcome this remains to be seen, but an ageing royal family could
affect its popularity. While the most recent YouGov poll shows a majority (59%)
think Charles is doing well, support for the institution in general fell as
those questioned got younger, with 80% of the over-65s voicing their approval
but only 37% of 18- to 24-year-olds.
He will
also have to contend with an increasingly vocal republican movement. While said
to be genuinely pleased with the response he gets on the streets during
engagements, he cannot ignore the protests and chants of “not my king”. The
over-zealous policing of the coronation led to 64 arrests, some not even
protesters, it later emerged. Only five people have so far been charged, and
half told they will face no charges or fines.
The
necessary integration of two householdsafter the late queen’s death has
inevitably led to a reduction in staff, and the king is also, reportedly,
setting about reducing the number of middle managers in his employ.
“If a whole
layer of middle-management is to be removed then that’s a necessary step that
maybe should have been taken some time ago. He obviously sees a need for
modernisation, and it looks like he’s going through the process at the moment,”
said Little.
One
personal initiative of his is that profits from the crown estate’s hugely
lucrative windfarm deal will not go to him but will be earmarked for public
services. However, this should be set against the fact that the monarchy is due
to receive a huge pay increase, with public funding through the sovereign grant
rising £86.3m this year to £126m in 2025 due to the formula based on crown
estate profits, the Guardian has reported.
Charles’s
address to the nation, delivered after his mother’s death, laid out a blueprint
for his reign: his solemn pledge to “uphold the constitutional principles at
the heart of our nation” and acknowledgment that his new responsibilities mean
it will “no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies
to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply”.
“It was
brilliant. I don’t think the late queen had to set out a blueprint about what
she was going to do, but that is what we expect these days. And it certainly
hit all the nails on the head. And he has kept to it,” said Vickers.
It was a
message “that was very much reinforced by Prince William leaping up on to the
stage at the [coronation] concert and giving that Shakespearean speech,
basically he was then saying: ‘I’m going to be the one talking now,’” added
Vickers.
Charles has
previously insisted he knew he couldn’t meddle once king. “But saying it and
doing it are two very different things, and that doesn’t mean to say that he
won’t at some point interfere,” said Little. His first big personal project as
monarch to be launched in the autumn is a national initiative to tackle food
waste, led by Dame Martina Milburn, the chief executive of the Prince’s Trust.
“And you wonder how political that might be, so that remains to be seen,” he
added.
One
surprise omission in Charles’s first year has been the lack of Commonwealth
activity – he is king of 14 other countries, with some debating whether to
ditch him. Perhaps it is down to lack of time in a busy year, said Little. “But
there hasn’t yet been the Commonwealth activity in the way you might expect
there to have been.”
By and
large, it is Charles the “cautious” king we have seen so far. “He is the best
prepared Prince of Wales that the UK has ever had. Clearly we are unlikely to
celebrate the silver jubilee of King Charles III. But he could be king for 20
years,” said Little. “To be described as a ‘caretaker king’ for two decades is
doing him a great disservice. He clearly has a lot of offer. We have yet to see
some of his potential. But it’s early days.”
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