King Charles III Addresses Parliament as MPs Pay Their Respects
11:02 GMT 12.09.2022 (Updated: 15:21 GMT 28.05.2023)
© AP Photo / Ben Stansall / King Charles III gives his address at Westminster Hall, where both Houses of Parliament met to express their condolences following the death of Queen Elizabeth I
Subscribe
Charles III was proclaimed as king over the weekend by the Privy Council, the UK Parliament and the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He has previously been outspoken on issues including the environment and conservation, pushing the boundaries of royal political neutrality.
King Charles III has paid tribute to his mother Queen Elizabeth II in a speech to the UK Parliament.
The newly-proclaimed monarch addressed both houses of Parliament, the Commons and Lords, on Monday morning in the 800-year-old Westminster Hall — the oldest structure on the Parliamentary estate.
He thanked them for their condolences, quoting from 16th-century queen Elizabeth I's contemporary William Shakespeare.
"As Shakespeare said of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living," Charles said.
"I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both houses dedicate yourselves."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 12, 2022
King Charles addresses both houses of parliament.
Latest: https://t.co/8AFWhoW82a
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/JZA4SfYMm2
"Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy," Charles said — potentially allaying fears the outspoken king would continue pushing the boundaries of Royal political neutrality as he did as Prince of Wales.
He recalled that on ascending the throne in her mid-twenties following the sudden death of her father, Elizabeth had promised to uphold the principles of constitutional monarchy, where Parliament exercises the sovereign power of the Crown.
"While very young, her late majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. This vow she kept with unsurpassed devotion," Charles said.
"She set an example of selfless duty, which, with God's help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow."
11 September 2022, 12:12 GMT
Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle delivered a 'humble address' on behalf of his fellow MPs.
"Deep as our grief is, we know yours is deeper," Hoyle said. "There is nothing we can say in the praise of our late Queen, your mother, that you do not already know."
Charles later flew to Edinburgh in Scotland, where his late mother was lying in state at Holyrood House before being carried to St Giles Cathedral.
In line with plans drawn up years before her passing last Thursday at the age of 96, the Queen's mourning procession begins in Scotland following her death at the Scottish royal residence of Balmoral Castle.
