In a moving speech Friday, King Charles III paid heartfelt tribute to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and took small steps to moving the monarchy into its next phase.
William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will now be styled as the Prince and Princess of Wales. Catherine is the first person to be Princess of Wales since William’s late mother, Diana. Although she was entitled to use that moniker, Camilla deferred to Diana and never used it. She was known as the Duchess of Cornwall.
Future titles for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, weren’t mentioned in Charles’s brief speech.
They will, “continue to build their lives overseas,” Charles said.
While he emphasized they’re still deeply loved, there was a clear difference in the way he spoke effusively about Will and Kate, conferring on them their coveted new titles. Harry and Meghan clearly are now outliers in the Royal Family.
This came on the heels of Harry arriving late to the bedside of his grandmother, the Queen. He and Meghan reportedly snubbed an earlier invitation to visit the Queen at Balmoral before she died and Harry’s lone, hasty dash to the Highland retreat came too late. She had already died. Early reports that Meghan would accompany Harry to his grandmother’s bedside were quickly changed and she did not go with him. Given the insulting nature of the interview Meghan and Harry gave to Oprah, it’s hardly surprising. It must have deeply wounded the Queen in her fading years.
For most of us, the transition is like starting a new year with your chequebook. You keep writing in last year’s date. God Save the King. The King’s Plate. A different face on the $20 bill and our coins. King Charles III is going to take a lot of getting used to.
After the outpouring of affection for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles will have a tough time ingratiating himself with his subjects at home and around the Commonwealth and in countries like Canada where he is head of state.
In his early years, he came across as shy and awkward, although he became the dashing, most eligible bachelor in the world. And then it all went wrong.
We know all the lurid details of Charles’s doomed relationship with his late wife Diana. But what kind of man has he grown into since then? What can we expect of him as king?
I’ve met Charles a couple of times. At one reception in the Lt.-Gov.’s suite at Queen’s Park, he sent his private secretary over to say how much he had enjoyed the coverage of his visit in The Toronto Sun that day. We’d put a beautiful picture of the royal couple on the front page and I’d written a column that talked about his interest in sustainable agriculture and how he’d been ahead of the curve in talking about things like organic farming.
Over the years, we dismissed or even mocked his warnings. Then along came foot and mouth and mad cow diseases and other deadly conditions associated with industrial farming. We forget that Charles has spent his life travelling the world and he’s never happier than when he’s talking to people about the land, what we grow and how we grow it.
In that column I also talked about Camilla and how stoic she’s been in the face of name-calling and adversity. Yes, Diana was lovely and was no doubt treated badly by Charles. But we have to move on from that. Camilla was his first love and her life was upended because he dithered and didn’t ask her to marry him when he should have done.
I watched that day as Camilla took on a couple of engagements solo. One was a military event and she had dressed in a rather heavy suit. It was a sweltering day, yet she carried on bravely, never letting slip how uncomfortable she must have been. They went on to a huge reception in the Distillery District in Toronto. Charles took a TTC bus. Again, it was sweltering and they gamely chatted with the hundreds of people who showed up.
Dalton McGuinty was the premier at the time and kindly made a point of introducing me to Charles, who spoke to me at length and very kindly about my column.
All accounts I’ve heard of Camilla is that she’s a down-to-earth type caught in probably the most highly publicized and tragic love triangle the world has known. Over the years, Camilla has risen above all that. She was called names and scorned by some. Over the years, she’s kept a low profile and yet has been a constant at Charles’s side. She classy and, I suspect, sassy. She’ll make a great Queen Consort.
You can’t help who you love. Charles and Camilla is a love story for the ages. Now in their 70s, they’re taking on the most difficult role ever.
We should wish them well. They need all the support they can get.
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