Former PM angered by fictitious storyline in which Charles seeks his help in getting the Queen to abdicate
As Netflix prepares to release its fifth season of big budget royal drama The Crown it has rejected criticism of the latest season after former prime minster Sir John Major described it as a “barrel load of nonsense”.
Major’s comments were made after concerns arose that a storyline in the hit programme could damage King Charles’s reputation.
Continue reading...Unusual diplomatic intervention prompted by fears over Liz Truss’s commitment to net zero
The Egyptian government, host of the next UN climate summit, has warned the UK against “backtracking from the global climate agenda”, in a significant intervention prompted by fears over Liz Truss’s commitment to net zero.
The warning before the Cop27 conference, which will take place in just over a month in Sharm el-Sheikh, to the host of Cop26, which took place in Glasgow last November, is highly unusual in diplomatic terms. The hosts of successive Cops are responsible for a smooth handover of the talks.
Continue reading...Ceremonial splendour in London gave way to a quiet burial in Windsor as Britain said goodbye to its longest-reigning monarch
After the majestical funeral pomp and military spectacle, unsurpassed in the nation’s living memory and watched across the world, the final farewell to Queen Elizabeth II would belong only to her family.
Night had fallen as she was laid to rest next to the Duke of Edinburgh in the George VI Memorial Chapel, Windsor, in private and away from cameras.
Continue reading...Survey respondents split 50-50 but women, older voters and Coalition supporters more likely to back new monarch, poll suggests
Australians are divided over whether King Charles III should be the country’s head of state, with the latest Guardian Essential poll suggesting a 50-50 split between those who support the new UK monarch and those who do not.
The survey of 1,075 people, taken after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, gives little hope to the republican cause with fewer than half of the respondents (43%) supporting Australia becoming a republic – a figure that has barely moved over the past five years.
Continue reading...Patrick will use the federal court to demand the information commissioner explain the lawfulness of her office’s delays in reviewing freedom of information decisions. Follow the day’s news live
The NSW government and the transport union will be meeting this afternoon behind closed doors after the union announced yesterday they’ll be withdrawing their plans to shut down the Opal card system.
Last week the union announced their plans to shut down the Opal card system indefinitely as part of their ongoing dispute with the state government.
[W]e know that higher interest rates will tend to depress residential and commercial property prices but there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude and even the timing.
Not only can declining property prices have implications for economic activity, but also for financial stability as we outlined in the April financial stability review.
Continue reading...The official website of the royal family said a private burial took place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel
Food confiscated from people waiting in the queue for the Queen’s lying in state is being donated to charity, reports PA Media:
People are not allowed to take food or drink inside the Palace of Westminster and any such items will be confiscated.
Charity the Felix Project said it expects to collect over 2 tonnes of food, mostly snacks including crisps, chocolate and biscuits, and is also accepting unwanted blankets.
With people waiting up to 24 hours to complete the five-mile walk from Southwark Park to Westminster Hall to pay their respects to the Queen, they are coming with plenty of food to keep them going.
When they get to Victoria Tower Gardens the food is confiscated before entry to the parliamentary estate is allowed and instead of being thrown away, all non-perishable and unopened packages are saved.
The Felix Project will distribute the items to the thousands of community groups it works with across the capital.
Charity chief executive Charlotte Hill said: “We are honoured to be here to play a small part in this hugely poignant event and to know that an extra layer of good is being done here.
It’s hard to say exactly how many additional people [will travel], but we’re preparing for potentially a million people just within the footprint of the royal palaces and Hyde Park …
Continue reading...King’s ‘accession tour’ of UK draws to a close as prime ministers and presidents gather to pay their respects
After 10 days receiving the condolences of the British people, King Charles III was embraced by world leaders before Monday’s funeral for the Queen, after which he will finally lay his mother to rest in a private ceremony in a Windsor chapel.
The King’s black Rolls-Royce swept on to the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on Sunday morning as prime ministers and presidents from the US to Rwanda gathered. He waved to cheering crowds which have followed him around Britain over the last week on his “accession tour”, before holding his second meeting with Liz Truss, the prime minister.
Continue reading...Decision taken to close entry to queue permanently after it reached capacity before Monday’s funeral
The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has told the BBC that in her conversation with King Charles he expressed gratitude for the condolences of the people who had come out to take part in the week’s events. PA Media reports she said:
I’ll keep my comments here very, very general because we always try to keep in close confidence the conversations we are lucky enough to have with His Majesty.
But the overriding sentiment was just the gratitude for the great effort that people were putting into coming and paying their respects, and by that I mean not just leaders, but people.
What you’re going to expect is the best of funeral services, the prayer book service, the words which were an inspiration to Shakespeare.
You’re going to hear this wonderful English at its best, also you’re going to hear angelic voices of the choir of the abbey plus the Chapels Royal, you really hear voices that are singing to the glory of God.
Continue reading...Australian prime minister also held informal talks with UK prime minister Liz Truss
Anthony Albanese has described his one-on-one meeting with King Charles ahead of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth as a “great honour”.
“I extended my personal condolences to King Charles but also the condolences of the Australian people,” the prime minister said from London on Sunday morning Australian time.
Continue reading...Queen’s grandchildren keep watch over coffin in Westminster Hall. This blog is now closed
In an update at 8am, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the end point of the queue for the Queen’s lying in state was once more accessible in Southwark Park.
The DCMS had earlier warned people not to travel to join the queue and to check back later on Saturday morning for updates on wait times.
Continue reading...The King has now visited each of the UK’s four nations since his mother’s death; queue to see coffin is paused as wait reaches 14 hours
UK-based correspondents from European news outlets have written for the Guardian about how Britons will deal with political turmoil, Brexit, recession and the loss of the Queen.
Here’s an excerpt from Stefanie Bolzen, UK and Ireland correspondent for Die Welt, Germany:
The days we are living through mark a new beginning. Only time will tell what the post-Elizabethan era will bring. For the moment, what it does feel like is a juggernaut of one too many challenges coming at the same time, a surreal wave. The aftermath of the pandemic, which has left the UK with a lot of scars; Brexit finally being felt in real life, whether on the M2 towards Dover, in my local Sainsbury’s, or in the port of Larne; Russia’s war on Ukraine; a fourth prime minister in six years. And now the death of Elizabeth II, who seemed to many immortal.
Reporting on the UK as a foreigner often makes it easier to take a step back, to see “the big picture”. Since last Thursday, though, this has become a challenge. The 24/7 coverage of the Queen’s death is all-consuming with layers of events, history and traditions to process. It would not be fair to suggest that these layers are somehow serving to sugarcoat the crisis in this country. Elizabeth II was a historic figure, she symbolises a century that transcended Europe’s borders. What I do notice, however, is that the foreign media cover this long period of ceremonial mourning with less servility. Hardly any British media, for example, dared comment on King Charles III’s rude gesture of impatience during the acclamation.
The actress, known for her role in the BBC hit series Killing Eve, will participate in a procession of national honours as part of the service on Monday.
She joins the delegation as a member of the Order of Canada alongside musician Gregory Charles and Olympic gold medallist swimmer Mark Tewksbury.
Oh was granted the honour recently in June 2022.
Canada’s delegation to the funeral will be led by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and also include governor general Mary Simon as well as former prime ministers and governor-generals.
The group is due to depart for the UK on Friday, ahead of the service next week.
Details of the delegation were made public on Thursday during a special address given by Trudeau during a special session of Canada’s House of Commons.
It was previously announced the day of the Queen’s funeral will be marked in Canada with a national day of mourning.
The monarchies are hopeful of stronger UK ties under King Charles, but plans for the ceremony have not gone down well
From Oman in the east to Morocco in the west, Middle East and north African royalty have been closely monitoring plans for the Queen’s funeral, but with days to go until the biggest event in modern royal history, they are unlikely to travel to London in numbers.
Monarchies have sought to divine meaning from protocol arrangements, and are largely underwhelmed by what they have seen.
Continue reading...Ascension of King Charles III has prompted renewed questioning of a British monarch as head of state
In a crisp black suit, white shirt and black tie, Daniel Pryce reached the end of a mile-long driveway flanked by palm trees and clipped lawns. He had come to King’s House to perform his duty, as he put it, by signing a book of condolence for the Queen, whom he served as equerry on her final visit to Jamaica in 2002.
“The very last moment of that visit, as she was about to alight the aircraft, she turned around and she shook my hand and she said ‘Thank you, Daniel’,” the 58-year-old recalled on Tuesday as flags flew at half mast in serene sunshine. “It was the first time she referred to me by my first name and that was special for me.”
Continue reading...Crown prince will reportedly head Saudi delegation but attendance at Queen’s funeral unconfirmed
Mohammed bin Salman will deliver his country’s condolences to the royal family after the death of the Queen, a source has told the Guardian, but there has been no confirmation about whether he will attend the funeral service at Westminster Abbey.
It will be the Saudi crown prince’s first visit to the UK since the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and the subsequent British imposition of sanctions. These included travel bans on a group of courtiers close to the crown prince due to their alleged involvement in the killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Continue reading...Former PM endorses Anthony Albanese’s view to wait on debate, saying ‘no rush’ on moving away from British head of state
Julia Gillard says Australia will ultimately become a republic but has endorsed the prime minister, Anthony Albanese’s view it is too soon for the debate.
The former Australian prime minister told the ABC, in her first interview since the Queen’s death, that Albanese was right to delay consideration of a republic to a future term of government.
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Continue reading...On the first full day of lying in state, huge queues have formed in London
The first mourners to see the Queen lying in state have told how they were overcome with emotion as they paid their respects.
Some doffed their hats, others said prayers and shed tears, while one woman said she wanted to sing Ave Maria.
Continue reading...Thousands queue on streets of London to file past Queen after procession from Buckingham Palace
Guardian columnist Andy Beckett has written today about how there is no single “national mood” in the aftermath of the Queen’s death, in a country where support for the monarchy has fallen significantly over the last decade.
The idea that the whole country is mourning the Queen and welcoming her successor is a fiction: energetically disseminated, seductive for many in a time of division, but a fiction nonetheless. There is no single ‘national mood’ about the royal family, and there never has been, whatever most journalists and politicians say. Instead there is an assortment of feelings, even right outside Buckingham Palace.
But over the longer term, the reign of her more divisive, less historically resonant son may cause that surge to fade, and the decline in royal popularity to resume, even accelerate. With Charles, known for his impatience with staff and extravagant lifestyle, the sense of entitlement, which is as fundamental to the royal family as a sense of duty, is more obvious.
The poorer country that the UK is likely to become over the next few years may also be less tolerant of one of the world’s most lavish monarchies. The Queen’s old-fashioned, relatively plain public persona, and the length of her reign – to an extent, she continued to be judged by rather deferential, mid-20th century standards – means that modern Britain’s appetite for a less self-effacing ruler has not yet been tested.
Continue reading...Up to 100 employees of Clarence House received notification they could lose job following accession to throne
A civil service trade union has criticised the decision to give redundancy notices to King Charles’s staff during the period of mourning as “nothing short of heartless”.
The Guardian reported on Monday that up to 100 employees at the King’s former official residence, including some who have worked there for decades, received notification that they could lose their jobs following his accession to the throne.
Continue reading...Queen’s coffin expected to arrive at RAF Northolt at 6.45pm BST before being transported to Buckingham Palace
If you’re wondering why there’s such a fuss about the Queen’s death, our weekly science podcast published today might have some answers.
Our science editor, Ian Sample, has been talking to Prof Michael Cholbi, chair in philosophy at Edinburgh University, about what grief is, how losing a public figure can have such a profound impact on our lives, and why there’s value in grieving.
Continue reading...New monarch meets politicians and public as he tries to build on late Queen’s efforts at reconciliation
King Charles has resolved to “seek the welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland”, in a formal response to the region’s assembly on his visit to Hillsborough Castle to meet the public and politicians.
After being greeted by crowds chanting “God save the King” at the gates of the royal residence in County Down, he made the pledge in response to a message of condolence from Alex Maskey, the nationalist Speaker of the Northern Ireland assembly and a former IRA internee.
Continue reading...