After a Glittering Coronation Weekend, King Charles III Faces a Tough Road Ahead
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LONDON — He waited a lifetime for the job, and now the pressure is on King Charles III to do so much, and in relatively little time.
Although he may be the best-prepared monarch in British history, the 74-year-old king is having to undertake a CEO-style role, and become the nation’s diplomat-in-chief at a time when most of his peers have already retired, hit the golf course, or gone fishing.
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While he’s undoubtedly up to the job, he has much to accomplish in the next years and will be doing so against a much less favorable backdrop than his mother, who became queen in 1953.
Just 25 years old and brimming with optimism, she gave war-weary Britons hope, and symbolized a fresh start after so many years of deprivation.
Given his age, Charles’ time as monarch will be a sprint, rather than a marathon, and given the current political, social and economic climate, he’ll be doing it all on uneven ground.
He’ll need to continue modernizing the monarchy, and to figure out how to support the causes that have long been close to his heart, such as sustainability, the environment, skills and craft and underprivileged youth.
As Prince of Wales, he was famously outspoken about his beliefs, but as King Charles III, his public words will need to be government-approved.
He’ll also need to deal with political issues such as decolonization. The king is head of state in 15 countries, some of which — such as Canada, Australia and Jamaica — want to get rid of him and become republics.
In the midst of it all, he’ll need to keep winning approval ratings from his subjects, or risk the future of the British monarchy altogether.
“His main concern will be ensuring that by the time his reign ends, the institution and the royal family are no more unpopular than they are now. He’ll need to ensure that he can hand everything over to [his son] King William V, who is also seeking to modernize his role, and keep it relevant,” said Dr. Martin Farr, senior lecturer in contemporary British history at Newcastle University.
Moving with the times won’t be easy, said Farr, “but The Firm [an informal name for the royal family] has been quite successful in doing it for the last 100 or so years in the age of democracy.”
Farr also noted that King Charles’ reign will be “relatively short, and transitional” before the 40-year-old Prince William, the Prince of Wales, eventually takes over the job.
Right now, the king’s approval ratings are modest, at least compared with those of his late mother, and some think he’s made a good start.
According to YouGov, the king is liked by 55 percent of the population, and disliked by 17 percent with 25 percent “neutral” about him. YouGov based its numbers on 1,172 nationally representative interviews of the population in the first quarter of 2023.
By contrast, the late Queen Elizabeth is liked by 80 percent of those polled by YouGov in the same three-month period. She is disliked by 5 percent, with 12 percent neutral about her.
According to an Ipsos poll published late last month, 49 percent of Britons believe Charles is doing a “good job” as king, in line with his previous ratings as Prince of Wales. Some 32 percent said he is neither doing a good nor bad job, while just 9 percent said he is doing a bad job.
Ipsos put a positive spin on the numbers with Kelly Beaver, chief executive officer of Ipsos U.K. and Ireland, saying the numbers signal a “good start” for Britain’s new king, and something he will no doubt want to build on once the long weekend of coronation celebrations is over.
The king has already spoken volumes about his future intentions with his plans for the coronation, a state affair paid for by U.K. taxpayers.
The cost is estimated at 100 million pounds, according to British media reports. That’s roughly double the cost of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, with much of that money earmarked for security.
Per the king’s request, Saturday’s event will be shorter than the 1953 coronation, and is set to last a little more than one hour, instead of three. There will also be fewer guests — 2,200 rather than 8,000 — and a greater focus on religion, cultural diversity and community.
For the first time in history, there will also be royals from other nations in attendance, which Farr believes is part of Charles’ ongoing efforts to modernize the monarchy.
Farr said that having other sovereigns present means the king is “not anxious” about having his royal peers around.
On Saturday, crowned royals such as Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene; King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain; King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his daughter Crown Princess Victoria, and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will all be in attendance.
They’ll mingle with working members of the British royal family; current and former prime ministers; international heads of state; religious leaders from a variety of faiths, and people who work for, and with, the king’s and queen’s various charities and initiatives.
Edward Enninful, British Vogue’s editor in chief, and a global ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, the youth charity founded by Charles that helps young people get into jobs, education and training, has also been invited.
Yoox founder and fashion executive Federico Marchetti, who has worked alongside the king on a variety of projects, including The Prince’s Foundation’s Modern Artisan training program, will be at the Abbey as well.
Charlotte Mensah, one of Britain’s top stylists and experts on natural, textured and mixed-heritage Afro hair, will be in attendance too. Mensah, the owner of The Hair Lounge on London’s Portobello Road, built her salon business with a grant from The Prince’s Trust in 1999.
“He’s inviting lot of people for what they do, rather than who they are,” said the journalist and biographer Anne de Courcy, noting that peers, or members of the House of Lords, did not automatically receive invitations, nor did members of the House of Commons. Only 25 members from each house have been invited.
De Courcy — who’s written books on 20th-century society figures such as Lord Snowdon, Diana Mosley and Nancy Cunard — said the guest list may be small, but it demonstrates Charles’ — and Britain’s — global status.
“There will be the golden coach, there will be a spectacle. Heads of state have been invited from all around the world and King Charles is actually friends with many of them. There’s a lot of soft power behind this,” de Courcy said.
The democratic spirit of the occasion will sweep through the long holiday weekend, which will include a concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday night. Lionel Richie, Take That, Katy Perry and Andrea Bocelli are all set to perform at the event, which will be broadcast live by the BBC.
The king is encouraging Britons to celebrate in their communities and to volunteer, with initiatives such as The Big Lunch and The Big Help Out, also taking place during the three-day weekend.
Despite those efforts, the anti-monarchy protesters will still be out in force.
Anti-royalist groups, including No More Royals and Republic, are planning to demonstrate along the coronation procession route between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Dressed in yellow T-shirts, they are set to be carrying placards that say “Not My King” and “Would You Vote for Him?” according to British media reports.
That anti-monarchist sentiment isn’t confined to Britain. Farr of Newcastle University said that one of the big challenges that King Charles III will have to tackle is decolonization.
As king, Charles is the head of state in 15 countries, and sits at the helm of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 nations with past ties to the British Empire.
“The institution is going to have to deal much more squarely with decolonization than it has had to in the past. It’s a major point on the agenda. I think in some parts of the world, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean, this will be a major source of contention. I can see protests taking place on royal visits unless he deals with these issues quite firmly,” said Farr.
The protests have already been happening: Prince William and the-then Duchess of Cambridge were heckled about the British empire and the country’s historic involvement in the slave trade during a week-long Caribbean tour last year to mark the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
A month later, Prince Edward and the-then Countess of Wessex faced anti-monarchy protests and demands for reparations during their own tour of the Caribbean to mark the jubilee. The mood was so bad that the couple was forced to cancel a planned visit to Grenada.
The king is already making moves to deal with the legacy of the empire, and the slave trade.
In April, Buckingham Palace confirmed that it was supporting a research project, cosponsored by Historic Royal Palaces, into the monarchy’s involvement in the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries.
As part of the investigation, the king plans to open the family’s official collections, records and the Royal Archives. “This is an issue that His Majesty takes profoundly seriously,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement last month.
As he tries to shed light on history, and battle the anti-monarchists, King Charles also faces the challenge of marketing himself as a reformer, a forward-thinking leader, and brand builder.
The British milliner Stephen Jones, whose clients include members of the royal family, believes that Charles has been doing a good job so far.
“Can you imagine, 100 years ago, The Prince’s Trust existing? Can you imagine a monarch being very good friends with somebody like Stella McCartney, a fashion designer? I think the entire family will follow his lead in being relevant to a modern world,” said Jones.
Rebecca Robins, a global expert on brands, culture and generations in the workforce, would agree.
Robins said the king was a pioneer with regard to his work “on sustainability, and giving younger generations access to education,” through The Prince’s Trust, which he founded in 1976 to help vulnerable and at-risk youths with skills training and education.
The young prince famously used his Navy severance pay — 7,400 pounds — to fund a number of community initiatives. They became the founding projects of the trust.
“It’s so important that he really reasserts the message on these issues, and that they don’t get lost now that he is king. Education and the sustainability commitment are universal issues, and part of a shared value agenda across business, society, the world at large,” she said.
Robins added that the king’s “sense of focus and clarity, and really unifying the family across the generations, and aligning with the challenges and the context of our times is more crucial than ever.”
Those who know him believe that he’s up to the job as king, despite his age and public sentiment.
De Courcy recalled interviewing Charles in the ’80, when he was already addressing themes such as climate change; complementary medicine; public health issues such as loneliness, isolation and depression, and the importance of extended, multigenerational family networks.
“He’s got a very strong, well-calibrated moral compass, as the queen did. He’s always tried to help people, and he started a life of service very early,” de Courcy said.
Britain’s new king made his first public speech about safeguarding the environment in 1970, and in the mid-1980s he admitted to spending quality time with his plants, talking to them in order to help them grow.
Following that admission, he was viciously ridiculed by the press and the public, yet his passion for conservation only intensified.
A keen gardener, Charles founded Duchy Organics in 1990 to sell organic food products from his estate in Cornwall. Since then it has become a leading organic and natural food brand, which is now operated in partnership with the British supermarket Waitrose. Its aim is to help small- and medium-sized producers, with all the profits going to charitable causes.
He was also behind the global Campaign for Wool, which began in 2010. The Prince of Wales was keen to raise awareness among consumers about the renewable and biodegradable benefits of the fiber and to boost the dwindling price of wool.
Federico Marchetti, meanwhile, described the king him as a man of action.
“It’s what he really likes, more than anything else — action. He is also an authentic person and more knowledgeable than anyone I know about the environment,” said Marchetti, who is chair of the Fashion Task Force.
The Task Force sits within the Sustainable Markets Initiative, or SMI, an organization that Charles launched in 2020 at the World Economic Forum at Davos.
The aim of the SMI is to encourage economies and companies to operate “in favor of people and planet,” and the task force in particular is working to place the industry on a more regenerative path.
The man who will be anointed king on Saturday might well be remembered not as the pampered Boomer, the in-betweener, the transition monarch or the man who was too old for the job. Instead, he might live in history as King Charles the Protector.
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