On the ground: This USA TODAY reporter joined a besotted crowd as King Charles was sworn in

LONDON — Energy - and pageantry - ran high Saturday morning at St James's Palace where about 1,000 members of the public (and this reporter) were allowed to stand just outside the perimeter of Friary Court, to hear the Garter King of Arms proclaim Charles III the new king.

King Charles III was formally proclaimed monarch in an accession ceremony at the palace shortly before, officially marking a new era in British rule following Queen Elizabeth's death Thursday.

Charles automatically became king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died but the accession ceremony is a key constitutional and ceremonial step in introducing the new monarch to the country.

The proclamation drew attention and warranted pomp and circumstance

Trumpets sounded and the crowd sang "God Save the King" - the U.K.'s new national anthem. David White, Garter King of Arms, a senior officer who looks after royal flag-flying, ceremony and other heraldic devices, read the proclamation from a balcony above Friary Court.

"Whereas it has pleased almighty god to call to his mercy our late sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth the Second of blessed and glorious memory, by whose decease the crown of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to Prince Charles Philip Arthur George," read David White, continuing the centuries-old tradition to swear in a new monarch.

"Three cheers for his Majesty the king," White said.

"Hip-hip," he added three times. The King's Guard, in recognizable in their scarlet tunics and bushy black bearskin caps, responded three times, in turn: "Hooray."

As the proclamation was being read, elsewhere in London other members of the King's Guard fired a 42-gun salute in Hyde Park and 62-gun salute at the Tower of London, a palace and fortress on the north bank of the River Thames.

Inside St James's Palace, the privy council met

Earlier, during a meeting of the Accession Council, an advisory group comprised of the Privy Council members, - officials, former prime ministers, the mayor of London and some royal family members - the king swore an oath and again paid tribute to his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

"To all of us as a family, as to this kingdom and the wider family of nations of which it is a part, my Mother gave an example of lifelong love and of selfless service," King Charles III said in his declaration Saturday. "My Mother’s reign was unequalled in its duration, its dedication and its devotion."

Vince Cable, a British politician and a former leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats party who attended the Accession Council meeting, told USA TODAY: "We recognized the queen and her wonderful qualities."

Cable attended the Accession Council as a member of the Privy Council. "It was a very dignified occasion. All recent prime ministers and senior ministers were there. It helped perpetuate the sense of common continuity that the monarchy gives us," he said.

Cable said the meeting was a very "sedate" affair and that no mobile phones were allowed into the meeting room. "It was all very solemn and respectful. There was quite a lot of emphasis on the union of England and Scotland," he added, referring to the king's oath to protect the Church of Scotland as part of the ceremony.

He said that about 200 Privy Council members were present. They made chit-chat for the few hours before the proclamation was read on the balcony outside the palace by White.

Spectators came from all over to witness history

While the Privy Council and new king met inside, spectators were abuzz, ready to witness history. The wait to enter the grounds of St James's Palace was about 90 minutes — not long compared to the 1,000 + years over which the British monarchy's various rules and duties have evolved.

In the line to hear the public proclamation, which hasn't happened in the U.K. since 1952 when Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, were families from up and down the country clamoring to enter the grounds.

Some brought babies or small children still in their Spiderman pajamas. This reporter spotted at least one dog, a good boy who waited patiently with the rest of the crowd. Across the road, though, the site of the nearby 90-acre St James's Park, where there is a wildlife sanctuary for ducks, geese, swans and even pelicans, was a little distracting for him.

Glynn and Rebecca Parry had traveled from Doncaster, a town in Yorkshire, in northern England.

"Well, to be honest, we had plans for the weekend, normal weekend plans," said Glynn, a train driver. "And then when the queen died, everything sort of started getting canceled - this, that and the other - so last night it dawned on us that this was a momentous, historic occasion. We took the first train down this morning."

It took two hours for the Parrys to travel from Doncaster – which sits about 170 miles from London.

"We knew this (the queen's death) was going to happen during our lifetime, but when it did, it was still a shock," said Rebecca, a lawyer. "This whole thing just felt so historic and we wanted to be here for that reason  So, as sad an occasion as this is because it's happened it's nice to be here," she said.

As the proclamation was read, a wide-eyed Tina and Clark Davis, on vacation from their home in Houston, Texas, were in the crowd.

"There's just so much history here," said Tina. "I mean, we have history in the U.S., but the mystique and traditions, and all the pomp and circumstance, it's just really cool to see. We sure don't have that."

Contributing: Morgan Hines, staff and wire reports.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Queen Elizabeth: In London while King Charles was proclaimed monarch