God Save The King!

Monday. 7.15 a.m. So, now we have a new monarch, Charles III. On Saturday, I saw the proclamation of the new king on television because this ceremony has never been seen by the public before. It was a symbolic occasion, the sort of pageantry that we seem to do so well in Britain. The death of the Queen was incredibly sad and unexpected, considering we had only a few months ago celebrated her Platinum Jubilee. But now we are celebrating the accession of our new monarch, Charles III. He has to change drastically his life, transferring from being somewhat in the background as Prince of Wales to becoming monarch and very much in the forefront of the life of the nation.

This morning, on television, we had a ceremony in Central Hall, Westminster, of the new king and his    Queen Consort, listening to speeches from both sides of parliament, The Lords and Commons and then Charles gave his address. This was all done in front of the massed MPs and members of The Lords. I am somewhat surprised that Charles chose his name as his Reginal name, because of the connection of Charles I, who was actually put on trial in that same vast hall and then had his head chopped off by Oliver Cromwell's henchmen.

No sooner had the ceremony finished, than Charles and Camilla got in a car and were driven off to Northolt airfield to fly to Edinburgh because they were going to follow his mother's coffin to St Giles cathedral where it will be lying in state for 24 hours. It had been bought to Edinburgh from Balmoral where it took a good 6 hours for the journey to be completed.

I'm thinking, it must be difficult for Charles. He's just lost his mother. He thought the world of her. He immediately became king, the moment she passed away. An onerous task, a great job to take on, considering his age (he is 73.). He has to go through a great deal of pageantry over the next days, months and years, the build-up to his coronation, probably next year. Its date will no doubt be announced before too long. That in itself will be a huge event, not just for Charles, but for those who will have to organize it. On top of all this, which should be very exciting and overwhelming, he still has to be thinking of losing his late mother.  

New Prime Minister

Monday. 6.45 a.m. I awoke in the night to the distant sound of thunder. At first I wasn't entirely sure whether it was thunder, but then it broke and there was a torrential rainfall storm. It seemed to go on for a while, but then it came to an end. When I went out with Alfie around 6 a.m. there was virtually no sign of any rain. The ground looked dry, although the air was heavy with moisture.

Tuesday. 6.35 a.m. It's a good deal cooler this morning. I am waking later and later each day.

So, Liz Truss had been selected as Britain's new Prime Minister, replacing Boris Johnson. She will be going to Balmoral to see The Queen and officially transfer power between the two leaders. As I write this, I have BBC Breakfast on television, and they are reporting from Downing Street as Boris Johnson will come out and give his final speech as Prime Minister. 

9.30 a.m. Boris Johnson's speech was short and sweet, and as usual, there was a certain amount of levity in it. I know he made many mistakes and told a few lies (well, to be honest, more than a few, but don't all politicians bend the truth?) All his MPs stood on the pavement to listen to him, and then he and his wife, Carrie, drove off in a Range Rover. I can't think where, but if he and Liz Truss have to go to Balmoral, which is somewhere to the north. in the depths of Scotland and close to Aberdeen, they would need to leave soon as I imagine it would take seven or eight hours by car and probably less if they went by train. Possibly a private plane? Well, the Queen is head of state and she can choose where they meet, for Boris to resign and Liz Trust to get the keys to Number 10. Usually, this takes place at Buckingham Palace, but her majesty didn't intend to return to London, to break her holiday. Well, she isn't in the best of health and, considering her great age, late 90s, who can blame her?

Cincinnatus was mentioned in Boris's speech. I had to do a Google search, to discover he was a Roman statesman. It passed me by so quickly, but unless you have a grounding in the classics (which Boris obviously does, but I don't.) it would take the likes of Mary Beard to explain more about this Roman figure.

1.30 p.m. I took Alfie to The Groom Room within Pets At Home in Bletchley for his 11.30 appointment. He is now home and looks a good deal neater than he was when he went in. His nails are trimmed, his teeth brushed, his face is tidy, and you can see his eyes properly.

I had to fill in 90 minutes whilst Alfie was being groomed. I had a salad roll, Danish pastry and tea in Greggs, which is a few doors along from Pets At Home. Then, a browse in T.K. Maax. There's always lots to see there, but I didn't buy anything, but I was tempted. I looked in Sports Direct and have seen a couple of pairs of trainers which I am determined to buy, which have leather uppers and look quite smart compared with other styles of trainers and at a reasonable price.

Liz Truss came back from Balmoral where she had met the Queen to be officially installed as Prime Minister. It made me think, surely she would have had to travel all the way to the north of Scotland. How would she get there? It couldn't possibly be by car or train, because she was expected back in Downing Street to give a speech to the nation. It transpired that she had gone by private jet. The plane came back and landed at RAF Northolt and then she had a drive into central London as part of a convoy of what would have been security people. Then the weather changed, it began to rain, and I was somewhat amused to see the podium which was put out in front of Number 10 by staff and, as the rain fell, the microphones on it were covered with a black bin bag. The rain became heavier and the podium was moved indoors and it wasn't clear where Liz Truss's speech would be given. Indoors? In the room where all those press conferences were given by Boris Johnson during the pandemic? Then the rain came to an end and the podium came back out! 

We saw the convoy of vehicles driving through the streets as it approached Downing Street and it eventually arrived outside Number 10 Liz Trust got out of the Range Rover she had travelled in and immediately went to the podium to give her address. To me, it seemed amazing that she arrived in Downing Street and was delivering that address within minutes of arriving.