King Charles III

The news is currently dominated by the Queen’s death and also the accession of the new Charles III. The former Prince of Wales has never been a favourite of mine (not that he knows or would care!) I won’t hash over all the well known details but I feel that he was careless and foolish when he was a younger man, and his poor decisions hurt others. But he has got older and has settled down with Camilla, and I am not in the business of judging anybody. So I suppose I’m ok with him becoming King at the age of 73, although it feels strange to have a King. And Camilla is his Queen consort. I’m not really ok with that, especially as Charles promised that she would remain Duchess of Cornwall when he became King. However they have now been married a long time, and (no doubt after much persuasion by Charles) the Queen stated at the Jubilee that it was her wish for Camilla to become Queen consort, so it was bound to happen. 

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral will be on Monday 19th September, which would have been my Mum’s 91st birthday. The Royals are the main news story just now and I expect that will continue until after the funeral. There has been news footage of various Royal personages greeting the crowds at various Royal residences; notably Princes William and Harry and their wives temporarily put aside their differences this evening to do a walkabout outside Windsor Castle. King Charles has made a broadcast to the nation, and has been confirmed as King by the government, although he became King the moment that his mother died. 

The Queen herself is still at Balmoral and will be taken by car to Edinburgh tomorrow. 

Meanwhile we are in Manchester visiting Davie and Chanel. The weather is mild and sunny and we have been having a lovely time. We have been for a pleasant walk along a canal at Bridgewater, and this evening we had dinner at Zizzi’s in the Trafford Centre and then went to see a film, See How They Run. I thoroughly enjoyed it; it was funny and witty and quirky. It was stuffed with well-known luvvies, and Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan were particularly good.