Thread: The Reign of King Charles III begins

Two Cars Arrive at Highgrove Residence in Gloucestershire

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• King Charles III leads siblings in vigil for the Queen inside Westminster Hall after visit to Wales

The King - who visited Wales today for the first time since the Queen died - has led his siblings in a vigil over the Queen's coffin this evening.

Just hours after returning to Buckingham Palace following his trip to Cardiff with the Queen Consort, King Charles will arrive at Westminster Hall to begin his vigil at 7.30pm. Along with Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, the foursome will mount a guard at the four corners of the catafalque for 15 minutes.

All were be in military uniform, including Prince Andrew, who as a non-working royal has been granted permission to wear uniform. The King’s son, Prince Harry, will be allowed to do the same on Saturday when the grandchildren carry out the same ceremony. It is a repeat of the same vigil they carried out at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday.

The Royal party arrived in Cardiff under blue skies and a generous welcome from thousands who'd lined the streets of the Welsh capital. Preparations had been going on all week ahead of the much-anticipated visit and a gun salute marked the moment the King, wearing a dark suit, arrived in Cardiff via helicopter. He then got into a waiting Rolls-Royce to be driven to his first engagement.

The couple attended a service of prayer and reflection at Llandaff Cathedral before greeting well-wishers in the area during a public walkabout. A crowd of thousands had built up and the new King spent several minutes shaking hands and speaking to members of the public. The Queen Consort was also presented with a posy of flowers by a young girl who grabbed her hand in a touching moment.

Their second engagement saw them receive condolences at the Welsh Parliament and meet members of the Senedd. Crowds cheered as they arrived in Cardiff Bay while there was harp music played as the King was introduced to MSs. He shared a long conversation with Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price. Inside the Siambr the King addressed MSs in Welsh. He added: "I am deeply grateful for the addresses of condolence which so movingly paid tribute to our late sovereign, my beloved mother the Queen." The new King also spoke about Elizabeth II's fondness for Wales. "The land of Wales could not have been closer to my mother's heart. I know she took immense pride in your many great achievements," he said.

He also spoke of his "immense gratitude for the privilege of having been able to serve as Prince of Wales". He said he would now pass that "ancient title" onto his son William "whose love for this corner of the earth was made all the greater by all the years he himself has spent here". After the conclusion of the formal element of the engagement the King and Queen Consort again greeted well-wishers – many of whom had waited several hours to get a glimpse of the Royal couple – while the Queen Consort was also handed another posy of flowers.

They then travelled to Cardiff Castle where the King held a private audience with Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and the presiding officer before attending a reception hosted by the Welsh Government. The Royal couple then held a lengthy walkabout in the castle grounds and met members of the public. Our reporter John Jones spent the night outside the castle and was the first in the queue.. They drove out of Cardiff Castle just after 3.30pm as part of a motorcade headed toward a waiting helicopter to make the trip back to London in readiness for the vigil.

In London mourners queued for a second night to see the Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall. The wait time to see the Queen's coffin is "over 24 hours" according to the government. After briefly closing on Friday afternoon, the queue reopened.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has now tweeted that the queue has reopened, but is now saying “expected queuing time is over 24 hours and overnight temperatures will be cold”.

It has warned that the queue may be paused again if it reaches capacity.

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Who knew…….

Link will not work, but if you copy and paste Former Black Rod David Leakey reflects on the Queen and her funeral to google search you’ll find it

The new Black Rod

King Charles, Royal Family stand vigil as queen lies in state

Originally Posted by armstrong

Schofield skipped the queue so is getting quite a lot of shit online

Not surprised. What was he thinking?

Actually I see the pair of c u n t s did it. Good that they're getting torn a new one, although Schofield's was probably a bit ripped anyway.

And Susannah Reid did it the hard way, too, so they can't even hide behind the excuse of "being on TV" or whatever shit.