Charles charts a path as king for all holiday seasons
Adding a Hanukkah party and Diwali treats to the traditional Christmas address, King Charles III publicly embraces a more inclusive monarchy during his first months.
LONDON — King Charles III marked 100 days on the British throne on December 16 by visiting a Jewish community center in London, where he danced the hora at a Hanukkah party. It was a happy ending to a day that had started with gloomy headlines about the poisoned relationship between her sons, William and Harry. The King's Reign: A down-to-earth start that showed how Charles would be a very different monarch to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but still under the shadow of the same family discord that haunted the Queen until his death in September at age 96.
The continuity, as well as the differences, was evident on Sunday when Charles, 74, undertook one of the Queen's star duties: a Christmas Day speech to the nation. Standing in the notebook of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, he remembered his mother and offered comfort to his people after a year of loss and upheaval.
The king's nod to other religious denominations reflected a long-standing interest in his decades as heir to the throne. It was the same impulse that led him to join, valiantly if somewhat stiffly, in the Jewish folk dance, where one of his partners was Eva Schloss, a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor. and half-sister of Anne Frank.
It also contributed to his decision to lay out a tray of goodies for the Hindu festival Diwali when Rishi Sunak visited Buckingham Palace in October to receive the King's blessing as the new Prime Minister.
Charles' words contrasted starkly with those of the queen, who insisted on her Christian faith in her Christmas messages. And it was more than words: the day after his mother died, the king jumped out of his car to shake hands with mourners who had gathered outside the palace gates.
'He reached out more than the Queen,' said Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King's College London and an expert on constitutional monarchy. "She wouldn't allow people to touch her."
The new king's more inclusive style is perhaps the most distinctive feature of his fledgling monarchy, said Professor Bogdanor, a feature he argued would equip the King to "represent the whole country in a way that no politician can during a time of turmoil and political instability".
And yet Charles' speech was also a statement of continuity, which royal experts say has been his top priority since he took the throne. It reflects recognition that he replaced a beloved figure whose seven-decade reign made her the only ruler most Britons have ever known. on Elizabeth. For some, he will never be more than a transitional figure between her and her son and heir, William. After all, it took him years to move past his clumsy youth and the calamity of his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales, to regain the public's trust.
Adding a Hanukkah party and Diwali treats to the traditional Christmas address, King Charles III publicly embraces a more inclusive monarchy during his first months.
LONDON — King Charles III marked 100 days on the British throne on December 16 by visiting a Jewish community center in London, where he danced the hora at a Hanukkah party. It was a happy ending to a day that had started with gloomy headlines about the poisoned relationship between her sons, William and Harry. The King's Reign: A down-to-earth start that showed how Charles would be a very different monarch to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but still under the shadow of the same family discord that haunted the Queen until his death in September at age 96.
The continuity, as well as the differences, was evident on Sunday when Charles, 74, undertook one of the Queen's star duties: a Christmas Day speech to the nation. Standing in the notebook of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, he remembered his mother and offered comfort to his people after a year of loss and upheaval.
The king's nod to other religious denominations reflected a long-standing interest in his decades as heir to the throne. It was the same impulse that led him to join, valiantly if somewhat stiffly, in the Jewish folk dance, where one of his partners was Eva Schloss, a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor. and half-sister of Anne Frank.
It also contributed to his decision to lay out a tray of goodies for the Hindu festival Diwali when Rishi Sunak visited Buckingham Palace in October to receive the King's blessing as the new Prime Minister.
Charles' words contrasted starkly with those of the queen, who insisted on her Christian faith in her Christmas messages. And it was more than words: the day after his mother died, the king jumped out of his car to shake hands with mourners who had gathered outside the palace gates.
'He reached out more than the Queen,' said Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King's College London and an expert on constitutional monarchy. "She wouldn't allow people to touch her."
The new king's more inclusive style is perhaps the most distinctive feature of his fledgling monarchy, said Professor Bogdanor, a feature he argued would equip the King to "represent the whole country in a way that no politician can during a time of turmoil and political instability".
And yet Charles' speech was also a statement of continuity, which royal experts say has been his top priority since he took the throne. It reflects recognition that he replaced a beloved figure whose seven-decade reign made her the only ruler most Britons have ever known. on Elizabeth. For some, he will never be more than a transitional figure between her and her son and heir, William. After all, it took him years to move past his clumsy youth and the calamity of his divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales, to regain the public's trust.
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