LONDON.- United Kingdom celebrates this Monday without pomp the first anniversary of the coronation King Charles III who, after having waited for a long time to succeed his mother Elizabeth II, experienced a beginning of his reign marred by the cancer.
No lavish event is planned to celebrate this first year since the coronation of Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey.
At noon the Royal Horse Artillery fired 41 guns from Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, and the Honorable Artillery Company fired 62 from the Tower of London. The Palace did not indicate where the 75-year-old king will celebrate this date.
The British monarch was diagnosed with cancer in February while receiving treatment for inflammation of the prostate. The exact nature of his cancer has not yet been revealed.
A meeting with Harry?
The king made his first official public appearance after his diagnosis last week.
Accompanied by his wife Camila, 76, he visited the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre, a cancer facility in central London, where he spoke to patients receiving chemotherapy.
His public agenda will: “be carefully calibrated as his recovery continues, in close collaboration with his medical team,” the Palace said in April.
His medical team is: “very encouraged by the progress made so far and remains positive about the king’s continued recovery,” he added.
The king plans to attend a Garden Party in Buckingham on Wednesday, and perhaps, according to British media, will see his youngest son, Harry, who will be in London for the second anniversary of the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers and veterans.
Harry and his American wife, Meghan, left the royal frontline in 2020. They have since lived in California and have distanced themselves from the family after a bitter separation.
At the end of June, Charles and Camilia will receive the Japanese royal couple at Buckingham Palace.
Booming popularity
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who crowned Charles a year ago, paid tribute to him and said he was “impressed by his unwavering sense of duty”, despite the personal challenges he must endure.
The king’s daughter-in-law, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, 42, announced in March that she also suffers from cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
In his case, the type of cancer he suffers from was not revealed either. Kate, as she is known, is the wife of Prince William, Charles’ eldest son and heir to the throne.
In this complicated beginning of the reign, the royal family has seen its popularity grow in the country.
According to a survey published on Sunday in The Mail on Sunday, 54% of Britons have a positive opinion of Charles III, four points more than a year ago. And 56% estimate that he fulfills his sovereign mission well.
“The question for the monarchy is whether this is a momentary improvement (in its popularity), due to public sympathy, or whether it can be maintained, especially among the younger generations,” analyzes Gideon Skinner, of the pollster Ipsos.
Source: AFP
