The Accession Council
The most urgent matter after the death of a Monarch is a meeting of the Accession Council. When King George VI died, the council met the same day to decide that Elizabeth was the rightful heir to the throne. They adjourned and met again a couple of days later when Elizabeth had returned from Africa. At the second meeting, she was asked to take the Oath. Next came the Proclamation.
at Winchester Cathedral.
For me, the Proclamation of Elizabeth as Queen was on a cold February day in 1952. It was an event presaging a brighter future. We assembled at school in Cheltenham while the mayor proclaimed the Queen in his broad rural Gloucester accent. He reminded us to sing ‘God save the QUEEN’, not King, and we became Elizabethans. Now we change back. I sang God save the King in Winchester on September 11th. We are now Caroleans.
1952
In those days, city centres were being cleared of rubble from the blitz and slowly rebuilt. Some foods, sugar especially, were rationed, and hardly anyone had a TV or a car. Some public buildings, like our school, had central heating but it didn’t work. Wartime identification cards were abolished that year.
In the arts, The Archers was already established, and The Mousetrap opened; both are still running. The church of Rome banned the works of André Gide (who died 1951), while the Soviet Union executed thirteen Jewish poets. The diary of Anne Frank was published. In the sciences, Alan Turing published an important paper on Morphogenesis and was arrested for indecency. Experiments showed DNA to be the material of genes, not protein, as previously thought. Understanding DNA is one of the great scientific advances of the Elizabethan age. Two animals were sighted for the last time before becoming extinct. Britain declared that it had the atomic bomb. That winter, we suffered the Great London Smog, which killed thousands.
Who shall be King?
So much has changed, but not the Accession Council. It is fundamental that every society knows its leader. Unless all agree, dissent, assassinations and war will follow. It was clear to all that Charles would become King, but it has not always been the case that accession is straightforward. The Accession Council is a vetting committee and has its roots in the time of Henry VII (1485-1509).
The Monarch must be the eldest legitimate son of the previous Monarch, for we have a hereditary monarchy. The elder daughter becomes Monarch like Queen Elizabeth if there is no son. George III, however, took precedence over his older sister, Augusta. In 2013 the Act was amended to remove gender discrimination.
The incoming Monarch, if married, should have the permission of the previous Monarch for the marriage. There was a problem with King Edward VIII, who married a divorcee, Wallis Simpson. The Accession Council permitted him to become King but declared that the children of the union would not be eligible to succeed him. In the event, they had no children. The government and the church were not behind him, and he abdicated, One wonders what The Council might have done had Prince Andrew been next in line.
Then there is the problem of religion. King Charles III has previously expressed that he should be a defender of all faiths. However, he took the Oath of the Accession Council and declared that he is in communion with the Church of England and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and will defend the protestant faith. Therefore, we cannot have a Catholic as King, nor a king of any other religion. Recent amendments to the act permit the Monarch to marry a Catholic, but any children would have to be Protestant to inherit the throne. Incidentally, I asked the Chief Monk at the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka whether all Presidents had to be Buddhist. He said that they could be of any religion if the people supported them. Their King is Charles III, and they have had Christian presidents in the past.
Rebellion
When catholic King James II was deposed in 1688, William of Orange invaded Britain and took the throne jointly with his wife Mary, the elder daughter of James II. William, being protestant, had wide support in England but not total support. The Jacobites objected, and a series of Jacobite rebellions followed.
The last Jacobite rebellion in 1745 saw Charles Edward Stuart attempt to establish James Francis Edward Stuart, son of James II, as King. George II was King at the time, and the British armies were busy fighting in Europe. It was a close-run thing, but Bonnie Prince Charlie, as he was known, was defeated at the Battle of Culloden. If he had succeeded, he would have become King Charles III.
The Accession Council will accept a minor as Monarch. Edward III was ten years old when he took the throne. John of Gaunt did much of the ruling and had designs on the throne but failed to gain it. The council would probably bar a mentally incapacitated person, but when George III became mentally ill for the last ten years of his reign, there were no moves to oust him.
Proclamation
Once the Accession Council has secured the Oath of the new Monarch, the reign is Proclaimed throughout the land, accompanied by gunfire. Every town village, hamlet, farm, croft and fisherman’s cottage must know the new Monarch.
Republicans declare that the Monarch is not democratically elected, but he or she is vetted. Should our leader be democratically elected? The democratic process has weaknesses, as some recent democratic decisions have shown. It would weaken us as a people if we had a Monarch, or President, supported by just over half the population. To see the more narcissistic members of parliament, arts, sports and entertainment jockeying for election as President would not be an edifying spectacle.
With all this history gone before, I stood with a crowd of other subjects and the Hampshire Councillors at the Guildhall in Winchester to hear Charles proclaimed King Charles III of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The cathedral flag was lowered to half-mast after the proclamation to mourn the passing of Elizabeth.
I wonder what the new reign will bring.
Hi Mike, thank you so much for this most interesting posting ‘Making Monarchs’. I have found it very helpful! Best wishes, Marny Barton
Lovely post, Mike. No system is perfect but I love the idea of having someone above the political fray as our head of state and who is a living reminder of our history – all of it, good and bad.
You end with an intriguing question Mike. ‘I wonder what the new reign will bring’. Charles III has had long to prepare for this moment whereas his mother began at a much earlier age. During his life Charles has been active with various faiths and environmental concerns. So is he likely to pursue a non-interventionist stand like Queen Elizabeth II? We note he acknowledges the role of Defender of the Faith, but he sees the role of the Christian Church as an umbrella for the protection of other faiths. This might be interesting if Christianity is a minority faith in a few years time. His other major concern is with environmental issues where he has played a significant political role in the UN and on the world stage. Already, the French President and John Kerry of the USA have urged him to continue with this role. This could turn out to be very controversial. We shall see. But it appears likely that Charles III, like several other monarchs bearing his name, may be seen as an interesting political player.