It’s difficult not to be nervous in your first few days in a new job – especially if that new job is to become king. True, King Charles III has been training for this moment for all his 73 years, and there is plenty of goodwill. But the challenges are plentiful, too.
So far things have gone well. In his first speech he praised his "darling mama" for "a life well lived". He managed to bring his family together, including those supposedly feuding sons, William and Harry. He also issued a regretful apology to the charities he has supported, saying, quite reasonably, that "it will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others".
Now comes the difficult bit. How do you follow the longest-serving British monarch in history, while bringing something new and fresh to an ancient institution? Some priorities – which are full of opportunities as well as potential pitfalls – are already clear.
King Charles’s first priority is the union of the United Kingdom. This has grown increasingly fractious over the past 20 years. The monarch has an important role, though it is a subtle one. King Charles is a figurehead and symbol of unity, but he cannot solve political problems.
A second opportunity is leading the 54 nations of the Commonwealth. The British monarch is head of the Commonwealth and head of state of some Commonwealth nations. The organisation brings together north and south, rich and poor, from every continent except Antarctica. Following the humanitarian disaster of the floods in Pakistan – a Commonwealth country – King Charles could emphasise the ways in which the Commonwealth can bring diverse nations together in a time of need, to help those suffering from the consequences of climate change, poverty and migration.
And that’s where the third opportunity may be important. As Prince of Wales, Charles was a champion for environmental issues long before they became fashionable.
One small personal example came almost two decades ago, when I was making a BBC radio documentary series. I was invited to go with the prince on a factory visit in the Highlands of Scotland, near Balmoral where Queen Elizabeth spent her last days. Charles wore the kilt, in deference to Scottish tradition, and spoke warmly with workers in the factory that made organic biscuits. He made it clear how proud he was that ideas of organic farming – which he had championed for years and which were once at best eccentric and at worst plain crazy – had now become mainstream. The result was new jobs and new products made in Scotland.
The next few days will see King Charles as someone who can bring people together, beginning in religious services and ceremonial occasions in Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London. But keeping the United Kingdom together is not in his gift. The union depends much more on the attitude of Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has a fractious relationship with the main political party in Scotland, the Scottish National Party. She once clumsily said that she intends to "ignore" the democratically elected First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, who Ms Truss claimed was an "attention seeker". There are other intractable problems with the union, too, especially in Northern Ireland.
Yet for King Charles, the opportunities outweigh the difficulties.
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A photo released by Buckingham Palace as they announced that King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer. All Photos: Getty Images unless stated -
King Charles attends the Sunday service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in January -
King Charles and Queen Camilla leaving The London Clinic in January. The King had been receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate. -
King Charles delivers his Christmas message at Buckingham Palace in December 2023 -
King Charles delivers an address at the opening ceremony of the Cop28 Summit in December 2023 in Dubai -
King Charles and Prince William attend the National Service of Remembrance at The Cenotaph in November 2023 in London -
King Charles and Queen Camilla at the State Opening of Parliament in November 2023 -
King Charles waters and plants a tree watched by President of Kenya, William Ruto in October 2023 in Nairobi -
King Charles and US President Joe Biden review a guard of honour at Windsor Castle in July 2023 -
Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla during the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, in July 2023 -
King Charles and Queen Camilla on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, after his coronation. PA -
King Charles, carrying the Sovereign's Orb and Sceptre, leaves Westminster Abbey after the Coronation in May 2023. AFP -
King Charles III is crowned with St Edward's Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey in May 2023. PA -
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, centre, with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Buedenbender during the king's state visit in March 2023 -
King Charles and Camilla during a visit to the Bangladeshi community of Brick Lane, London, in February 2023 -
King Charles welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the leader of the Conservative Party to form a new government in October 2022 -
King Charles during the recording of his first Christmas broadcast at Windsor Castle in December 2022 -
King Charles follows the coffin of Queen Elizabeth as it is carried from Westminster Abbey after her state funeral. AP -
King Charles holds a vigil beside the coffin of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, as it lies in state on the catafalque in Westminster Hall. PA -
King Charles greets members of the public as he walks by the gates of Buckingham Palace after the death of Queen Elizabeth. AP -
King Charles shakes hands with British Prime Minister Liz Truss during their first audience at Buckingham Palace -
King Charles III delivers his address to the nation and the Commonwealth from Buckingham Palace after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 -
Prince Charles with Camilla and Prince William during the ceremonial state opening of parliament at the Palace of Westminster in 2022 -
Prince Charles and Camilla on a visit to Giza in Egypt in 2021 -
Prince Charles joined members of the British Asian Trust for a short bicycle ride as they launched the charity's Palaces on Wheels cycling event at Highgrove in 2021 -
Prince Charles walks behind the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin during the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021 -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles during the state opening of parliament at the Palace of Westminster, London, in 2019 -
Prince Charles, Prince William, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry arrive for a Christmas Day church service on the Sandringham estate in December 2018 -
Prince Charles leads Meghan Markle up the aisle during her wedding to Prince Harry in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in 2018 -
Prince Charles and Camilla attend a dinner hosted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, in Amsterdam in 2013 -
Prince Charles and Harry in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, 2011 -
Queen Elizabeth presents Prince Charles with the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour at the Chelsea Flower Show, west London, in 2009 -
An official portrait to mark Prince Charles's 60th birthday in 2008 -
Prince Charles and his new bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle after their wedding in April 2005 -
Charles with his sons William and Harry on a ski break at Klosters in Switzerland in 2005 -
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles in Avignon during a state visit to France in 1972 -
Prince Charles learns a soul dance routine at St George's Secondary School in Maida Vale, west London, in 1978 -
Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow the coffin of Princess Diana at her funeral in London in September 1997 -
Diana and Prince Charles pose with their sons, Princes William and Harry, on Prince William's first day at Eton College in 1995 -
Prince Charles and Diana on a visit to Nottingham in 1985 -
Diana and Prince Charles with Prince Harry leave St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, in 1984 -
Prince Charles and his wife Diana with their baby son, Prince William, at home in Kensington Palace in 1983 -
Prince Charles and Diana with son William in 1983 -
Prince Charles and Diana on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day in 1981 -
Prince Charles at a polo event in Windsor Great Park, accompanied by the queen and Prince Edward, in 1971 -
Prince Charles leaving Caernarfon Castle after his investiture as Prince of Wales, in Gwynedd, 1969 -
Prince Charles during a tour of Wales in 1969 -
Prince Charles playing cricket in 1968. He was playing for Lord Brabourne against a team of Grand Prix racing drivers. -
Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Windsor Great Park in 1968 -
Prince Charles at the University of Cambridge in 1967, where he was beginning his term at Trinity College -
Queen Elizabeth and her family travel to Sandringham in 1966. Prince Andrew is on her lap, the Duke of Edinburgh to her left with Princess Anne on his lap, and Prince Charles, right -
Prince Charles, walking a Corgi, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and their nanny Mabel Anderson at Euston Station, London, in 1963 -
US President Dwight D Eisenhower, centre, with the British royal family, left to right, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, at Balmoral Castle in 1959 -
Queen Elizabeth watches her son Prince Charles driving a toy car in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in 1952 -
A young Prince Charles is perched on the lap of his father the Duke of Edinburgh, while his mother Queen Elizabeth II looks on in the grounds of Windlesham Moor in 1949
More than 100 years ago, then US president Theodore Roosevelt called the American presidency a "bully pulpit". Roosevelt meant that he had the power to preach and change people’s minds and behaviour. A hereditary monarch like King Charles does not have a direct mandate from voters, yet he does indeed have a "pulpit" and also an attentive audience. Most of all he has an issue, a long history of caring about the environment and a liveable planet.
This is a great opportunity for King Charles to rise above partisan politics as a champion of global green issues, organic farming and diverse wildlife. His voice on global warming and the need to prevent climate-related disasters would echo from the Scottish Highlands to the flooded plains of Pakistan and the bushfires of Australia. In a diverse Commonwealth and an often divided world, King Charles III could surely be a uniter not a divider.
There, however, remains one further problem. When the mourning for Queen Elizabeth ends, there is going to be a prolonged period of reflection about the UK and our place in the world of the 21st century. One piece of good news is that in the month of September 2022, we have peacefully changed our head of state and also changed our head of government, finding a new prime minister in Ms Truss. Ms Truss has then changed personnel in the top level of our government.
But the only people who voted on any of this are about 140,000 members of the Conservative party, not our 68 million other citizens. The system appears to work, but it’s an odd way to run a democracy.
