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Charles III
at the proclamation
Photo: Jonathan Brady/AP
The new British King Charles III.
has been officially appointed.
The proclamation in London on Saturday was a formal act. An Accession Council was convened specifically for this purpose.
The King's eldest son and new heir to the throne, Prince William, was the first to sign the proclamation, followed by Charles' wife, Queen Consort Camilla.
Charles had already automatically become British king with the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
The first part of the ceremony at St. James's Palace took place without the monarch.
Then Charles was to lead a session of the Privy Council called Privy Council for the first time.
Later, the proclamation is read from the palace balcony.
There are further readings in the City of London and on Sunday in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The Accession Council includes members of the Crown Council, i.e. current and former members of the government, church officials, magistrates, members of the royal family and other personalities.
Coronation will probably last
Aside from the proclamation, there is one more coronation to follow.
Elizabeth II's coronation took place in 1953 - 14 months after she became queen after the death of her father.
The Queen died Thursday at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, aged 96.
Two days earlier she had received the new Prime Minister Liz Truss there and formally commissioned her to form a government.
Truss' new cabinet was due to receive its first audience with the king on Saturday.
The Prime Minister herself had already visited Charles at Buckingham Palace on Friday.
The Queen's body is due to be transferred from Balmoral Castle to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, the Queen's residence in Scotland, this Sunday.
The body will then be laid out in a cathedral in the Scottish capital before being taken to London.
kko/dpa