He assumes his role.
After having chained tributes and official engagements since the death of the queen, on September 8 at the Scottish castle of Balmoral at the age of 96, Charles III retired on Thursday to his country residence in Highgrove for a day.
But no question of rest, said his services: the king, "resistant", continued to work.
And, above all, the new sovereign begins the last leg of his tour across the United Kingdom this Friday, three days before the funeral of his mother Elizabeth II.
He takes the road again for Cardiff, where he will take part, with the queen consort Camilla, in a religious service then in a reception with local political representatives.
But, to complete a tour which took him to all the Parliaments of the constituent nations of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales), the one who was Prince of Wales from his nine years to last week does not quite arrive on conquered ground.
A petition protesting the passing of the title - for some a symbol of English oppression - to the new heir to the throne William rather than a Welshman has garnered more than 25,000 signatures.
An anti-monarchy demonstration is planned outside Cardiff Castle.
Political and family challenges
Between these protests, Scotland's quest for independence, community tensions in Northern Ireland but also the republican temptations emerging in some of its 14 other kingdoms, the challenges are considerable for Charles III when he succeeds his mother. .
His first steps as king were considered rather worthy, except for a few public gestures of annoyance much commented on the Internet.
It remains to be seen how the monarch - who did not hesitate to commit himself to the environment or even to discreetly transmit his opinions to the government on a whole series of subjects - will fit into the costume of his mother, who, imperturbable at the through the crises and upheavals of history, had maintained an irreproachable neutrality and an unfailing sense of duty, until his last days.
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She knew, on the other hand, how to touch her subjects by comforting them in difficult times: still a princess during the Second World War, when the death of Diana had rocked the monarchy or at the end of her life when the British found themselves confined.
The one who is often described, at 73, as a transitional king preceding the popular William but also as a modernizer anxious to reduce the sails of a plethoric monarchy, will have to manage family crises.
His brother Andrew has been ostracized from royalty due to a sex scandal and his son Harry, who turned 38 on Thursday, is exiled to California with his wife Meghan and is preparing a potentially explosive memoir.
“Veille des princes” this Friday
But the hour is still, for the moment, with the unit.
After marching in line, behind Elizabeth II's coffin on Wednesday through central London, her four children will reunite in their mourning this Friday evening.
Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward will observe a "vigil of princes" around their mother's coffin, which has been on public display since Wednesday evening at the Palace of Westminster.
For the occasion, Andrew, though deprived of military titles, was authorized to wear the uniform.
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For its part, the public will be able to parade until the early hours of Monday.
Then it will be the end of the last voyage of Elizabeth II.
On Monday, his coffin will be taken to Westminster Abbey for a state funeral (the first since the death of Winston Churchill in 1965), in front of 2,000 guests, foreign heads of state, global socialites, anonymous people decorated for their volenteering.
After a final procession, she will be buried in St. George's Chapel at her beloved Windsor Castle, next to her father George VI and her husband Philip.
Millions of people are expected in London for the funeral of the century, meticulously prepared for 20 years, a huge security and logistical challenge.
The United Kingdom will be shut down for this holiday, before rediscovering, after a 12-day break of collective sadness, the reality of the serious economic and social crisis which is hitting it.