Sunday 11th September 2022 – ConservativeHome

To a blast of trumpets, King Charles slipped into the role that was his destiny

Its the moment I have been dreading, the new King said to the new prime minister on Friday, but you do try to keep things going. In the ancient courtyard of St Jamess Palace, and among 200 assembled privy counsellors, the inevitability of that fact became law: the reign of King Charles III was formally proclaimed. The ceremony of accession was witnessed for the first time by television cameras. Viewers across the world watched Penny Mordaunt, leader of the privy council since last Wednesday, preside over a ceremony unchanged for 300 years. The new King addressed an audience including six of the 14 former prime ministers who served under his mother, their heads bobbing allegiance like extras in a Holbein painting. Observer

Liz Truss took her senior ministers to Buckingham Palace to be received by the sovereign for the first time. He was introduced to members by the Prime Minister as they lined up inside the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace. The King spent time talking to new Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as they were flanked by the prime minister. Following the cabinet audiences, the King spent time meeting the leaders of opposition parties, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. The meetings took place on Saturday afternoon following the Accession Council ceremony formally proclaiming Charles III as King this morning. Upday News

Sir Keir Starmer pledged his loyalty to the King on Saturday by choosing a form of words that avoided referring to God. The Labour leader joined Liz Truss and other senior MPs in pledging their allegiance to the new King as Parliament met for a rare Saturday sitting, before the Cabinet was received by the sovereign at Buckingham Palace for the first time. During the swearing in ceremony, MPs have an option of taking an oath or making a solemn affirmation. Sir Keir, who is an atheist, was one of a number of MPs who opted for the affirmation. He said: I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors according to law. Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, who presided over Saturdays Accession Council as acting Lord President of the Council, also chose the affirmation. Sunday Telegraph

It was one of Liz Trusss most vociferous critics who brought into sharp focus the weight resting on the new Prime Ministers shoulders. Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party leader, made a point of telling the Commons that his thoughts were with Ms Truss, who just days into her term in office was having to come to terms with the enormousness of the loss of the head of state, and show the leadership that is now required in her position. It had been believed that the first Ms Truss knew of Queen Elizabeth IIs declining health was when Nadhim Zahawi, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, had urgently briefed the Prime Minister following a Commons statement on her energy rescue package, 24 hours earlier. But The Telegraph understands that when Ms Truss entered the Commonsshe already knew that the monarchs health was rapidly declining, and that her death was believed to be imminent. Sunday Telegraph

No one in Downing Street thought much of it when a routine briefing for the new prime minister was cancelled on Wednesday afternoon. Liz Truss was busy with her plans for an energy price freeze and her ministerial reshuffle. Future historians, however, will see that at 2.30pm that day she was due to get a bridges briefing, the codename for the preparations for the death of the Queen. [The routine bridges briefing] was cancelled because of the energy announcement and the reshuffle, a No 10 source said. Little did we know. Less than 24 hours later Truss was at the dispatch box, giving MPs the outline of her plans to freeze household energy bills at a cost estimated to be far in excess of 100 billion when she was passed a note by Nadhim Zahawi, the Cabinet Office minister. It said Buckingham Palace was due to issue a statement about the Queens health. Truss had got to her feet knowing the Queens death was imminent. Sunday Times

Russian forces suffered their worst defeat since March yesterday when they were forced to abandon their main foothold in the northeast of Ukraine to avoid encirclement in a rapid counter-offensive by Kyivs troops. Military analysts spoke of a possible turning point in the war. Moscow tried to portray the hasty retreat from several vital strategic strongholds near Kharkiv as an orderly redeployment. Ukraine broke through one of the wars most hotly contested front lines, taking back dozens of towns and villages in a shock offensive that began five days ago. Its of historic importance, said Sir Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at Kings College London. It might be a tipping point, we dont know quite how this will work out but theres a lot of panic and anxiety among Russian troops right now. Sunday Times

Vince Cable suffered a minor stroke when he was leader of the Liberal Democrats that seriously affected his performance when giving speeches and at other political events, he in a memoir published on Sunday. The former business secretary [in the Coalition government] decided to keep his health issues secret for more than a year and to soldier on as leader, until he stepped down in July 2019. Now 79, he says in the memoir that he wrestled with whether to go public at the time, but came to the conclusion that people would have written him off as a goner had he done so. On one occasion in early summer 2018 he was addressing MPs in a Brexit debate in the House of Commons. I totally lost my bearings and for what seemed an eternity I was paralysed, he writes. The revelation about the stroke, which happened when flying to Italy in May 2018, comes towards the end of Partnership & Politics In a Divided Decade. Observer

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Sunday 11th September 2022 - ConservativeHome