Historian underlines significance of King Charles' speech
The new monarch's address to the British Parliament on Monday was hugely significant because it was the first to happen in a televised era, historian Andrew Roberts told NBC's "TODAY" show.
“It hasn’t happened for a very long time because, of course, the queen was in Africa when she became queen, and previously the abdication crisis meant that there hadn’t been a death for condolences to be given,” Roberts said. “So this is actually an old ceremony, but one that hasn’t been seen in public before, hasn’t been televised.”
Charles addressed members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords at Westminster Hall in London, the oldest existing building on what’s known as the Parliamentary Estate.
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King Charles arrives in Edinburgh
King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were driven along the Royal Mile toward the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Monday.
The new king also inspected the guard of honor as he arrived to attend the Ceremony of the Keys, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Man who sought refuge in U.K. as an asylum-seeker says queen 'helped us'
For one man in the crowd in Edinburgh, the queen held even greater significance than a beloved head of state. For Hardy Gardy, 26, he sees her as being the difference between life and death. He fled Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016, as the Islamic State terrorist group swept the country, and made a perilous journey to the U.K.
He journeyed across Europe on foot and other modes of transport, waiting at the infamous Calais camp in France for seven months before stowing away in the back of a truck and making it across the English Channel.
“It was winter, so it was so cold,” said Gardy, now a barber working in Edinburgh. “I knew it was dangerous to come in the back of the truck but I had no choice.”
Unlike thousands of others, he not only made it into the country, but also navigated its notoriously hard-line immigration system to gain asylum and eventually become a citizen. Whether the queen played a part or not, Gardy still sees her as the figurehead of a country that gave him a new life.
“I am here to see her coffin because she really helped us as asylum-seekers,” said Gardy, sporting a skin fade haircut, AirPods and a black shell suit top. “She was like a mom to us, because she let me stay here in a safe country.”
Prince Andrew to wear his military uniform only during the final vigil
As a nonworking member of the royal family, Prince Andrew will not wear his military uniform at ceremonial events during the period of royal mourning, except at a final vigil in Westminster Hall, a spokesperson for the king said.
The spokesperson said the Duke of York would only wear the uniform as a special mark of respect for the queen at the final vigil.
Working members of the royal family are expected to wear military uniforms at all five ceremonial events during the period of mourning, the spokesperson said.
The queen stripped Andrew of his military titles in January and a statement from the palace at the time said that he would no longer undertake royal duties. The decision came after his lawyers failed to persuade a U.S. judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit that accuses him of sexual abuse.
Andrew later reached a legal settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who had alleged that she was sexually abused by the British royal when she was 17.
Crowds gather in Edinburgh for king's historic appearance
Crowds gathered in Edinburgh on Monday to watch King Charles' arrival as the city prepares to mark the queen's life of service and her death.
“We wanted to see a bit of history and get amongst the vibes,” said Sam Brynes, 29, an electrician who moved from Australia to Edinburgh last year and was cradling his 4-month-old baby, Elias.
“My family in Australia are originally from England and they are big on the royals, but for the younger generation it’s probably not as important as it was.Catherine Vost, 69, and Anne Tullo, 62, traveled from nearby Glasgow and arrived more than two hours before the king’s scheduled historic appearance, in Edinburgh on Monday.
King Charles arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
EDINBURGH, Scotland — Under bright, hot sunshine and the gaze of police sharpshooters on rooftops, King Charles III arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in his first visit as king in Scotland.
It was not a ceremonial pace, more a brief flypast that seemed to surprise many waiting outside the palace gates, only one of whom had time to shout “God save the king!”
He stopped outside the gates of this palace, which sits under the looming Arthur’s Seat, a craggy hill made from an extinct volcano.
Soon after, the national anthem — new lyrics and all — could be heard faintly over the palace walls.
Some of the crowd tried to join in, but in truth it was hard to hear.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron pays tribute
The queen helped the many British prime ministers who served in her lifetime by listening to them and asking intelligent questions in her traditional weekly audience with them, former Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday.
"It’s just the most immense privilege really, you’re spending time with someone who was the world’s greatest public servant and one of the greatest diplomats," he told Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s "TODAY" show.
"She was a good listener, she asked good questions ... you came out feeling a foot taller and feeling you were able to solve all these problems."
Cameron served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 when he stood down, having led the unsuccessful Remain campaign in the Brexit referendum.
Mourner talks of ‘great loyalty’ since meeting queen after she took the throne
EDINBURGH, Scotland — Most in the crowd have only ever known the queen’s reign — but not all.
Fiona Meikle, 83, was presented as a debutante at age 13 to the new queen at Holyroodhouse in 1952.
“I had to do a bit of a curtsy, and ever since I have had great loyalty to the queen,” she said.
She was waiting to say goodbye to the monarch she met 70 years ago, waiting with her son, Stewart, 56, and his wife, Alison, 60.
“I have never done anything like this before — I usually scoff at this royalist nonsense,” Stewart Meikle said. “But this is just a bit different, he said, deploying intentional understatement.
And their views on Charles? “Errr…,” his wife hesitated. “Let’s just wait and see how he turns out.”
King and queen consort land in Edinburgh before royal procession
A plane carrying Britain's new king and Camilla, the Queen Consort, has landed at Edinburgh Airport.
Charles will lead a royal procession behind his mother's coffin as it is transported from Holyroodhouse, the queen’s official palace in the Scottish capital, to St. Giles' Cathedral.
The queen's body will lie at rest there until Tuesday, before being moved to London.