Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Charles is that his first year on the throne was considered boring, banal, and that it passed without further shocks, a quiet transition from the very long reign of Elizabeth to the novelty of the first new monarch English since 1952. In that sense, he may be satisfied, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still important questions about the future of the monarchy. The main thing is whether it is a continuationist or reformist king.
There have been no big scandals, no kickbacks, no protests in the streets, no allegations of political interference, nor have Canada, Australia or New Zealand left the Commonwealth. Everything has been rather bland, which from the point of view of an institution as conservative as the monarchy is in principle good. Very good. The more unnoticed, the better. It is an art that was perfected by his mother and his grandfather George VI, and a gene that Charles III seems to have inherited.
63% of Britons approve of his management at the moment, but that doesn’t mean it’s all going to be all guff and puff now that he’s reached his first birthday on the throne. Once the trial period has passed, the pressures to modernize and reform the monarchy will increase, and indeed are already beginning to be felt. Why hasn’t he reduced spending, why hasn’t he sold some of the palaces, why hasn’t he opened Buckingham and its gardens to the public, why hasn’t he made the royal house more transparent and ended the culture of secrecy, done with the obligation to bow before the monarch and purified the system of granting noble titles? These are some of the demands of the reformist sector, and sooner or later you will have to address them.
Charles III has partially rehabilitated his brother Andreu. Far from being definitively purged of his relationship with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and for having silenced the accusations of rape and sexual abuse by paying nearly 15 million euros to Virginia Giuffre, the Duke of York was recently brought to mass by car no less than for Guillem and Caterina, a gesture much commented on in the press. On the other hand, his son Enric, prince of Netflix and Montecito, remains outlawed, exiled to the Windsors’ Siberia, and does not stop his attacks from California. The last, the complaint in a new television program that he did not have the necessary family support structure, first after the death of his mother and then when he returned from the mission in Afghanistan. Any prospect of reconciliation remains remote.
Enric has come to London for the anniversary of his grandmother’s death and his father’s ascension to the throne, but with no plans to see anyone, he is persona non grata. Charles and Camilla will spend today at Balmoral Castle, where exactly one year ago they dismissed Elizabeth II, and will leave the official commemoration to Guillem and Catherine, with whom the king has organized a family summit to study the course of the monarchy on the pillars of the Commonwealth and support for environmental causes. Both, complicated terrains. The first, because it is an organization that has lost most of its international relevance since the end of apartheid in South Africa (which it opposed), Barbados has become a republic, and Jamaica is in the queue for having done the same. The second, because it is an increasingly politicized affair, starts from the culture wars, with an important sector of the population reluctant to spend money to decarbonize the United Kingdom before 2050. In Palau, as much as it supports the fight against climate change, it does not suit him to find himself in the crossfire between one and the other.
Charles’ first year on the throne has passed without any upheavals, although in the medium term the monarchists are troubled by the alienation of young people. Only 28% of the population declare themselves republican, but 45% of those under the age of 25 say they are in favor of abolishing the institution and consider it irrelevant or not very relevant. Among the under-50s, support is greater, but also not to throw the bells on the flight, while the most loyal by far are retirees and Britons aged 65 and over. A demographic and generational dilemma.
In the picture he has not favored the donation of 1.2 million pounds accepted to the family of bin Laden, or the good relationship with the Saudi prince Muhammad bin Salman (murderer of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi), invited to visit the United Kingdom at Autumn. The fact that Guillem did not go to Sydney for the final of the Women’s Football World Cup has been widely criticized. After all, why is it there, if not for these things?
Elizabeth II was on the throne for 70 years and gave the impression that she was at the service of the British people, that sacrifice, a sense of responsibility and respect for tradition were her main contributions and she took it completely seriously .
During the first 12 months, Charles III has hidden behind the royal public relations apparatus and has not taken any risks. The six decades of preparing to reign have given him a good start. But the honeymoon will not last forever and soon he will have to make more weighty decisions. Reform or continuity, that is the question.
