News: King Charles III: A shock to the system

Friday, September 9, 2022

King Charles III: A shock to the system

Sep 09, 2022

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By Ryan Heath

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A CONNECTION ACROSS COUNTRIES, GENERATIONS, ERAS, IS GONE.

Together we are mourning not only a person, and not necessarily an institution.

Queen Elizabeth II was "the rock on which modern Britain was built," said Britain's new Prime Minister Liz Truss , but that doesn't fully explain the outpouring of global emotion. Perhaps we're mourning something about ourselves that we may never fully comprehend. The Queen embodied a lost responsibility of service, a lost art of restraint and constancy in a world that now never rests.

Stop and watch this hilarious story from her former bodyguard, about an American walking near Balmoral who had no idea who she was upon meeting her.

CHARLES' CHALLENGE — CHOOSING POLITICAL CONTOURS

Is it crass or weird to talk about King Charles III's future and that of British monarchy before Elizabeth II is even laid to rest?

For many Britons, the answer is yes. If she was merely Elizabeth Windsor, also yes.

But in many ways Elizabeth Windsor passed away 70 years ago. She was replaced by the Queen — the institution we all know today, a vessel of a monarchy that outlives her, and which is the subject of debate, including because of the choices and relative unpopularity of her son.

The Commonwealth had barely started (in 1949) when Elizabeth became Queen — for 9 out of 10 people alive today , she is the only British monarch they have ever known.

As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has known the Queen since he was 5, noted: "She was our Queen for almost half of Canada's existence." For many of her former African and Asian colonies, later independent republics, she was their only monarch.

Reeling off virtually any statistic or anecdote about her serves to remind us of King Charles' difficult position: Everything about his mother is a comparison he will struggle to separate from.

She provided connective tissue to the body politic of many countries; he chose the role of political gadfly. She embodied duty; he embodied torment.

The political prince — who has campaigned for decades on environmental, urban and architecture issues — now has to decide when his politicking will help or hinder the monarchy's cause.

The Times of India described King Charles this morning as " manically active on a range of topics — though often under the radar."

In one sense Charles is suited to the times: He will be The Green King, at one on climate issues with his heir Prince William. But there are risks.

While Charles' policy engagement came in the form of letters and speeches — even his own organic food brand — rather than red lines through legislation, the Queen would never have undertaken such actions.

Instead, Elizabeth II was "Her Majesty" — above politics and able to defy what Adrian Wooldridge describes as the "down-marketing" of other European royals, who attempted to rebrand royalty as people almost like us, but with castles.

King Charles does not have that luxury. The new King is finally His Majesty, but thanks to decades of (sometimes illegal) tabloid scrutiny and his self-generated missteps in marriage and politics, he takes the crown and scepter with less majesty than his mother. And the more he enters into politics, the less majesty there will be.

As a monarch without mystery, many people will wonder: What is the point of all this?

MONARCHY UNDER SCRUTINY, IN SOME PLACES PRESSURE

Constitutional historian Ben Jones predicts a " shock to the system" for those Commonwealth citizens who are now left with a faraway King who, "like any other human being has failings."

There are already calls to return crown jewels to India, Africa. Will King Charles resist the temptation to offer a coronation present to the crown's former colonies?

Long live the Republic, maybe! While four of the last five prime ministers of Australia have supported the country becoming a republic, it's easier said than done, and a sensitive topic during a period of mourning. The Australian Republican Movement is staying silent until after the funeral, but the direction of travel is clear.

In Canada, only 29 percent view King Charles favorably, and only 34 percent want to keep the monarchy. Read Ottawa Playbook to better understand Canadian perspectives.

Reality check: Chileans rejected a new constitution Sunday, despite overwhelming support for change. That's timely proof that a population can reject a system without agreeing on what to replace it with. Australians taught themselves that lesson already, in 1999, in a failed republic referendum.

BUT FEELINGS CHANGE …

Queen Elizabeth was nothing if not influential on those she met and advised.

Martin McGuinness, the Northern Irish guerilla turned politician, dedicated much of his life to blowing the monarchy up (literally), including the IRA's 1979 assassination of the Queen's uncle Louis Mountbatten. What a turnaround to see him lead one of her four nations, and welcome her to the island of Ireland in 2011.

Even PM Truss, the last politician to meet the Queen, once advocated for the abolition of the monarchy.

Marvel here at the condolences of Paul Keating , the former prime minister of Australia and father of the country's republican movement, for which he was reviled by British media as the " Lizard of Oz."

THE U.K. HAS A NEW PRIME MINISTER. As a new face takes over leadership of the –Conservative Party in the U.K, what does this mean for the future of British politics? Catch up on all U.K. politics news with POLITICO's daily London Playbook newsletter. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

EVERYONE HAS A QUEEN ANECDOTE

One of the extraordinary themes to surface over the past 24 hours is just how many people and places felt a connection to the Queen.

As an Australian, I took that sense of connection for granted: 3 out of 4 people alive in Australia in 1954 turned out to witness her shake hands or simply drive past them in an eight-week tour of the country. Seemingly every town is strewn with monuments to that feat. We received school prizes and even voted under her picture.

It turns out the rest of the world has its fond souvenirs too: She's in Philly! She's in Maryland for football! CNN wandered up to a man outside Buckingham Palace and asked for his reflections, about this icon he'd never met. Turns out, he'd met her three times! The next person interviewed met her just last year.

How news outlets around the world reacted to the Queen's death.

ROYAL PRACTICALITIES

A 12-day mourning period has begun across the United Kingdom. Many offices are closed today, and some may stay closed next week. Sporting events are postponed, strikes are cancelled. More in London Playbook.

Royal reshuffle: Camilla is Queen Consort. Prince William is now Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge and will soon become Prince of Wales, the title Charles held for more than 50 years.

There is a new monarch, new prime minister, an almost new Cabinet and a full clean-out of Downing Street advisers. Meet Trussworld.

As the Queen has died in Scotland, her body will rest at Holyroodhouse, before a service in Edinburgh's St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile, and then travel onward via the Royal Train to St. Pancras station in London.

Every bit of it will be televised.

King Charles will then tour Great Britain and Northern Ireland to introduce himself as king over the course of three days, before the queen lies in state at the Palace of Westminster for a further three days from Sept. 15 while visitors stream past.

Finally, her funeral at Westminster Abbey will take place either Sept. 18 or Sept. 19, and the queen will be buried in the castle's King George VI Memorial Chapel, next to her husband Prince Phillip.

Expect upwards of 100 heads of state to be in attendance at the funeral — she has met hundreds more, some of whom will be invited, including every living American president.

In that the queen will likely out-draw even the United Nations, whose General Assembly will be in session the week of her funeral, with leaders' speeches starting on the 20th. Many leaders will juggle both event: given who and what is being honored, that is a manageable hassle for leaders.

Then the royal rebranding begins: There are 29 billion coins circulating in Britain alone with the Queen's head on them. Then there's bank notes and stamps and passports and mail boxes. The branding of each item is a political choice, and a potential decision — particularly in the 14 Commonwealth countries which retain King Charles as their head of state — to take a step away from the monarchy.

GLOBAL RISKS AND TRENDS

JOIN GLOBAL INSIDER AND DAVID MALPASS AT UNGA: The World Bank president will talk about Tipping Points: Confronting Global Multiple Crises in a one-to-one interview, Thursday Sept. 22 at 10:30 a.m. ET. Register here.

From climate change to conflict, public health emergencies to public debt dangers: We face a gloomy outlook, but have options. So what can the American and world leaders do to alleviate these compounding crises and implement long-term solutions?

FUTURE OF UNITED NATIONS

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield returned to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco Thursday to deliver an unusually clear speech about the state of the U.N. Charter, where it was signed in 1945.

Watch the full speech here.

"At several points, it looked like the U.N. was going to fail before it even existed," Thomas-Greenfield said about the conference that formed the global body.

Instead, compromise prevailed over a return to war: "The Charter and the institutions it set into motion have brought on an extraordinary amount of peace, security and prosperity for the world. … Together, we have lifted over a billion people out of poverty."

A crisis of confidence: "Even as the world was facing the threat of climate change, a pandemic and a global food crisis, one of the permanent members of the Security Council invaded its neighbor. Russia … struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter.… Russia's war against Ukraine is an attempt at domination in its purest forms. This war tests the fundamental principles the U.N. was founded on."

"Some say this is a cold war. That they don't want to take sides. That this is between Ukraine and Russia, or the United States and Russia. That is simply not right. This is not a new Cold War. This is not about a few countries. This involves all of us. This is about defending the U.N. Charter. This is about peace for the next generation."

Security Council reform: "We will advance efforts to reform the U.N. Security Council. That includes efforts like our co-sponsorship of the veto resolution that asks permanent members to explain their vetoes to the General Assembly. The Security Council should also better reflect the current global realities and incorporate more geographically diverse perspectives. We should not defend an unsustainable and outdated status quo. Instead, we must demonstrate flexibility and willingness to compromise in the name of greater credibility and legitimacy."

U.S. Priorities for the 77th U.N. General Assembly: "President Biden will co-host a heads-of-state-level Food Security Summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. … President Biden will host the Seventh Replenishment Conference for the Global Fund, which focuses on stamping out persistent threats like AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and preparing for future pandemics."

By the numbers : "Since 2009, Russia has cast 26 (Security Council) vetoes, 12 of which were joined by China — while the U.S. has only used the veto four times."

"In 2020 we contributed $11.6 billion — compared to only $2 billion from China and a little over half a billion from Russia."

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

GLOBETROTTERS

TITLE HOLDER: The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III, is now the world's longest reigning monarch.

WATCH ZELENSKYY TRANSFORM INTO A LEADER AT WAR: Ukraine has been at war for more than six months (or eight years, if you're counting the first Russian invasion of Crimea and the Donbas), but it is still extraordinary to witness moments of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's transformation into a wartime president battling for his nation's survival. Here he is with French President Emmanuel Macron on the morning of Russia's February invasion. Video.

KLEPTOWATCH

Global sanctions dashboard, updated by the Atlantic Council.

USAID's new playbook offers a window into the Biden administration's global anti-corruption efforts, FP's Amy Mackinnon reports.

MOVES

GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM TASKFORCE HITS D.C.: A global Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism will question top global social media leaders Sept. 16 in the Rayburn House Office building, streamed online, and co-chaired Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Canadian MP Anthony Housefather.

REIMAGINING AMERICAN DIPLOMACY: The Stimson Center has launched Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy, a new policy program led by Christopher Preble, with two projects: The Red Cell Project which will take a "devil's advocate" approach to U.S. foreign policy, challenging commonly held beliefs, and The Reimagining U.S. Diplomacy Project, which hopes to "restore diplomacy to a central role in U.S. statecraft."

Preble's team is: Mathew Burrows, Robert Manning, Emma Ashford, Kelly Greico, Evan Cooper and Aude Darnal.

Thanks to editor Ben Pauker and producer Hannah Farrow.