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The nation’s new monarch King Charles III has been formally declared head of state during a historic ceremony at St James’s Palace in London.
The Accession Council attended by privy counsellors, including the Queen Consort, the new Prince of Wales and the Prime Minister was televised for the first time.
More than 200 privy counsellors – a group of mostly senior politicians past and present, some members of the monarchy and other national figures – were present to hear the Clerk of the Council read the Accession Proclamation.
Applause and cheers of “God save the King” broke out outside St James’s Palace after the Accession Proclamation, before a crowd of thousands sang the chorus of the national anthem, singing “King” in place of “Queen”.
Proclamations will be read in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland devolved parliaments in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast on Sunday.
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