He will be a very different monarch to his mother. He should use that to his and the nation’s advantage
King Charles intends to reign – he would say serve – precisely as did his mother. His entire life has been spent in the shadow of her performance, and he has been tutored at every turn in the role of the occupant of the throne. He knows that the nation has regarded the Queen as the apotheosis of constitutional monarchy. His is unlikely to be a long reign, and he will not want to betray his mother’s legacy.
At that point, any similarity between King Charles and Queen Elizabeth may well end. The reason is simple. The job of monarch today may be formulaic, indeed near-robotic, but it is nonetheless conducted by human beings. Charles may execute the ceremonies required of him impeccably. He is practised in the tedium of public duties, and shares his mother’s capacity to moderate ritual with humour. Maturity has also diluted the risks of misbehaviour and gossip that attended his youth and unhappy first marriage. But mother and son are very different personalities.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
