The King is now in the impossible position of being constantly compared to a predecessor who had 70 years to fine-tune the intricacies of being both Head of State and Head of Nation. For many, no one’s reign will ever surpass that of Queen Elizabeth II. Under pressure and with enormous shoes to fill, it is essential that the court of King Charles strives to bring out the very best in him. Another blot on the copybook has been the decision to send redundancy letters to Clarence House and Buckingham Palace staff as soon as Saturday – just two days after Queen Elizabeth died. Employees are described as “fuming” although as Dickie Arbiter, the late Queen’s former spokesman, pointed out, “there is never a good moment” to tell people they are losing their jobs. While those serving the Queen knew their employment was time-limited, the letters have come as a shock to the former Prince of Wales’s staff, who assumed they would all be kept on and amalgamated into the King’s new household. Timing, as we have witnessed with the military precision of recent events, is everything. So when it comes to solving other conundrums such as who should get which title, what should happen to The Prince’s Trust or the future of now-defunct royal residences, nothing should be rushed. Since they are going to set the tone for the King’s reign, these important decisions should not be made before the ink is dry on the proclamation papers.
