Royal engagements and visits – at the core of the Monarchy’s work to support the voluntary and civic sectors – have been postponed. Royal mourning continues for a week after national mourning ends. But royal duties will resume as King Charles, the Queen and the new Prince and Princess of Wales adjust to their new roles. Here’s how the next few days, weeks, months and years could look up for King Charles and the royal family. King Charles speaks to the wives of victims of the Aberfan disaster during a reception for local charities at Cardiff Castle in Wales. Credit: AP What will happen in the days after the Queen’s funeral? The royal period of mourning will continue for a further seven days following Her Majesty’s funeral on Monday 19 September. During this time the Royal Family will not make any public engagements unless the King gives express permission. For example, Princess Anne held engagements during the family’s official mourning period for Prince Philip in 2021. What will the royal family do once the mourning period is over? The King toured the UK’s four nations in the week following his mother’s death and there are likely to be many more engagements across the country away from London to give the public – so used to their Queen – a chance to meet members of the royal family in their new roles. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh wave to the crowds after her coronation. Credit: PA When could King Charles’ coronation take place and what might it look like? The Queen’s coronation on a cold, wet day in June 1953 was 18 months after her accession following the death of her father on 7 February 1952. It is unlikely that there will be such a long wait before King Charles’s coronation, but the logistics of a coronation – the first in 69 years – will require detailed planning and it is believed that the event, overseen by the Earl Marshal in charge, will not take place before spring 2023. There are several factors that will affect the date, such as the weather and the cost of living crisis. Amid rising inflation and the rising cost of energy bills, it will have to be weighed whether spending money on a coronation would be a popular decision among a penny-counting public. Could the Queen Consort become Queen? As the King’s wife, Camilla is technically Her Majesty The Queen, and while she may still be referred to as The Queen, she will continue to be referred to as The Queen Consort. The question of whether the royal households will ever refer to Camilla as “Queen” rather than “Queen Consort” is a matter for the future, the royal spokesman said. Camilla, the Queen’s consort, will be crowned alongside Charles at the coronation, just as the Queen’s last consort, the Queen Mother, was. She is expected to be crowned Queen Mother in 1937. King Charles, with the Queen’s wife, Camilla, walks through the gates of Buckingham Palace for the first time as a monarch. Credit: AP What about the first overseas tour? Royal overseas tours are months in the planning, but following the Queen’s death it is likely the royal household will have to re-plan itineraries. One of the focuses of King Charles’ reign will be the future of the Commonwealth and it is predicted that the first major royal tour will be to one of the 14 countries where the British monarch remains head of state. There were reports in July that then-Prince Charles would visit Bangladesh, India and Pakistan on an autumn tour. Queen Elizabeth leaves the Royal Yacht Britannia upon arrival in Charlottetown, Canada. Credit: AP The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen reportedly told reporters in July: “Prince Charles told me he will visit Dhaka. I asked him to visit Sylhet. He agreed to my request.” Whether the current King will continue to go, or whether he will now send his son Prince William and Princess Catherine in their capacity as Prince and Princess of Wales, is unknown. Perhaps the new king will visit Canada, Australia, New Zealand or the Caribbean where nations, including Jamaica, have made no secret of their desire to secede from the Crown to become a republic. The Queen’s first overseas trip after her coronation began in Bermuda in November 1953, traveling by air, sea and land to Jamaica, Fiji, Tonga and then Australia and New Zealand, accompanied by her late husband Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh. After leaving Australia in April, they visited Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Aden (now part of Yemen), Uganda and Malta. The royal couple’s last stop was Gibraltar, six months after they left Britain. Will 73-year-old King Charles and the Queen Consort plan a similarly epic tour? What role will the Duke and Duchess of Sussex play in King Charles’ reign? Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have chosen to break away from the royal family and start a new life in California. The fallout from their decision to step down as professional roles leads to tension between the Duke’s father, King Charles, and his brother, the Prince of Wales. But the royal brothers put on a united front in the wake of ‘grandma’s’ death, making a joint surprise appearance with their wives to greet the public and view floral tributes in Windsor. The siblings also walked side by side behind the Queen’s coffin during the ‘Lying in State’ procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. Whether this develops into a deeper reconciliation or is a tribute to their beloved grandmother remains to be seen. The Queen’s final journey from Buckingham Palace in our latest podcast episode What will Prince Andrew’s role be in a modern royal family? The Duke of York was stripped of his military connections and royal orders and was no longer able to be referred to as ‘His Royal Highness’ in any official capacity by the Queen earlier this year. Prince Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who had filed a battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress claim against the duke, in the sexual assault case filed in the US in March 2022. King Charles’s accession to the throne elevated Prince Andrew to one of the councilors of state – the first five people in the line of succession over 21 years of age. But the king could remove his brother – along with Prince Harry as he does not live in the UK – from the role of one of the advisers of state, who are effectively supporters of the monarch, if he is unable to carry out duties . While the monarch has the power to reshuffle the five, Parliament must approve the move. The Prince and Princess of Wales with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex view the flowers outside Windsor Castle. Credit: AP What will the royal family look like under King Charles? The King has made no secret of his desire for a limited monarchy to cut costs – with less ostentatiousness and more focus on the role of head of state, adapting to changing public opinion. “In one version of [a slimmed-down monarchy] you have a smaller number of people living off the public purse. “He has a vision that this is the direct line of succession and not all cousins and aunts,” a friend of the King told the Financial Times.
