King Charles III officially becomes Britain's new monarch in historic ceremony

On Saturday, King Charles III was formally crowned as the next ruler of Britain in a ceremony of the Accession Council that was aired on television for the first time. Everyone in the room shouted, "God save the King!" in response to the clerk of the council's pronouncement.

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Following the passing of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday, the 73-year-old former Prince of Wales formally declared and took the oath of succession as King of the United Kingdom at St. James's Palace in London on Saturday.

With him were his wife, Queen Camilla, and their son, the new Prince of Wales, William. William is Charles' heir apparent.

The Queen's health worsened, and she passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Friday. The King returned home from his trip there.

After the Accession Council proclamation, which was followed by a wave of other proclamations around the UK leading up to Sunday, the flags above the palace were raised to full mast.

"As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation," Charles said in his first televised address as King on Friday evening.

"And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. 'May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest'," he said.

With a 41-gun salute from Hyde Park's The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, the Garter King of Arms made the first public reading of a Principal Proclamation from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St. James's Palace.

The Privy Council initially met without the King to declare the new ruler and arrange related affairs.

King Charles III attended his first Privy Council meeting after the proclamation and said he would "accept the obligations and responsibilities of sovereignty"

On Friday, the King met with British Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace. Large crowds gathered at the palace gates in grief for the Queen and to see the new monarch and his Queen Consort.

"It was so touching to see so many people. It's a moment I'd been dreading, but one must try and keep going," Charles was heard saying to Truss, in a brief clip released of his first audience as the Prime Minister expressed her condolences.

While formal details are to be released by Buckingham Palace, it is expected that the Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall in London for the public to pay their respects.

To the Palace of Holyrood house in Edinburgh, the official home of the British monarch in Scotland, the Queen's coffin will be transported in the following days from her Balmoral estate. The casket will be carried in procession to St. Giles' Cathedral in the city, where the Queen will be laid to rest and where her body will be on display to the public.

Soon after, the casket will be sent to London, where she will lie in state for around four days until her burial.

Huge crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace on Friday in grief and to see the new monarch and his Queen Consort, and they welcomed the King with clapping and shouts as he arrived for his first session with British Prime Minister Liz Truss.

(With inputs from PTI)