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For 70 years, the British public took comfort from the wise words of Queen Elizabeth II.
Not just head of state but grandmother to the nation, just a few carefully chosen thoughts from the late Queen were enough to calm a nation’s nerves through war and conflict, periods of economic and societal strife and even a global pandemic.
Now the task of reigning with reassurance falls to her son and heir, the King, whose Mansion House speech on Wednesday night showed that he has inherited his late mother’s knack for saying just enough without descending into sentimentality or risking accusations of political meddling.
As the longest-serving Prince of Wales in British history, the 74-year-old monarch has already gained a reputation as more outspoken than his predecessor ever was.
Yet this “state of the nation” address was not a “monstrous carbuncle” of a speech but something much more subtle in its architecture.
For amid the grandiose, 18th-century surrounds of the Lord Mayor’s Palladian official residence – most famous for David Lloyd George’s 1911 speech warning the German Empire against opposing British influence during the period leading up to the First World War – came something very much of the moment.
Referring to the “watershed age” that the country is living through, His Majesty said he had been reflecting since his accession last year on what made Britain what it is – an island of shared values, a “community of communities”.
“Every generation lives with its own set of hopes and fears, as if caught in a perpetual tussle between optimism and pessimism, promise and peril,” he said.
Reminding us that “there is far, far more that unites us than divides us,” he spoke of the “deep wells” we can draw upon “to help give ourselves a sense of perspective” and to “see us through good times and bad”.
Royals don’t tend to comment on the so-called culture wars, but there could be no mistaking the monarch’s message as he called for “civility and tolerance” in “our political life and wider national conversation”. He called for us to “think and speak freely”, to listen to each other’s views and disagree “in a way which is passionate but not pugnacious.”
“The words ‘I know my rights’ are wholly familiar – and often true,” he added. “But have we succeeded in equal measure in schooling ourselves, and our communities, in the importance of our responsibilities towards one another?
“Do we pause, instinctively and unerringly, before speaking or acting to ensure we are affording equal weight to both sides of the balance? Our society would be a kinder and gentler place for it.”
It is a question that is gaining increasing relevance since Hamas’s attack on Israel sparked brazenly anti-Semitic protests on the streets of the UK, not to mention an ugly war of words on social media.
While the King did not directly reference what he has already described as the “barbaric acts of terrorism” on Oct 7, his call for the “practice of our religious faiths, in freedom and mutual understanding” did not need much translation.
Nor did his observation that “such understanding, both at home and overseas, is never more vital than at times of international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life”.
This was an unabashedly “multi-faith” monarch, renewing his Coronation vows.
No speech by Charles III is complete without a reference to our fragile planet, but a little like his son Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, which he will present next month in Singapore, the message was designed to be one of hope, not despair.
Striking a welcome note of optimism in the face of the recent negativity of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion protests, he championed the “cataract of science, innovation and scholarship which flows into our laboratories and libraries, our lecture halls and our seminar rooms and beyond into our production lines and our knowledge industries” to mitigate against “the biggest battle of all” – global warming and climate change.
While it may be an exaggeration to say that Eeyore has become Tigger, there was undoubtedly something uplifting about the King’s confidence in his subjects being up to the challenges ahead.
At a time when a vocal minority appears intent on rewriting our nation’s history and tearing down its institutions, how refreshing it was to hear a rallying cry for their “labour and loyalty” to be appreciated rather than denigrated.
So too was The Goon Show fan’s reference to the importance of British humour, citing “our ability to laugh at ourselves is one of our great national characteristics”.
“Just as well, given some of the vicissitudes I have faced with frustratingly failing fountain pens this past year!” he added.
I’m told the King, who writes all his speeches with the help of royal aides, spent recent days “finessing” the final draft with a view to “bringing calm” after what has been a particularly turbulent start, not just to the decade but also the first 12 months of his reign.
For a man often accused of rocking the boat, this latest King’s Speech was a Queen Elizabeth-class lesson in steadying the ship.
King Charles has inherited his mother’s ability to steady the ship
Monarch’s speech at Mansion House proves he has knack for saying just enough without descending into sentimentality