Crowds cheered for King Charles III in Wales on Friday, as the king arrived the country for the first time, as the ruler of all the United Kingdom.
In Cardiff, Charles met in private with Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, an avowed republican.There was isolated booing on the streets after the new monarch declared his son William as the new Prince of Wales.
But Drakeford said questions over the future of the monarchy would “be a footnote to the dominant feelings of the day”, following the death on September 8 of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96.
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Large crowds chanted “God save the king” as Charles shook hands with well-wishers following a multi-faith service in Llandaff Cathedral, and at Cardiff Castle, on the last of his visits to the UK’s four nations.
In a speech at the parliament of Wales, which alternated between English and Welsh, he vowed to follow the “selfless example” of Britain’s longest-serving monarch.
Charles added that William’s “love for this corner of the Earth is made all the greater by the years he himself has spent here” — after his heir trained as a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot in Anglesey.
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Outside Cardiff Castle, a few protesters held up banners declaring “Abolish the Monarchy”, “Citizen not subject” and “Democracy now”.
On his return to London, Charles was due to join his siblings — Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — for a family vigil in front of the flag-shrouded casket as it lies in state in London.
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