The annual slot for the monarch is always short but, in his inaugural address, King Charles shortened it further. Opening with a choral rendition of the national anthem was a sung way of saying “I am the King now” which might seem like a rather unconfident claim to make but was clearly intended to anchor the new monarchy in the tradition that sustained the old.
The problem in drafting this speech was balance. It was imperative for the King to pay tribute to his recently departed mother, not to mention his father, but he would not want the whole speech to look backwards, even in fondness. The need to pivot to the present and the future derived in part from the requirement of the monarchy to renew and in part from the desire of the King to get a few things said.
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