Proclamation
At 3.30pm on Sunday, September 11, the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Akhtar Zaman, made the formal proclamation of the new monarch from the steps of the town hall to a crowd in Victoria Square.
Text of the Proclamation
We come together this afternoon following the passing of our late Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth the Second. Our sadness at this time is shared by people in the country and across the world, as we remember with affection and gratitude the lifetime of service given by our longest-reigning Monarch.
Today’s ceremony marks the formal Proclamation to the people of Bolton, the beginning of the new King’s reign.
The Proclamation of the new Sovereign is a very old tradition which can be traced back over many centuries. The ceremony does not create a new King, it is simply an announcement of the accession which took place immediately on the death of the reigning Monarch.
There is a tradition that when the Monarch visits our borough, the Mace, the symbol of the Mayoral authority is inverted in recognition of the authority of the Crown. In today’s ceremony the Mace will be inverted as a similar sign of recognition that the Crown has passed from our late Sovereign to her successor.
Yesterday, the Accession Council met at St James’s Palace to proclaim our new Sovereign. The flags which have flown at half-mast since the Queen’s death were raised briefly to full mast to mark the start of His Majesty’s reign.
The Accession Council also made an Order requiring High Sheriffs to cause the Proclamation to be read in their areas of jurisdiction. It was that task which the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester discharged earlier today, and with my humble duty I now read the Proclamation to the people of Bolton.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to His Mercy our late Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second of Blessed and Glorious Memory, by whose Decease the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George:
We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm and Members of the House of Commons, together with other members of Her late Majesty’s Privy Council and representatives of the Realms and Territories, Aldermen and Citizens of London, and others, do now hereby with one voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart publish and proclaim that The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George is now, by the Death of our late Sovereign of Happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful Liege Lord Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, to whom we do acknowledge all Faith and Obedience with humble Affection; beseeching God by whom Kings and Queens do reign to bless His Majesty with long and happy Years to reign over us.
Given at St. James’s Palace this tenth day of September in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-two.
GOD SAVE THE KING.