King’s busy coronation year of milestones and royal tours

The King’s busy year was packed with a coronation and a number of significant firsts for the new monarch.

The head of state, who turns 75 on Tuesday, is said to be operating as a “steady-as-we go” sovereign, adhering to the traditional royal calendar observed by his late mother.

Royal Ascot, Garter Day and Trooping the Colour, along with the royal tradition of holidaying on the Balmoral estate over the summer, also filled the King’s diary.

And he was greeted with a traditional Maori hongi as he toured a training site for Ukrainian military recruits in Wiltshire in February.

In a state of the nation address at Mansion House the same month, the King stressed the “vital” need for mutual understanding among religions in times of “international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life” as the violent Israeli-Hamas conflict continued.

There were a few updates to well-known royal occasions.

The late Queen rode her horse Burmese until its retirement in 1986, after which she decided to use a carriage rather than train another charger.

There was talk of a protocol breach when Mr Biden placed his hand on the King’s back.

An incoming state visit – the first hosted by the King – by the president of South Africa last November saw Charles and the Queen entertain Cyril Ramaphosa with a glittering banquet at the Palace.

Displaying his green credentials at the inaugural state banquet of his reign, he requested only sustainable flowers be used.

A tour of Paris and Bordeaux on a state visit to France eventually took place in September after it was delayed by widespread riots.

There was table tennis playing from Camilla, and a state banquet hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in the Palace of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors.

Compared with the seven decades of the late Queen’s reign, the Carolean era is still in its infancy, but the King, who was the longest serving heir to the throne, is the most prepared for his role in history.

Yet he still had matters to sort in the months after his accession.

Charles also finally handed the title the Duke of Edinburgh on to his brother, Prince Edward, fulfilling the wishes of his late father and the late Queen.

There was also a name change for the Queen, with Buckingham Palace dropping “Consort” from her title to coincide with the coronation, having cautiously let the idea of a new Queen settle into the public’s consciousness in the wake of Elizabeth II’s death.

Charles was crowned with St Edward’s Crown, and at his side for her own anointing and crowning was Queen Camilla – a move unthinkable in the 1990s when she was derided for being Charles’s mistress.

The event brought together around 100 heads of state, kings and queens from across the globe, celebrities, everyday heroes and family and friends of the couple.

The King opened Parliament for the first time as monarch earlier this month, reading his inaugural King’s Speech.

The King’s schedule shows no let-up before the end of the year.

He is hosting an incoming state visit by the president of South Korea in just over a week’s time and then travelling to Dubai for the Cop28 climate change summit.

He will still be working at his desk and dealing with his red boxes of papers during his winter break, as well as appearing at church on Christmas Day.

There are unresolved personal challenges ahead for the King, with his ongoing fractured relationship with youngest son the Duke of Sussex and the fallout between Harry and the Prince of Wales.

The King has also yet to travel as monarch to any of his overseas Commonwealth realms including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, with a major tour expected to be on the cards for 2024.