The business for part two of the council: Your Majesty to make a declaration.

King Charles III: My Lords, Ladies and gentlemen, it is my most sorrowful duty to to you

the death of my beloved mother the .

I know how deeply you, the entire nation, I think I may say the whole , sympathise with me in the irreparable loss we have all suffered.

It is the greatest consolation to me to know of the sympathy expressed by so many to my sisters and brothers, that such overwhelming and support should be extended to our whole family in our loss.

To all of us as a , as to this Kingdom, and the wider family of nations of which it is a part,

my mother gave an of lifelong love

and of selfless .

My mother’s reign was in its duration, its dedication and its devotion.

Even as we grieve, we give to this most faithful life.

I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy of sovereignty which have now passed to me.

In taking up these responsibilities I strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set

in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony and of the peoples of these islands and of the commonwealth realms and territories throughout the world.

In this purpose I know that I shall be upheld by the affection and loyalty of the peoples whose sovereign I have been called upon to be and that in the discharge of these duties I guided by the council of their elected parliament. In all this I am profoundly encouraged by the constant support of my beloved wife.