The Royal family is wasting no time in getting their new duties taken care of following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III and his Queen Consort, Camilla, posed with Prince William and Kate Middleton for the first official portrait to mark the start of the new monarch’s reign, which Buckingham Palace debuted on Saturday (October 1). In the photo, the four royals are all dressed to impress in black, as they stand next to each other in a stately room, flashing wide smiles and appearing quite happy.
The photo comes after the Palace released a similar image of the new King hard at work, sorting through a stack of documents piled up in the famous Red Box, which his late mother used to keep daily dispatches of papers from around the U.K., Canada and Australia. “His Majesty The King’s Red Box 🧰. The Red Box contains papers from government ministers in the UK and the Realms and from representatives from the Commonwealth and beyond,” the caption read.
King Charles III has also been a bit busy trying to reconcile with his other son Prince Harry, after relations became strained once the Duke of Sussex stepped away from royal duties with his wife Megan Markle. The Sussexes were already visiting the U.K. for charity events when the Queen passed away, but, as previously reported, there were no plans to visit with William and Kate, nor his own father. At his father’s request, however, Prince Harry was granted permission to wear his military uniform at the Queen’s funeral, as he was expecting to wear civilian clothing since he’s no longer a working royal. He had previously donned civilian gear for the funeral procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
The move came just hours after the Accession Ceremony, where Charles was officially proclaimed the sovereign. Two days after the death of his mother, the former prince was elevated to the throne in an elaborate, centuries-old ceremony, which took place at St. James Palace and was broadcast live for the first time.