What are the roles and challenges of Charles III, the new British king

Queen Elizabeth II, head of state for the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, died at the age of 96 this Wednesday (8) in Scotland. The oldest sovereign in the world ends a reign of more than 70 years that is passed on to Charles, her eldest son, who takes over as King Charles III.

But what is the role of the head of state in a monarchy?

In an interview with CNN Igor Lucena, PhD in International Relations at the University of Lisbon and member of the Portuguese Association of Political Science, commented that a head of state has the power, for example, to decree peace or to decree war:

“By living in a country whose regime is a constitutional monarchy, the Head of State has the power, for example, to enact peace and war, having the royal prerogatives and the possibility of enacting laws, even if in practice it doesn’t happen much. In the case of the Queen, she was the head of state of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. In many of these, her power was symbolic, in others she had specific powers such as dissolution of parliament, war and peace announcements, and trade agreements.”

According to Lucena, in the English parliamentary system there are two chambers, the Commons, elected by popular vote, and the Lords, with its members chosen by the Queen. Symbolically, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom rules in the name of the Queen herself. It is important to say that the Head of State of the country is also the leader of the Anglican Church and the diplomatic services:

“The Queen was also leader of British diplomatic services and armed forces, however, not only is the UK affected by the monarch, there are 7 other independent states such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and even even Pakistan, which had the figure of the Queen as their head of state”, explains Lucena.

Now there is the expectation of what will be the image that Charles will pass assuming the mission of head of state. According to Lucena, the expectation of the British is that Prince Charles maintains the independent line of the Queen:

“From a political point of view, the Queen has always been very independent, without meddling in political issues and that she sought to maintain the unity of the United Kingdom, when there were separatist movements in Scotland. For the British, it is important that Charles maintain the same line as his predecessor, not taking sides has been a motto for England. In times of crisis, the queen has been a beacon of hope for people and that is to be expected of her son as well.”

The queen’s eldest son must become king the day after her death. The last time this happened was over seventy years ago. The funeral ceremony is expected to take place in England next week.

Regarding the main challenges that the next king of the United Kingdom will have, according to Lucena, the king’s first challenge refers to relations with other countries:

“The UK is in a very complicated situation where we are witnessing an increase in inflation, the UK in practice is also being the biggest European supporter of the Ukraine crisis in the war both financial and military, it will enter a kingdom where there are internal problems and external economic, financial and political. It is worth remembering that one of the most controversial points, and that his own mother had, was the issue of the Scottish referendum, where in the past she came to give an opinion.

Remembering that monarchs do not express opinions on matters relating to governance policies. But there’s a new Scottish referendum, there’s a possibility and reunification of the Irelands, so it’s the UK’s own problems that will end up falling under the reign of the future King Charles.”

From the point of view of monarchy, for the future King Charles, adopting a charisma, given that today Prince William is the dearest and most well-regarded of all of the royal family, will be the other great challenge:

“Perhaps what is most difficult is that Charles cannot pass on what is necessary, which is the spirit of renewal. This would only really be addressed to society through a coronation of Prince William, which will not be the case, however, the English monarchy and especially during the Queen was always seen as a beacon of hope and a beacon related to the national unity of the world. UK.”