'A message from The King ...'

Analyzing how Charles III changed the tone and style of royal statements

The late Queen Elizabeth II and her heir, King Charles III, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after Trooping the Colour in 2018 (Photo: Mark Cuthbert) 

As the days count down to the first anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, eyes naturally turn to her eldest son and heir, King Charles III. During the past year, he’s begun to set the tone for his reign, whether it’s updating the stolid, long coronations of recent monarchs, or by supporting traditional crafts and traditions through the commissioning a “King Charles III” tartan, which he wore to the Braemar Gathering in Scotland.

Until he begins his coronation tours — expected after his postponed state visit to France later this month — the King uses formal statements as a way to communicate with his 14 realm nations outside the U.K., as well as the Commonwealth, and the rest of the world. They are messages of congratulations, condolences, and to mark important national holidays.

By analyzing the messages issued during the first year of his reign and comparing their tone and content to those from the last year of the late Queen’s reign, one can see how Charles III is changing the style of the monarchy that is presented to an audience outside of the United Kingdom. The unadorned, even minimalist messages of Queen Elizabeth II have been replaced with warmer, more emotional ones from her son, who often adds personal anecdotes and reminiscences. Not only is he more verbose than his mother, he’s also sending a lot more messages.

To look for trends and patterns, I focused on formal messages issued by Buckingham Palace that were specifically directed to countries and people outside of the United Kingdom. I did not include Commonwealth Day and Christmas Day messages, as they are also intended for a domestic audience in Britain. I scoured all available sources to create a comprehensive list of messages. While most messages were formally published on the royal family’s website, some were only released via social media and/or through press releases to the media.

What hasn’t changed is the basic format of the messages: Their headlines start with a variant of “The King’s message …” or “Her Majesty The Queen has sent a message of condolence …,” then a formal greeting, body of the message, and, finally, their regnal names of Charles R or Elizabeth II.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Number of messages: 14 international messages in the year before her death (10 to Commonwealth nations, 4 to other countries)

The first was published on September 11, 2021, to the United States on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Her last, issued the day before she died, was to the “Governor General and people of Canada” regarding the mass stabbing, which occurred largely on the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and left 11 dead and 17 others wounded.

Word count:

• Average: 78 words

• Maximum: 184

• Minimum: 45

Six of the 14 are for natural disasters (43%, all but one in Commonwealth nations) while four (29%) were for anniversaries and three (21%) mark the deaths of leaders, including former PM Shinzo Abe in Japan.

Most messages are bare bones in style, with little sense that the Queen herself contributed to the wording. The wording and format barely changes from one message to the next — “thoughts and prayers” is a common refrain when the news is bad.

For instance, here is what was released for the Saskatchewan attacks:

I would like to extend my condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the attacks that occurred this past weekend in Saskatchewan. My thoughts and prayers are with those recovering from injuries, and grieving such horrific losses. I mourn with all Canadians at this tragic time. ELIZABETH R

That wording is similar to what Buckingham Palace released in February 2022 for the flooding in Brazil.

Perhaps the most personal message was also the most important, and the longest at 184 words. On Nov. 30, 2021, the Queen sent a message to the people of Barbados as they dropped her as their head of state and adopted a republican form of government. After congratulating the new president and all Barbadians, she continued:

… I first visited your beautiful country on the eve of independence in early 1966, and I am very pleased that my son is with you today. Since then, the people of Barbados have held a special place in my heart; it is a country rightfully proud of its vibrant culture, its sporting prowess, and its natural beauty, that attracts visitors from all over the world, including many people from the United Kingdom … It is also a source of great satisfaction that Barbados remains an active participant within the Commonwealth, and I look forward to the continuation of the friendship between our two countries and peoples. As you celebrate this momentous day, I send you and all Barbadians my warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future.

KING CHARLES III

Number of messages: 25 international messages (18 to Commonwealth nations; 7 to other countries)

The first was issued 20 days into his reign, after Hurricane Fiona battered Nova Scotia. The last of his first year on the throne also dealt with the effect of natural disaster in Canada: the wildfires in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories in August 2023.

Word count:

• Average: 155 words

• Maximum: 500

• Minimum: 47

They include:

• 11 for natural disasters (44%, floods, earthquakes, fires, etc.)

• 7 for manmade disasters (28%, train and plane crashes, attacks, bombings, etc.)

• 6 anniversaries (24%, including the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, etc.)

King Charles III released 25 messages for international audiences during his first year on the throne, 70 percent more than his mother did in her last. In the space of one week at the beginning of February 2023, he issued five messages: the bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan; flooding in New Zealand; 175th of Responsible Government in Nova Scotia; Waitangi Day in New Zealand; and the earthquakes in Turkey.

On average, they were also double the length that those of Elizabeth II. His longest message, 500 words for the 50th anniversary of The Bahamas’ independence, contains 326 more words than the longest message sent by the Queen to the people of Barbados.