Proclamation in Yeovil
Proclamations of the accession of the new King, Charles III, were read in Yeovil yesterday. Similar proclamations were read around the county and across the country. Yesterday the great and the good assembled at Nine Springs Park in Yeovil to hear the proclamation read. Chair of South Somerset District Council, Paul Maxwell did the honours.
The official proclamation read:
A proclamation
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to His Mercy our late Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second of Blessed and Glorious Memory, by whose Decease the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George: We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm and Members of the House of Commons, together with other members of Her late Majesty’s Privy Council and representatives of the Realms and Territories, Aldermen and Citizens of London, and others, do now hereby with one voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart publish and proclaim that The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George is now, by the Death of our late Sovereign of Happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful Liege Lord Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, to whom we do acknowledge all Faith and Obedience with humble Affection; beseeching God by whom Kings and Queens do reign to bless His Majesty with long and happy Years to reign over us.
Given at St. James’s Palace this tenth day of September in the year of Our Lord twenty thousand and twenty-two.
GOD SAVE THE KING
Having already been approved by a body known as the Accession Council, the proclamation is then read at St James’s Palace in London. But in days of yore with no internet and rolling 24 hour news, there were practicalities to be overcome. Getting the the new monarch proclaimed around the country was important. Not least so the message as to who the masses should pledge their loyalty was out there before any rival claimant might come forward to provide an alternative.
Those days having passed of course. Today the process is entirely ceremonial, but no less interesting for that. So yesterdays gathering in Yeovil was well attended. Assorted dignitaries from South Somerset District Council led the ceremony. Similar ceremonies were held around the country. In Taunton the proclamation was read by the High Sheriff of Somerset in front of the Market House at 1pm.
Back in Yeovil at 4pm the ceremony proceeded with speeches and prayers offered as well as the proclamation.
