IN September sunshine yesterday, before several thousand Islanders gathered in the Royal Square, Charles III was formally proclaimed King in Jersey.

The formalities mirrored countless others across Great Britain and the Commonwealth, but Jersey’s proclamation had been carefully adjusted to reflect the Island’s centuries-old links with the Crown, as the Bailiff ,Sir Timothy Le Cocq, ‘beseeched God to bless His Majesty, our Duke, with long and happy years to reign over us’.

At the conclusion of the short but moving ceremony, the words ‘God save the King’ rang out loudly from the crowd before the national anthem was sung.

Speaking from an elevated platform by the statue of King George II – the spot from which Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen in 1952 – the Bailiff spoke movingly of the late monarch, who had been ‘a constant presence, giving a sense of reassuring continuity and calm during sometimes troubled and uncertain times’.

‘We all feel a sense of loss and sadness, and many feel that we have lost a friend as well as a sovereign. We honour her memory and we thank her for her service,’ he said.

But the Bailiff said that he was sure that anyone who had heard the King’s first address on Friday evening ‘would have recognised many of the qualities of dignity, decency and kindness which so characterised his late mother’.

‘His Majesty King Charles III sits on the throne as our sovereign and our Duke. He has visited us in Jersey with his now Queen Consort, and they showed the warmth we have come to recognise in a royal visitor. We hope very much that the King will be able to visit us in the years to come,’ Sir Timothy said.

The ceremony in the Royal Square – which the Bailiff called ‘an almost timeless ritual of transition and continuity’ – was one of many that followed the first proclamation of the new King made at the Accession Council at St James’s Palace on Saturday morning – and repeated a few minutes later to the crowds outside by the Garter King of Arms.

In Jersey, following a short States sitting at which the Bailiff read to Members the proclamation and the Island’s letter of condolence sent to the King, the ceremony took place in front of a parade of uniformed organisations and members of the public, who packed into the Royal Square.

Preceded by the Royal Mace, the Bailiff led a procession of the Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae; Crown officers; the Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore; the Dean of Jersey, The Very Rev Mike Keirle; and the Lieutenant-Governor’s chief of staff, from the States building into the square for the proclamation.

He read: ‘Whereas it has pleased almighty God to call to his mercy our late sovereign Queen Elizabeth II of blessed and glorious memory, by whose decease the crown of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, we the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff, officers of the Crown, Dean of Jersey, Jurats, Members of the States Assembly and the people of Jersey gathered here today, in accordance with the law of Jersey, therefore do now hereby 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 III.

‘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, our Duke, with long and happy years to reign over us.

‘God Save the King.’

Letter of condolence

At yesterday’s special meeting of the States for the proclamation of King Charles III, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, read to Members a letter of condolence sent by the Island to the new King.

He read: ‘May it please Your Majesty, ‘The Bailiff, the States and the people of Jersey have received with deep sorrow and sadness the news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and wish to convey to Your Majesty and members of the Royal Family their deepest sympathy at the loss of our beloved Queen.

‘Many Islanders recall with great affection Her Majesty’s visits to Jersey in 1949, 1957, 1978, 1989, 2001 and her most recent visit in 2005, when she attended the Island’s 60th anniversary Liberation celebrations and unveiled the Liberation sculpture on Jersey’s Waterfront.

‘The people of Jersey will all cherish very happy memories of her visits which have spanned across many generations of our community, which has been touched by the warmth of her interest in island life.

‘Islanders join all other Commonwealth subjects in mourning the passing of a much-loved sovereign, whose life has been an example to us all, and rejoice in the many blessings and moments of joy her life brought to so many across her realm.

‘We hope that Your Majesty will be comforted by the knowledge of the affection in which Her Majesty the Queen was held in the Bailiwick. I have the honour to be, Your Majesty, your obedient servant.’