A glimmer of disbelief ...then a smile of delight

JUST like his “darling mama” 11 months earlier, King Charles appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony to the sound of rapturous applause.

-  Giles Sheldrick

The momentous occasion – greeted with a thunderous roar – was as symbolic as it was historic. The institutional baton had been passed – officially now – to the late Queen’s eldest son.

The weight of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth now rests upon his shoulders.

There proudly stood a King who, as heir to the throne, had waited a lifetime for this moment. And even the rain – a deluge during parts of the day – failed to dampen his parade, or the unbridled joy of hundreds of thousands of well-wishers from across the world who had squeezed on to The Mall to witness this hugely significant moment in time.

The beaming grin on his face perfectly summed up the mood of the nation. Amid the gloom, literally, and after a tumultuous few years of collective heartache, smiles abounded.

This was the nation’s day. Shortly after 2.30pm, the doors to the famous balustrade opened and out stepped the newly crowned King.

Dressed in the ermine cloak worn at the ceremony earlier, bedecked with the Imperial Crown and flanked by Queen Camilla, wearing Queen Mary’s Crown, he took a moment to process the extraordinary sight beneath him.