BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to King Charles III on his accession to the British throne.
Xi pointed out that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at the ambassadorial level.
The Chinese president said he is ready to work with King Charles III to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two countries, expand friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation, and strengthen communication on global issues, so as to bring benefits to the two countries and their people and contribute to world peace and development.
Meanwhile,Queen Elizabeth, the longest-reigning monarch in Britain’s history, died on Thursday aged 96, and her son Charles succeeded to the throne immediately.
Here is an explanation of the protocol surrounding the official accession of a new monarch and Saturday’s ceremony formally proclaiming Charles as king. An Accession Council convened at St James’s Palace, the official residence of the sovereign, to proclaim the successor.
The council is formed of privy counsellors who have advised the monarch since the Norman era. They now comprise about 670 senior politicians, including Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Also present are the lords spiritual and temporal – bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords, including the archbishop of Canterbury, together with the secular peers of the realm. The lord mayor of London, senior civil servants and high commissioners from the 14 other realms which have the monarch as their head of state also sit on the council, the lord president of which is currently lawmaker Penny Mordaunt. All privy counsellors will be invited but not all will be able to attend at short notice. In 1952, after the death of George VI, 191 members attended Elizabeth’s Accession Council.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
