Proclamation of the new Sovereign King Charles III to be read out at the Guildhall in Cambridge
The official proclamation of the new Sovereign, King Charles III, will be read out by the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire Jennifer Crompton with the Lord-Lieutenant Julie Spence at the Guildhall in Cambridge on Sunday (September 11) at 1pm.
The university will hold a proclamation at the same time - 1pm - at Senate House.
The choirs of Great St Mary’s, under the direction of the University of Cambridge organist, will sing the National Anthem following the proclamation.
The bells will ring from 12.40pm-12.55pm, and after 1pm the flag will return to half-mast.
This will be followed by a similar ceremony at Peterborough at the Guildhall on the same day at 3pm.
Both of these ceremonies will be filmed and posted on the county council and city council websites.
The Lord-Lieutenant and the chair of the county council, Cllr Stephen Ferguson, and the mayor of Peterborough, Cllr Alan Dowson, will lay flowers at these ceremonies. If members of the public wish to lay their own flowers in tribute, areas have been designated for this - at the Guildhall in Cambridge and in Peterborough at Cathedral Square, or in the cathedral grounds.
People who do intend to leave flowers are kindly asked to remove any plastic wrapping before they are laid.
Ely proclamation
A proclamation is also due at Ely Cathedral at 4pm, outside the west door.
Cllr Alan Sharp, chairman of East Cambridgeshire District Council is due to read the proclamation, accompanied by the mayor of Ely.
Flowers will be laid by the council chairman of the council, the mayor of Ely and civic leaders.
Other proclamations around Cambridgeshire
A number of proclamations are taking place at towns and villages around the county at 4pm on Sunday including:
- at the memorial outside the Town Hall in St Ives
- at the Market Square in Huntingdon
- at the Gardiner Memorial Hall in Burwell.
- at All Saints Church in Sawtry, read by the chairman of Sawtry Parish Council
- at School Hill in Godmanchester
[Read more: Cambridgeshire pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II dies at the age of 96]
Accession Council and proclamation in London
The proclamations in Cambridgeshire and around the country follow the proclamation of the King Charles III in London on Saturday.
A sombre meeting of the Accession Council was followed by the pageantry of the proclamation, read from a balcony at St James’s Palace and then the Royal Exchange in the City of London.
The King spoke movingly about his mother and the grief his family is experiencing, but said the “sympathy expressed by so many to my sister and brothers” had been the “greatest consolation”.
Watched by the Queen, the new Prince of Wales and more than 200 privy counsellors – including six former prime ministers – the King pledged himself to the task now before him and the “heavy responsibilities of sovereignty” and paid tribute to the reign of his mother, “unequalled in its duration, its dedication and its devotion”.
Then David White, Garter King of Arms, in his colourful regalia and flanked by other Officers of Arms and Sergeants at Arms, reading the proclamation of the new King from a balcony at St James’s Palace.
The second reading of the Accession Proclamation was met with applause and cheers of “God save the King” outside the Royal Exchange.
Thousands of onlookers had gathered at noon on Saturday in the City of London to witness the proclamation delivered by Timothy Duke, the Clarenceux King of Arms, in front of the Lord Mayor.
