After officially being proclaimed King at St James’ Palace in London on Saturday (September 10), Charles will be proclaimed as the new monarch in numerous towns and cities, including Manchester.
Following the death of the longest-reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III was proclaimed in front of a ceremonial body known as the Accession Council in London over the weekend. This is made up of members of the Privy Council – a group of senior MPs, past and present, and peers – as well as some senior civil servants, Commonwealth high commissioners, and the Lord Mayor of London.
The Proclamation of King Charles III in Manchester is set to take place in St Peter’s Square, at 1pm on Sunday 11 September in front of Central Library. The event is the formal county Proclamation to the people of Greater Manchester of the beginning of his Majesty King Charles III’s reign and follows Proclamations to the people of London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, which will take place earlier.
Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Donna Ludford and Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester Diane Hawkins will give introductory addresses before High Sherriff of Greater Manchester Lorraine Worsley-Carter MBE reads the Greater Manchester Proclamation. The mayors of the other nine Greater Manchester local authorities, who will be in attendance, will then be given copies of the Proclamation to read in their own areas afterwards. At around 3pm, the King will be proclaimed the new monarch at a number of town halls in Greater Manchester boroughs including Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport.
Residents are invited to lay flowers at St Ann’s Square to mark Her Majesty’s death. The flag on Central Library has been lowered to half-mast during the period of national mourning and as a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The flag will remain in place up to 8am the day after the State Funeral on Monday 19 September, which has been announced as a bank holiday.
Metrolink services through St Peter’s Square will be paused from 11.30am until 2pm. There will be a number of road closures and suspension of parking and taxi ranks for the event, situated around Peter Street, Mount Street, Museum Street, Bootle Street, Oxford Street, Lloyd Street, Southmill Street, Jackson’s Row and Central Street, between 10am and 3pm on Sunday 11th September.
Parking suspensions will run from 8pm on Saturday 10th September to 3pm on Sunday 11th September. For full details, check the Manchester City Council website here.