King Charles opens UK parliament for 1st time as monarch amid anti-monarchy protest

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - King Charles III on Tuesday attended his first State Opening of UK Parliament as sovereign to announce the government's plans for the next few months.

Charles traveled to the UK Parliament in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach to deliver the first King's Speech in more than 70 years.

Beginning his speech, Charles paid tribute to his mother's, late Queen Elizabeth II, "legacy of service and devotion," and touched on a number of issues, including ban on tobacco sales, tougher sentences for killers, tackling inflation and crackdown on small boat crossings.

He said that the current government focused on "increasing economic growth and safeguarding the health and security of the British people for generations to come."

"The impact of COVID and the war in Ukraine have created significant long-term challenges for the United Kingdom," said Charles.

"That is why my government's priority is to make the difficult but necessary long-term decisions to change this country for the better," he added.

Charles ascended to the throne on Sept. 8, 2022 following the death of his long-serving mother.

On May 6, in the country's first coronation service in nearly 70 years, he was crowned along with Camilla at Westminster Abbey.

"My ministers will seek to attract record levels of investment in renewable energy sources and reform grid connections, building on the United Kingdom’s track record of decarbonizing faster than other G7 economies," said Charles.

With these decisions, the government will "build a better future," he added.

- 'Facilitating humanitarian support into Gaza'

Charles said that the government will work closely with international partners to support Ukraine, strengthen NATO and "address the most pressing security challenges."

He said this also includes the consequences of Hamas attacks against Israel, and "facilitating humanitarian support into Gaza" as well as supporting the cause of peace and stability in the Middle East region.

"My government will deliver on the Illegal Migration Act passed earlier this year and on international agreements to stop dangerous and illegal Channel crossings and ensure it is the government, not criminal gangs, who decides who comes to this country."

He also confirmed the plan set out by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ban smoking and vaping in the younger generation.

Last month, Sunak proposed raising the smoking age by one year every year, implying that tobacco will never be legally sold to children aged 14 or younger.

Charles also mentioned that ministers will introduce legislation to empower police forces and the criminal justice system "to prevent new or complex crimes, such as digital-enabled crime and child sexual abuse, including grooming."

- 'Not my king'

Meanwhile, anti-monarchy protesters gathered near the parliament, where they shouted "not my king" while "booed" Charles' convoy passing through.

Speaking to Anadolu, Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy Republic group, said that the king does not represent them and "he is not our king."

"We need to get rid of the crown, the monarchy and the lords, and have a democratic alternative," he added.

The crown, he said, does not symbolize people's actual values today, but it "symbolizes an attachment of the past that we should be apologizing for, not celebrating."

Citing to surveys showing decrease in support to the monarchy, he said people under the age of 40 are "fed up with inequality, the poverty, the austerity."

They just think "we don't need this anymore," added Smith.

He also touched on the slavery issue and said that "the monarchy very much bound up with slavery."

In April, Charles for the first time signaled publicly his support for research into the British monarchy's historical links with transatlantic slavery, one of the darkest chapters of history.

Since England's government and monarchy had been involved in the creation of the transatlantic slave trade for centuries, Britain's Royal Family has been widely accused of taking part in it and has been called by many to make an official apology.