On Saturday, King Charles III had his meeting with the Accession Council, which was part of the first-ever televised Proclamation Ceremony. Basically, King Charles III made a speech to such luminaries as Boris Johnson, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and the new prime minister Liz Truss. Then the new king signed some papers. Queen Camilla and the new Prince of Wales, Prince William, were there. Charles’s siblings are all still in Balmoral, with their late mother’s body. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in Windsor while this happened at St. James’s Palace. Charles’s speech starts around the 8:30-mark. Watch everything around starting at the 14-minute mark though.

The business with the fountain pen and the ink pot is so… odd. Apparently, the document signed by Charls is the Accession Proclamation, and Charles merely had to sign two large documents with the pen. Charles motions for someone to get all of the extra pens off the table to he can sign the second document. Charles makes a “come on, do it” face at some aide. Then William, as the witness, has to motion to the same aide to present a pen to him because the king hijacked the good pen. The whole thing was extra awkward because Charles is a righty and William is a lefty. At no point did any aide or courtier simply suggest putting the inkwell and extra pens at the top of the desk. “No, that is how The Awkward Proclamation Inkwell has always been placed on the table, why would we do it differently, it’s HISTORY!”

Meanwhile, on Friday, the new PM Liz Truss had her first audience with the new king. Absolute shambles, made even funnier and more bizarre by the fact that Truss apparently can’t curtsy, she can only sort of halfway buckle uncomfortably. She tried to keep a respectful distance from Charles but he told her “come in, my dear.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.