Support for our King

Saturday 06 May 2023

Those who have met our new King seem confident in his ability to reign as Monarch in his own way, as he is Coronated eight months after the death of his mother.

Charles III was the longest serving Prince of Wales in history after the late Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the title on him in 1969.

His 64 years and 44 days as heir apparent prepared him for his role as Monarch, said Richard Graham when he spoke to Express ahead of the Queen's death in 2022.

His investiture as Prince of Wales at Caenarfon Castle in north Wales on 1 July 1969 caused controversy with Welsh nationalists, but the service was watched by an estimated 500 million people worldwide on television.

Mr Graham, who served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, was later employed as an Aide de Camp to three of Her Lieutenant Governors, meaning he met both the late Queen and her eldest son.  

Pictured: His Majesty was the longest serving Prince of Wales in history.

Mr Graham, who served as a Deputy in the States of Guernsey, has written books on the constitutional relationship between the Crown Dependencies and the Crown.

He told Express that it is a "precious relationship" and care should be taken to ensure it is not neglected. 

“A lot of people have speculated at whether the affection for the institute of the monarchy will dip on the basis that Charles won’t be as popular (as Queen Elizabeth II), and in some circles is unpopular, the public won’t take to his wife, and that sort of thing. I know when I wrote the history of the link between the Crown Dependencies and the Crown, the history is actually the link – not the monarch. 

“It (the constitutional relationship) has survived whoever the monarch happens to be. There have been some pretty foul monarchs, and at the end of the day the Crown Dependencies have just sort of shrugged their shoulders and got on with it. 

“So, I think if the relationship between the Crown Dependencies and the Crown and the UK changes then it won’t necessarily be because the Queen has died, I think it will be for other reasons,” he said. 

Pictured: Colonel Richard Graham, photographed by Tracey Bougourd in 2012.

Colonel Graham wrote about “the story of Guernsey’s allegiance to the English Crown” in his book ‘At Their Majesties’ Service’.

His research led to a factual account of the relationship between the islands and the Crown, from William the Conqueror to the latter years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The book outlines the structure of Guernsey’s Governance and its unique status alongside the other Crown Dependencies of Jersey and the Isle of Man. 

Geographically the islands are all part of the British Isles. Politically, as a Crown Dependency, they are a unique territory that comes under the sovereignty of the British Crown, but it is not part of the UK. They are described as ‘self-governing possessions of the British Crown’. 

Specifically for the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey, having previously been part of the Duchy of Normandy the Channel Islands became part of Britain following the Norman invasion of 1066. 

Pictured: There was an outpouring of love for the late Queen following her death in September 2022.

Having served under Her Majesty as a Colonel in Her army, then as the ADC to Sir John Foley, Sir Fabian Malbon, and Peter Walker, he has had a vast insight into how that constitutional relationship works in the modern era. 

Acknowledging growing republican feeling in some jurisdictions of the Commonwealth, and the public perception of the new King in other areas, Colonel Graham said those issues would need to be set aside if there were to be any serious discussion over changing the Crown Dependencies constitutional relations with the Crown. 

Following scandals, unconnected with the Crown directly, including the Prince Andrew law suits and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the allegations they have made against the Royal family, Colonel Graham said those issues could not be used as valid reasons for splitting with the Crown. 

“Getting away from the personals and the individuals, if you look at it in the context of our history as a Crown Dependency, in my view you can’t be a Crown Dependency with all the advantages that has without the Crown. 

“I think it’s very easy for generations coming up not to be aware of that. We don’t teach our constitutional relationships in our schools. I think our private colleges do, well Elizabeth college does, but as far as Guernsey history goes, in the States’ schools it’s the Liberation and nothing else. 

“Nobody actually teaches them of our origins in Normandy, the link to Normandy, how it all came about, what’s gone into forging this rather curious status of a Crown Dependency. 

“I think ignorance of it will lead to neglect of it."

Pictured: A service to mark the King's Proclamation in Guernsey was well attended suggesting support for him as Monarch following his mother's death.

“I don’t think Guernsey can sail on enjoying the status of a Crown Dependency without also embracing the Crown. There will be talk of ‘do we need a Lieutenant Governor?’ Well, it is arguable whether the link with the Crown has to be manifested in such a way, but then you need to say ‘is there a better way of manifesting it?’ 

“If we don’t want to maintain it, we better start redefining who we are anyway. If we’re not a Crown Dependency, what are we? I think that would be a very awkward question to answer.

“So, my argument when it comes, if anyone raises it, is that ok the Queen may have been very special, but actually she is the latest in a long line of monarchs. Some of whom have been good, some have been bad, some have been neither, but actually the relationship has survived the best part of 2000 years/1000 years. It’s a precious relationship – don’t neglect it. It may just have to be put into practice in a different way, and it always has adapted.” 

Pictured: King Charles III is to be crowned in a service on Saturday 6 May 2023.

Having grown up with Queen Elizabeth II as Monarch, photographer Chris George told Express that like other people it was interesting to see how the new King takes to the role. 

“We’ve only ever known the Queen, we’ve never known any other Monarch," he told Express in an interview ahead of Her Majesty's death. "My parents would have known a King, but my generation have only ever known the Queen.”

Mr George has photographed every Royal visit to the Bailiwick since he moved here as a young man. 

“I’ve photographed Prince Charles, and I remember once when he came over he went to Herm, and it was blowing an absolute gale. There was some talk of calling it off but Prince Charles said no, and so we went ahead on the Herm boat, and he came over, and when we got off the boat Prince Charles looked quite dishevelled and the headline on The Sun the next day was ‘The Prince of Gales!’"

Other Bailiwick residents with memories of previous visits to the islands by His Majesty have also said that he was stoical in insisting events went ahead so as to ensure members of the public who had waited to see him were not disappointed. 

Royal fan David Hands - a familiar face to patrons of Moores Hotel - met Prince Charles during a visit to the Bailiwick in 2004.

Having been a big fan of the late Queen, Mr Hands thinks her son will make a good King.