A Royal salute of 41 rounds fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park following the Proclamation of King Charles III (Picture: MOD).
A Royal salute of 41 rounds fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park following the Proclamation of King Charles III (Picture: MOD).
King Charles

Charles III officially proclaimed King as military plays important role in Accession ceremony

A Royal salute of 41 rounds fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park following the Proclamation of King Charles III (Picture: MOD).
A Royal salute of 41 rounds fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park following the Proclamation of King Charles III (Picture: MOD).

The military's new Commander-in-Chief King Charles III has been formally declared Head of State during an historic ceremony.

His Majesty's Armed Forces have been at the forefront of Saturday's ceremonies.

At St James's Palace, The Band of the Coldstream Guards, alongside eight State Trumpeters from the Household Cavalry, played God Save the King after the proclamation was read out.

It triggered a series of Royal gun salutes across the nation – 41 rounds fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Hyde Park, 62 by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London – 21 for the traditional salute, an extra 20 in Royal parks and a further 20 at the Tower as it is a Royal palace.

Other salutes happened around the country including in Edinburgh, Cardiff and in Northern Ireland.

A 21-gun salute was fired at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down.

Reservists from 206 Battery 105 Regiment Royal Artillery fired the salute watched by Steve Baker, Minister of State for Northern Ireland.

The Royal Navy's flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth was among seven ships from the fleet firing salutes at sea in honour of King Charles III.

Join Our Newsletter

WatchUsOn

Amazing view from RAF Voyager supporting Typhoons from XI Squadron

Gurkha recruits face chemical attack test in most arduous training to date

Veterans wear long-awaited Nuclear Test Medals in public for first time