How much of the House of Windsor’s apparent stability can be attributed to Elizabeth’s personal reputation, given that she has maintained a daily routine of charitable endeavours for 70 years while mostly refraining from making any remarks that may be seen as political. In the Times of London obituary for the Queen, it was stated that she was “the lady who preserved our country’s monarchy” and that in her final years, “she came to symbolise those old-fashioned characteristics that are few today: service, devotion, humility, self-sacrifice, and hard work.”

According to the sources, Charles would have to deal with the notion that he was “weak, vain, invasive, and unable of adopting a sovereign role” at home. He has a long history of speaking out against the royal family’s custom of staying out of politics on a variety of topics, including as the environment, architecture, and town planning. Charles generated controversy by sending multiple letters to government officials between 2004 and 2009 advocating for topics he believed in. Then there was his private life, where thoughts of his romance with Diana were certain to damage his reputation. This year’s survey placed him eighth among the royal family members with the highest popularity.

Charles will have a task that is considerably more difficult as he deals with the apparently inexorable flow of history while attempting to deal with the Commonwealth and preserve the royal family’s prominence within it.The Caribbean island of Barbados became a republic last year, marking the first independence from British colonial authority since the 1990s.An heir to the British throne’s visit to the Caribbean earlier this year was met with anti-colonial demonstrations in Belize and Jamaica as well as calls for compensation for Britain’s involvement in plantation slavery. In a poll conducted earlier this year, 55% of respondents said they supported the country remaining a constitutional monarchy as long as Queen Elizabeth reigned, but that support dropped to 34% if King Charles took her place.

Can Charles meet these challenges? During his long wait for an heir, he has certainly familiarized himself with the first requirement for attaining the highest office, namely a willingness to appear day after day, year after year, at civic and charitable events. Charles has also taken it upon himself to do some good in the world. Decades ago, he established the Prince’s Trust, a charity that has provided training and support programs for over a million poor and disadvantaged young people over the years. He has also taken steps to counter criticism that the royal family enjoys a privileged position. Since 1993, he and the late Queen have paid some tax on the income from their private estates. They accepted some inflation-adjusted cuts to the royal budget in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis, although the cost of running the monarchy has increased sharply recently, partly due to the expensive refurbishment of Buckingham Palace. According to unconfirmed reports, Charles may be planning a further reduction in the size of the royal family, possibly to just seven working members.

As the elaborate royal funeral continues, content-hungry media companies around the world will be watching to see what he does next.

By Irving