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Don Lemon Tonight

Scotland Bids Farewell To Queen Elizabeth II; King Charles III Officially Proclaimed As Britain's New Sovereign; January 6 Committee To Meet As It Debates Whether To Invite Trump And Pence To Appear; Queen Elizabeth II's Coffin To Be Flown To Buckingham Palace. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired September 12, 2022 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[23:00:00]

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MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The silence only broken by royal salutes.

(ROYAL GUN SALUTES)

FOSTER (voice-over): And gunfire, one a minute, from the city's iconic castle.

(GUNFIRE)

(TRUMPET SOUND PLAYING)

FOSTER (voice-over): Inside St. Giles, members of the royal family and household, as well as Scottish politicians and representatives of the military, and Scottish civil society pay tribute and remember the queen's love of Scotland.

REV. CALUM I. MACLEOD, MINISTER, ST. GILES CATHEDRAL: And so, we gather to bid Scotland's farewell to our late monarch whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate, and whose love for Scotland was legendary.

FOSTER (voice-over): The late monarch's casket draped with the royal standard of Scotland and the nation's crown that she received here in 1953, a scent full of Scottish symbolism, and her son taking his first steps as Scotland's king.

Just shortly after, Charles III meeting Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, leader of arguably the most rebellious of his nations. Sturgeon wants to eventually secure another referendum on Scottish independence, challenging the unity of the kingdom. But in her address to the king at the Scottish parliament, she pledged her loyalty.

NICOLA STURGEON, FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND: Your majesty, we stand ready to support you as you continue your own life of service and as you build on the extraordinary legacy of your beloved mother, our queen. Queen Elizabeth, queen of Scots.

FOSTER (voice-over): The encounter with the Scottish leader came after an event at Westminster where the king and queen consort received letters of condolence from both houses of Parliament. There, Charles III reiterated his loyalty to Britain's democratic values.

KING CHARLES III, KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Her late majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people, and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. This vow, she kept with unsurpassed devotion. She set an example of selfless duty which, with God's help and your councils, I am resolved faithfully to follow.

FOSTER (voice-over): Monday was Scotland's day to express their condolences. On Tuesday, the king heads to Northern Ireland, and he visits Wales on Friday, a unifying bid before a final farewell to the late queen at the state funeral on Monday.

Max Foster, CNN, Buckingham Palace, London.

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DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Max, thank you very much for that. CNN's Bianca Nobilo and royal historian Kate Williams are here with me outside of Buckingham Palace. Hello to both of you. Thank you so much for joining us.

Listen, a lot of people, Bianca, are coming. A lot of people, right, technical term, to pay their respects to the queen. This is a huge security undertaking. What are you hearing?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A gargantuan one. Earlier today, I spoke to a former counterterrorism chief for the Metropolitan Police, and he was saying that the scale of this is like nothing that we've seen before, and that is because not only are we expecting over a million people to visit for this funeral and the paramount importance of actually protecting the security of the choreography of the day itself and making sure that goes to plan.

But there are heads of state and royals, dignitaries, traveling from all over the world to be here in one little area of London. That is such a precarious undertaking for them. He said their biggest concern is the crowds that the people are going to be here because, obviously, the security, sort of firepower is going to be concentrated in the areas around where the events are actually taking place and where the heads of state like President Joe Biden and royals from Georgia or Spain and the Netherlands will be.

So, that is their main concern. But so far, it's been going to plan. There are about 10,000 police officers every day in London at the moment, which is far greater than any other typical event that you would see.

LEMON: We are looking at the pictures now of St. Giles' Cathedral that she's laying at rest there and is laying in state here -- lying in the state, I should say, lying at rest there. What are you hearing about preparations for that at Westminster? KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: Yes, these preparations for the queen lying in state, as Bianca was saying, they are going to be gargantuan. When the king -- when the king and the queen's father was lying in state at Westminster hall, the queues stretched back six miles, and I think they're going to be much, much bigger because I do think the estimate that a million people are going to come and see the queen is perhaps conservative.

[23:05:00]

We think about of the millions that we've seen, Don, coming into Green Park. There have been so many people just coming to the palace every day, and London has a working population of about 11 million people on a working day.

So, I think we are possibly going to see huge amounts, millions and millions coming to try to pay their respects to the queen. It is going to be 22.5 hours. The queues, they could estimate, could go right back into east London.

I think so many people are here because they want to pay their respects but also because of this great historic moment. We will never see a reign like this again. We will never see a funeral, a state funeral like this ever again.

LEMON: Can we talk about it? Again, we are looking at the pictures just a moment ago of St. Giles. I mean, today was stunning. It is stunning. Everything has been really just flawless so far. So, the queen was involved in every single -- I mean, she prepared for this. She signed off on every single detail. This is exactly what she wanted.

WILLIAMS: Yes, it has been beautiful. Operation Unicorn, which is what would happen if the queen were to passed in Scotland, that was enacted. So, it is all planned that she would transfer from Balmoral to Edinburg. And as you say, Don, it's been such a beautiful ceremony, it's been so dignified, and you were covering it this morning with CNN. It was just such a dignified, really was so beautiful, and everything has been planned for Monday.

Of course, the thing is we lost the state funeral for Winston Churchill in 1965. So, very few people in the United Kingdom can remember a state funeral. Very few can remember the funeral of the king. And so, hardly anyone had seen this happen before. It is a whole new world. It has been planned, as you say, to the nth degree because the whole world is watching. There could be three, four billion people -- you know, billions of people watching.

LEMON: Just a quick mention here. People tried to compare it to Diana. But Diana wasn't really a state funeral. It was something that they came up with, right?

WILLIAMS: Don, it was a ceremonial funeral because she wasn't a senior royal. They borrowed the queen mother's plan because Diana was so young. There was no plan for her. Initially, it wasn't going to be the case that she would get a proper royal funeral anyway because there was issue as a private citizen and there had to be a lot of conversations before it was really thought that the public expect this is a mother of a future king for Diana to be honored in that way which she was.

LEMON: Yeah. Bianca, talk to me about the significance of King Charles and his siblings. I mean, the children of Princess Elizabeth being there. That was a significant moment.

NOBILO: Oh, it was. It was deeply moving. For all of the complaints the people do have about the monarchy, which often center around the privilege that they have, the influence that they have, and how it can be in egalitarian, it does just put in sharp relief this very peculiar social contract.

They might have all this privilege, but they are expected to, in the moments of their sharpest personal grief, present themselves publicly to whoever is there in that cathedral or that -- where they were today and public at large, televised.

We saw this with princes Harry and William in the aftermath of Princess Diana's death as well. It is a very peculiar thing. It is such a private moment for a family that is typically quite stoic to share with the world.

And so, I think it is always moving. Obviously, the family has had its trials and tribulations recently. I think that is why seeing, you know, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the duke and duchess of Sussex act out together in Windsor as well was also very heartening for the public and that all will be intentional.

LEMON: Part of that, what she mentioned, the trials and tribulations, Andrew in traditional morning suit rather than a military uniform like his siblings, it just -- it gives perspective, at least noticed, to the strain that is happening in the royal family or some of the turmoil.

WILLIAMS: Yes, the turmoil. It was decided that Andrew was no longer going to be working royal due to the scandal with Jeffrey Epstein, and Andrew actually had COVID during the platinum jubilee, so we didn't see him during the platinum jubilee, which I have to say, I think, was rather a blessing on the royal family in their effort to separate.

And, of course, he's the queen's son, he has a right to be there, but I think what is going to happen is that Andrew's position will really get lesser and lesser now that Charles is in power.

LEMON: Yeah. We saw Nicola Sturgeon, which is the first minister of Scotland. I mean, she is pushing for independence, but yet speaking at the funeral.

NOBILO: Yes. So, Nicola Sturgeon --

LEMON: She was speaking at the ceremony. Is it thanksgiving for the life of the queen?

NOBILO: Yes. And King Charles addressed the Scottish Parliament. Nicholas Sturgeon is synonymous with the cause of Scottish independence here in the British Isles. She has been pushing for it. She is still pushing for it again. The right to hold referendum on Scottish independence has been denied by the last British prime minister. So, they're in a little bit of a holding pattern.

I think what we're seeing at the moment is a demonstration of people in Scotland. Their sense of loyalty, fealty, and admiration for Queen Elizabeth II.

[23:09:57]

It is obviously not tied in any kind of perfectly correlated way to a desire for independence because roughly just under half of the country, according to polls, support independence in Scotland.

Now, that may well change with King Charles III because there was something about Elizabeth II that transcended the structures of the monarchy and a lot of the frustrations or complaints the people would have about having such an anachronistic and egalitarian structures still existing in modern life.

LEMON: He really -- I mean, he doesn't have much leverage. He's got to be careful about the way he presents it and that he relates with Sturgeon, don't you think?

WILLIAMS: Yes, I think so. I think that he -- there probably will be another independence referendum at some point in his reign, and that Charles has to stay out of, as he must have, if the country decides to be republic. He really has to make it clear that it is for the people to decide, and he will not meddle and interfere even though he may wish Scotland to stay.

I mean, obviously, if Scotland was to leave the U.K., it would be cataclysmic for the U.K. and possibly start of independence referendums in Northern Ireland and Wales. So, it would be a huge moment for the U.K. and not one, I think, that Charles would wish to preside over. But that is what the people want, he must accept it with dignity and grace.

LEMON: The end of traditional monarchy if that happens or beginning of the end?

WILLIAMS: Well, Nicola Sturgeon has said that if Scotland was independent, they would keep him on as head of the state. This is because in the 16th century, there were two different countries with two different monarchs. Then, the monarch of England died without children as the first. So, James VI of Scotland became James I of both. So, two independent countries with the same monarch. So, it could be possible.

But I think if Scotland was to carry on with the monarch, eventually, they may perhaps look to being republic.

LEMON: That's interesting. We have seen Camilla, the Queen Consort, by the king's side, but we haven't heard much from her. What do you think she brings to this new role, any of you, what do you think? NOBILO: I think that -- and Kate, obviously, you would know much about this as well, it's interesting that the queen gave her full blessing to the Queen Consort, Camilla. It was very important for her, I think, to show the country that the Queen Consort now has stamp of approval because there has been a dramatic history to King Charles and Camilla throughout the year, and the British public have definitely been quite lukewarm on both of them at point.

So, I think seeing her in such a prominent role, being such a partner to King Charles, and we saw that demonstrated so clearly behind us when he came out of the car for the first time and greeted the British public, and that was the first moment that we saw him since his mother's death.

I think she's going to be a very important partner to him as well as being a shoulder to cry on, an important figure. I think she adds a lot and people feel like she's got the common touch. She's quite relatable.

WILLIAMS: Yes, Bianca, I agree. There always has been uncertainty about her title. We always thought that it was going to be Princess Consort. And then very clearly, as you say, the queen, on the eve of the anniversary of her accession in February this year, has said Camilla would be queen.

And Charles has really taken her everywhere. She's always by his side. He refers to her in speech as my darling wife, supportive wife, which really suggests to me that while he is hoping for his coronation, which we don't know when that will but perhaps maybe six months' time, that she will be crowned with him as sometimes is the case for Queen Consorts. I think that's what we're going to see. That is what he wants. So, let us see if it happens.

LEMON: Well, we will see. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. We've got more to come here from here in London tonight on the new royal era with the passing of Queen Elizabeth and her son, Charles, taking the throne.

Plus, at home, sources are telling CNN the Justice Department has subpoenaed more than 30 people on team Trump as the January 6 Committee is meeting in a matter of hours to debate whether to request the former president and his vice president, Mike Pence, to appear.

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[23:15:00]

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LEMON: New tonight, sources telling CNN the Justice Department has subpoenaed more than 30 people in former President Trump's orbit as part of its January 6 criminal investigation, including former White House political director Brian Jack, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.

Joining me now, the former deputy assistant attorney general, Harry Litman, and CNN political analyst Jonathan Martin. By the way, Jonathan is also the author of "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future." I'm so grateful to have both of you gentlemen on. Good evening.

Harry, 30 people. That's a lot of names at one time. This is quite an escalation from the DOJ after getting criticism for not making moves.

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes, it really is. I think that talking point is maybe dead by now. But, you know, an individual subpoena, Don, it's a little bit of a shot in the dark, where it is going. Thirty, if you sort of charted it out and drew the lines, you would have the bull's eye, the very bull's eye being Donald Trump.

It is clear that that is the common feature here and it is people who were around him, not people who genuinely could invoke any kind of privilege, and people who heard him say things, saw him do things, very much the kind of people who can really sort of bury him potentially for his conduct and actions on and around January six.

LEMON: Mr. Martin, Trump's former campaign manager, his former deputy chief of staff, these are insiders --

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah.

LEMON: -- getting hit with very broad subpoenas. Legal troubles are just part of the good (ph) when it comes to being on team Trump.

[23:19:56]

MARTIN: Yeah, and look, I think it is important for your viewers to know, Don, that, you know, Bill Stepien obviously was the head of the campaign in 2020. He was constantly in touch with the former president during the campaign and importantly in the weeks following the campaign.

It's also important for viewers to know that Dan Scavino, who is not, you know, the most well-known Trump name out there, but he is a really important figure in Trump world. He is a former caddie who has been around Trump for years and who often, when Trump was still on Twitter, was tasked with actually drafting the tweets themselves. As you can imagine, it was a very important role for somebody who have the tweeting habit the former president once had.

I think clearly this is an investigation that is widening, not narrowing, and it is pretty obvious that they are looking for Trump's conduct, I think, not just narrowing on the issue of January 6 but, I think, in the weeks leading up to and immediately after the election.

This is the inner circle, people who are with Trump, you know, in and around the election. And, you know, there are also reports that other folks have their phone seized who are also close to Trump.

So, look, I think that it's uncertain yet where this is going, but when you see these many subpoenas and subpoenas this deep in the inner circle, it obviously tells you that this is an investigation that is full steam ahead.

LEMON: Harry, there is movement on the special master review of those Mar-a-Lago documents as well. The Justice Department and team trump actually agreeing on one of the Trump picks, senior judge Raymond Dearie. What do you know about him?

LITMAN: Yeah, imagine that. He's a very solid judge, great reputation in the district court. He's a Ronald Reagan appointee which probably made Trump think that he would be okay. And he is okay, even for Trump, in terms of calling balls and strikes on attorney-client privilege, what neither he nor any special master is okay on his trying to call, whatever they would call it, balls and strikes, on executive privilege.

That is the big issue she still got to confront, and she probably has until Thursday because that is when the DOJ said they're going to the 11th Circuit if they haven't heard from her.

LEMON: Harry, Jonathan, thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it. I will see you soon.

LITMAN: Thank you.

MARTIN: Thank you.

LEMON: The January 6 Select Committee planning on meeting tomorrow and they have a big question on their hands. Should they ask Trump and Pence to appear?

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[23:25:00]

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LEMON: I just want to be transparent for a moment. What you're hearing behind us, they're sort of rehearsing for the queen returning here to Buckingham Palace tomorrow and later in the week as she will lie in state at Westminster. But you may hear a band behind me, just so you know what's going on.

Let's move on and speak about the January 6 Committee set to meet in person tomorrow. They are expected to discuss whether they should ask former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to testify.

For more, I want to bring in now CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers and CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Good evening to both of you.

Jennifer, so, they're going to debate whether they should ask Trump and Pence to testify. Do you really think either of them would or is this sort of -- so they could get them on the record that they asked?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Certainly, Trump will not. He has criminal exposure. We know that active criminal investigation he's having. So, he would not appear. If he did, he would plead the Fifth. So, that's really more of a political thing.

Pence, they have a legitimate reason to ask for. I mean, I think he will delay also. I don't think he'll want to appear. He made that pretty clear. But he has actual legitimate testimony that he ought to give. So that, I think, is a request that the committee ought to make.

LEMON: Yeah. Juliette, some members say that it's all about putting the invitation on the record. They're still debating whether to criminally refer Trump to the DOJ at the end of this. I mean, it will be important to ask him to speak it if they do aim to do that.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. And I agree with Jennifer that I think that there would be reasons to ask them both to testify. But really, the only person who would have the motivation at this stage is Pence. His language lately and some of his speeches have gotten a little bit more conciliatory towards the January 6.

He is still defending Trump, but he has made some motions that he listens to what they are saying, that there shouldn't be violence, that what happened on January 6 was in fact if not an insurrection was in fact a threat to the peaceful transition of power.

[23:30:01]

So, I think he is different than Trump. But I think what's interesting now is just how high up the January 6 Committee is. If you even look at the trajectory of the last couple of months from day one, the first committee hearing, to what they are contemplating they are on this month, you're really looking at a, you know, starting with the violence on January 6 Committee, expanding to those supported, funded it, met with them, Oath Keepers and others, and now it is larger picture of what was the strategy, what was the purpose of that violence.

It was not violence for violence sake. It was so that there would not be certification that day. Everybody would go off running or something would've happened to Pence. Then the fake electors, the one that would've come into play in the days following. So, I think that's a really important narrative for them to lay out for the American public.

LEMON: Do you think that this signals that they are more open to criminal referral?

RODGERS: It that me?

LEMON: Juliette?

KAYYEM: For me? Yes, I think it does. I think it's hard to read the tea leaves of what the criminal referral -- what they are doing. And also, different members have been saying somewhat different things, which is okay. They will speak in one voice on the criminal referral aspects.

We have to remember, as you heard in just the previous segment with Harry, I mean, the expansion of the criminal case is so broad now, getting to the fake elector scheme and the coordinated insurrection that I think that a criminal referral from the January 6 Committee might be important.

What is also important coming out of them is, of course, an accounting of what in fact happened and the extent to which Trump really did direct. This has been not a directed, a coordinated attempt to undermine the election through violence but also other means.

LEMON: Yeah. Again, they are rehearsing behind me for what will take place here and also later in the week. So, there you go. Just full transparency here. We are here to cover the queen's funeral.

So, listen, Jennifer, the committee is also still dealing with five GOP lawmakers who refused to cooperate. Do they have any leverage considering they want to get to a report up by the end of this year? Should they spend time on them?

RODGERS: They don't really have any leverage, Don. I mean, they would've had to go to court to try to litigate this at this point a long time ago if they wanted to get to its base. So, there's really not much they can do at this point. I think that they should just focus on putting together what they have learned.

It still is a really powerful and compelling case. I've been so impressed by the information that they were able to gather even though there were these folks who refused to come forward and testify. So, I think that they should just focus on their report.

If DOJ wants to speak with them in connection with the criminal investigation, of course, they have many more tools to make that happen. Judicial oversight means that you can't blow off a grand jury subpoena like that. So, if those GOP folks are wanted for the criminal case, DOJ would get them.

LEMON: Juliette, the committee is also debating whether to subpoena Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas. I mean, they asked her to talk. That was back in June. So far, no luck with that. The committee has emails between her and Trump's election attorney, John Eastman.

KAYYEM: Yeah.

LEMON: And text between her and Mark Meadows, where she urges him to continue fighting to overturn the election. Again, we are talking about the wife of a Supreme Court justice. How do you navigate this?

KAYYEM: I think if you are the committee, you simply do not worry about who she is married to. The question was, did she help coordinate sort of the fake elector scheme and use her authority, whether that came from simply her marriage or simply because she is so high up within the GOP, within the MAGA wing of the GOP, did she utilize that authority to try to convince state electors?

That to me is irrelevant as sort of who she is, who her spouse is. She is an independent woman who was doing what she -- what was clearly unlawful to anyone who looked at it and it clearly undermined the peaceful transition of power.

So, who is someone spouse is, I would hope, for the January 6 Committee, would actually be irrelevant. She was using her own personal authority to do this.

LEMON: Thank you, Juliette. Thank you, Jennifer. I appreciate it.

Queen Elizabeth's coffin is set to be flown to London in the next few hours. Will King Charles be able to keep the monarchy what it was under the queen?

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[23:35:00]

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LEMON: Early morning rehearsals going on outside of Buckingham Palace for the procession of when the queen's coffin returns to London. Let's see, it is 4:39 here in London. So, man, it is really, really early morning.

[23:39:57]

It is a dawn of a new era here in the U.K. as King Charles begins to take on the duties of monarch, while preparing for Queen Elizabeth's funeral next Monday. Her coffin will be moved from Edinburgh to right here at Buckingham Palace in the next few hours.

I want to bring in now Ed Luce, who is the assistant editor at "The Financial Times." Ed, I really appreciate you joining us. You saw the rehearsals there early, early in the morning. They're getting ready every single detail meticulously thought of.

You have called yourself a reluctant monarchist. You said that you are not much of a royalist, but I know that you are deeply saddened by Queen Elizabeth's passing. How do all these feelings come together here and getting a new king on top of that?

ED LUCE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Well, I guess partly to do with the character of Elizabeth, my admiration for her discipline, even with the facial gestures not in play in opinion (ph), that kind of duty day in and day out for 70 years right up to her last day when she received the new prime minister on Tuesday of last week.

It's something that, you know, any ordinary human being is going to find pretty hard to imagine doing themselves. Somebody who is a columnist for a newspaper finds it particularly admirable.

This time last week, Boris Johnson was prime minister and Queen Elizabeth II was a queen, was the monarch. Now, we've got Liz Truss and King Charles III. There is a lot of change going on in Britain. The monarchy is supposed to represent continuity and yet keep up with the times.

I do not envy Charles. This job, he is clearly more opinionated than his mother on issues a lot of us might sympathize with, in faith, sympathy, global warming, issues like that that are probably more in tune with the younger generations, things he is going to have to rein in if he is going to be this apolitical monarch.

So, I am not a natural monarchist. Hereditary heads of state in theory are not a good idea. In practice, it has been going pretty well for the last few decades.

LEMON: Yeah. Listen, I'm just hearing you through this little earpiece. I think you said Boris Johnson and not Boris Yeltsin, but Boris Johnson. I'm pretty sure you said that. Listen, you said that Britain is a better place because of Queen Elizabeth. Is it fair to say that she has been the glue holding the monarchy together?

LUCE: Yes. I mean, if you -- you know, it is a lottery. When you have a family, you know, a hereditary family inheriting the head of state role, it is a lottery of who you get.

I think Britain must particularly fortunate to get somebody who had such a natural touch and such a sense of duty and obligation and professionalism that Elizabeth had. It is on average, you are unlikely to get that. British history is a pretty good illustration. But you can get some really bad characters. George III being one.

Holding Britain together, well, you know, there's a possibility or maybe a probability now of Scottish independence referendum. The interesting thing about that though is that they would not become a republic, they would be independent from Britain, but they would keep the monarchy.

And Nicolas Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, was actually more fulsome in her tribute to the queen after her death last week than Liz Truss, Britain's prime minister, who many Scots would see now as England's prime minister. So, Britain is in a fragile position. There is no doubt about that. Northern Ireland is part of the fragility, too.

I think that it is putting a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of an unelected and powerless head of state to fix this. But, Charles, we'll see it as one of the things he is going to try to help with.

LEMON: He has been -- Charles, King Charles has been outspoken on many issues, but he has always insisted that he intends to follow the queen's lead and would stop sharing his views in the same way. But, I mean, listen, he is passionate about climate change, about organic food, and other issues. How important is it that he keeps a promise that he and keeps at the same way that Elizabeth did it, sort of apolitical?

LUCE: I think it's very important. The essence of that job is to be above politics. It is not to be polarized. It is particularly important but also difficult in this political period, which I think is more polarized in Britain than it never was in the first 69 or 67 years of Elizabeth's reign. It just got so toxic.

[23:44:58] But for that very reason, I think people will be wanting him to succeed. Very well that he is very opinionated compared to his mother and that, you know, he has got prone (ph) compared to his mother, all as anybody is. But I think because things are so polarized in Britain and because partisanship has become so bitter, particularly around Brexit, people value a head of state who doesn't embody any of those differences.

And so, people will be wanting Charles to succeed. They like a politics-free head of state symbolizing the better side of the nation. So, I suspect not that many people are going to want to be a tripping him up, and he is going to be acutely aware that if he does get political, he will be punished for it. And so, I do not expect Britain to become a republic in the next few years. I think this thousand-year monarchy will go on.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Ed. I appreciate it. Be well. Prince William, now next in line to the throne as he and Kate take on the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales. How will their responsibilities change?

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: With Charles becoming Britain's new monarch, he has bestowed his former title Prince of Wales on his eldest son, Prince William, and William's wife, Kate, is the new Princess of Wales. Prince William is now the direct heir to the throne.

So, let's discuss now. Erin Vanderhoof is here. She is a staff writer for "Vanity Fair" and the co-host of "Vanity Fair" "Dynasty" podcast. Listen, this is your time right now. Thanks for joining us. We really appreciate you being with us here. We have been talking about Prince Charles becoming King Charles now, but he is not the only one taking on a new role. William and Kate are now the Prince and Princess of Wales, the titles that William's parents once had. How do you think things are going to change for them?

ERIN VANDERHOOF, STAFF WRITER, VANITY FAIR: Well, the tough thing about the way that the whole monarchy works is that, especially for the Prince of Wales, there is no direct thing that you have to do, but there are a lot of expectations that you will make something useful of your time.

So, the big change for Will comes that he is now going to be taking the reins at the duchy of Cornwall, which is essentially a real estate trust that has operated for hundreds of years to give the heir of the throne an income that under Charles's watch over the last 50 years has grown into a multimillion business, multimillion-pound business.

So, it is not entirely sure, you know, if William is going to go and try to change things or, you know, if he thinks that the system that was set up his dad that gives them about 24 million pounds an income a year, it's fine. So, that's going to be his big thing going on.

Kate has already been working really hard. She has been more like Diana as opposed to some of the other royals. But she only has a few issues which is really, really connected. Over the last five years, she has moved to become an expert in childhood mental health and has helped really change and raise awareness about what Britain needs to do to change its attitudes towards children.

With that, we know that we are going to see her kind of get even further involved in that issue and have that be the thing that you really associate with Kate as the Princess of Wales.

LEMON: Erin, can you talk about what Charles did as Prince of Wales? I mean, it is actually really prolific, wasn't it? You talked about that he has grown to a 24 million-pound a year business. But it's really a very different role for king. He had much more freedom then.

VANDERHOOF: Yeah. I mean, so, from the very beginning, this is one of the things that, looking back in all of, you know, Charles's biographies, one of the things that they know is that when he first got out of the military, it was a role he didn't particularly love, and he didn't really know what he wanted to do.

But the first thing that he did is he started setting up lots of different programs. One is called The Prince's Trust and it helped underprivileged youth start-up businesses. It turns out (INAUDIBLE) actually got funding from Charles to go on to his first (ph) auditions. So, he's an investor of the trust now.

But Charles started a lot of different programs that really, you know, that promote rural lifestyles and preservations in Britain. He just did so much to help get funds from some places where they needed them. And also, he is really passionate about architecture. And so, as a part of The Prince's Trust, like in the real estate development they did, they really focus on traditional architecture.

So, essentially, there are a lot, lot of projects out there that made sure that Charles is really able to put a stamp on Britain. There are a lot of people who can say, wow, Charles really did something directly to help me. People can say, wow, this town that I lived in was funded and developed sort of by Charles and the architects that he preferred.

So that, I think, is one of the reasons why he is going to be so prepared to be the monarch, because he was doing so much, and I think at the end of the day, the monarch is just a job that requires you to be everywhere and know everything and never stop working.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: It's like a journalist.

[23:55:00]

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Like a cable news anchor. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, Erin. You have a good night. It is good to talk to you.

VANDERHOOF: Thank you.

LEMON: Thanks for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom."

[23:59:55]

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