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CNN INTERNATIONAL: King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla Attend Service of Reflection in Belfast; Ukraine Retakes 6,000 Square Kilometers from Russians; CNN Has First Global Crew Inside Reclaimed City of Izyum; Queen Elizabeth II Soon to Lie in State at Westminster Hall. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired September 13, 2022 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Let's just listen in.
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[10:05:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brothers and sisters, we gather in this cathedral to commemorate inward and prayer Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, committing her to God, during these days of national mourning.
While celebrating her life and work for this country and for the Commonwealth, I am giving thanks for all that she has been as queen and, as such, head of state for the people of Northern Ireland.
Within this act of worship, we shall pray for all those whose lives have been touched by Her Majesty, whether as a part of her family circle or more distantly (ph), within the wide horizon of her concern.
We mark with gratitude the dedication to duty that has exemplified her reign and give thanks for her presence under God as a pattern of all that is good and true in human life. Let us pray.
Almighty God, father of all mercies, we commit to your loving care our sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth, who, for 70 years, has been to this land a wise, gracious and beautiful monarch, committed to serving you on the pattern of your son, Jesus our lord.
We give thanks for her faith, inspiration and guidance through changing times and occasions of both national joy and public and private grief. Bless her family and all whose love and care have supported her throughout her long reign with comfort and strength in these days of loss and mourning.
On King Charles, pour out, we beseech you, such an abundance of your grace that he may fulfill his calling with ever increasing wisdom, discernment and spiritual light.
We gather our thoughts and prayers together in the words in which Christ taught his disciples to pray, saying, "Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.
[10:10:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give us this day, our daily bread; forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, amen.
ANDERSON: You have just been listening to "The Lord's Prayer," the king and queen consort attending a service of reflection at St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast and Northern Ireland. That was preceded by the bidding prayer.
They entered the cathedral about 10 minutes ago. The trumpet fanfare heralded their arrival, the band of the Royal Irish Regiment. His Majesty the king and the queen consort arriving by west door, escorted onto the royal party seats while the choir sang the offertali (ph).
With me, Mark Saunders.
And as we continue to watch this service of reflection and prayer, your thoughts?
MARK SAUNDERS, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: I think in Northern Ireland, what we were talking about earlier on, about the complexities and politics of Northern Ireland, which like so much of British politics, is buried in the past.
But Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom and therefore they are part of Charles' subjects. They are his subjects, as they were the queen's.
I remember several times doing royal tours in Northern Ireland, there was always such a very strong, very warm welcome. So he's got something to build on.
Last time he was with William; yes, it would've been William. He has a very strong base to build on. I think this is wonderful that Scotland, where we saw that incredible reaction from the people, now Northern Ireland, I think it's wrong to say it's all going to plan. But I do sort of feel that it's all going very, very well.
ANDERSON: It is remarkable what we have witnessed in Scotland. I think to your point, the fact that Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral and therefore the preparations, which have been in the offing for years and years and years -- there was always the preparations in place in the event that she died.
You're making a point, this series of events started in Scotland, moved to Northern Ireland, then on to Wales before King Charles comes back, of course, full-time to London.
His mother's casket will be moved from Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace here behind us later on today. The king spoke to parliamentarians at Hillsborough earlier. I want to have a listen to part of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES III, KING OF ENGLAND: At the very beginning of her life of service, the queen made a pledge to dedicate herself to her country and her people and to maintain the principles of constitutional government.
This promise she kept with steadfast faith. Now with that shining example before me and with God's help, I take up my new duties resolved to seek the welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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ANDERSON (voice-over): The new monarch, of course, is the first British king to visit Northern Ireland and almost 80 years. He and his wife, Camilla, were greeted by a gun salute at Hillsborough Castle earlier on today, the country's only royal residence.
As we continue to watch the proceedings here at the service of reflection, at St. Anne's Cathedral in Northern Ireland, in Belfast, let me bring in my colleague Nic Robertson, who is there.
Nic, we were speaking to you just before His Majesty and his wife entered the cathedral and he was welcomed warmly as he arrived.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You could hear him approaching because there was a cheer going up from the crowd. As he came around the corner here to stop outside the cathedral, the crowd, who are just down the road from here started cheering; there were shouts of "God save the King."
[10:15:00]
ROBERTSON: I was sort of watching from here as the kings car, his vehicle, it pulled up. Even before it stopped, the window was partly open and he was on the side of this vehicle looking at the crowd. He was waving as he pulled up.
He clearly feels that the reception has been good. He clearly wants to show people that he's happy to be here, wants to connect with them. He was greeted by the Lord Lieutenant (ph) of Belfast, introduced to some dignitaries.
But he turned again as he was walking up the steps to go into the cathedral. He turned again with the queen consort. They both turned and they gave another wave to the crowd.
The crowd at the end of the street, here in that moment, were singing "God Save the King," very uplifting for him if he could hear it, of course. But part of what he's trying to do, it seems, is be here to reflect on his own loss.
But also to reach out and connect with the people of the United Kingdom, specifically here in Northern Ireland today.
ANDERSON: Let's just pause to consider the complicated, sometimes fractious relationship between the country of Northern Ireland and the royal family. This is a complicated relationship. The political scene does feel like it is shifting in Northern Ireland, with Sinn Fein taking a majority in the national assembly.
Mark and I have been discussing that Prince Charles -- or King Charles III -- has some building blocks upon which he can sort of frame this relationship. His mother's seen as taking a position of reconciliation most recently with regard to Northern Ireland. Just explain it.
ROBERTSON: As Prince Charles, prior to becoming king, he has had 39 visits to Northern Ireland and has met with some of the former paramilitaries, who most people would widely regarded as being responsible for the brutal killing of his cherished and favorite mentor, great uncle Lord Louis (ph) Mountbatten, who was taking his young family, young grandchildren out on a fishing trip when the IRA blew up his boat.
So King Charles has felt the bitter taste of loss of somebody close and cherished to him yet has held out his hand in the same way that the queen held out her hand to the former paramilitary as widely viewed as being responsible.
I think in the language that King Charles used today, speaking about trying to heal the hurt in this place, that was a very delicate way of not tripping up on some of the issues that divide people here.
If you're pro a united Ireland, you tend to refer to this place as the north of Ireland. If you come from a pro British background, if you will, you tend to refer to this place as its constitutional name, Northern Ireland.
So just the naming of places is significant. The king navigated his way around that. He is creating his own building blocks today. He's created them in the past. His mother has created them in the past.
But when you talk about the political divisions here, be it pro British or pro united Ireland, the speaker today, who read out the commemoration there, in front of the politicians and the king and the queen consort, is from a pro united Ireland party, Sinn Fein.
His party is opposed to the monarchy. Alex Maskey, the speaker of Northern Ireland's assembly, I remember 20 years ago when he was voted the first ever pro united Ireland Sinn Fein mayor of Belfast. I was in the chamber.
It was rancorous. There were insults thrown across the hall. Yet 20 years later, he's addressing the monarch here in a way that reaches across the community. So things have moved on. The monarchy of the U.K. for some would be seen as some of the problem, they've also been part of the healing solution.
And I think what the king had to say about healing the division and the separation and the hurt of history is something that can be read by both communities. Right now that pro British community here is feeling increasingly separated from Northern Ireland, from the United Kingdom because of the outfall of Brexit.
But there is that pro-Irish community, the separation of history was 100 years ago, when Northern Ireland was created. They were separated from their cultural aspiration of being part of a united Ireland. Yes, this is so multilayered.
[10:20:00]
ANDERSON: Absolutely. Your analysis and insight is so important, Nic, thank you very much indeed.
Nic is outside St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Charles, King Charles III and his wife, queen consort Camilla, are attending a service of prayer and reflection.
And in about two hours, Queen Elizabeth will make her final journey back here to Buckingham Palace after an emotional farewell in Scotland. As I understand it the hearse has arrived outside St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh to receive that casket, which sits inside the cathedral at present.
These are images of the royal family yesterday, Monday, keeping vigil around that casket. King Charles III, his siblings held that solemn vigil around the queen's coffin late on Monday at St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.
In the overnight hours, a steady stream of mourners paid their final respects to the queen's coffin. It will be carried out of St. Giles' Cathedral with a royal salute and driven to Edinburgh airport. Isa Soares joins me now from the cathedral.
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Becky, in the last few minutes, in fact, I know you just mentioned, we saw the hearse driving past on the Royal Mile, just right in front of St. Giles' Cathedral.
What we've heard in the last 20 minutes, they have now closed off the cathedral for those mourners who wanted to pay their respects, Becky. As you and I were talking in the early hours this morning, thousands of mourners were lining up, getting wrist bands, if you remember, waiting in line, dutifully to try and pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II.
We have now heard from the Scottish government, 26,000 people have managed to make their way into pay their respects, to thank the queen. Many others, no doubt, Becky, will be disappointed.
This morning there's about a five-hour wait or less; last night 7 to 8 hours, even nine hours, one man saying, look, what is six, seven, eight hours of me waiting patiently in line, compared to the 70 years of dutiful service that we have heard, that we have seen from the queen?
It is the least we can do. I'm joined now by a family here, among the last, may I say, who
actually were able to pay their respects. I'm joined now by (INAUDIBLE) 9 and 7, (INAUDIBLE).
Thank you very much. Explain to our viewers around the world what that meant for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was such a solemn moment. It was incredibly moving and really important for us as a family to pay our respects. We were toward the end of the queue; we didn't know if we were going to get in. But just to try and be able to have that moment to show our gratitude in a way was really important for us as a family.
SOARES: (INAUDIBLE) two minds whether you should come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I was certainly. And then it was a last- minute decision. Fortunate enough we got in and we got to see. And we managed to see (INAUDIBLE). It was lovely.
(INAUDIBLE), what was it like for you, what was it like inside?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was inside, I felt quite emotional, because the queen has been on the throne since 1952 and I just felt sad.
SOARES: You felt sad?
What about you, (INAUDIBLE), how did you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it was a little bit sad for me. I felt like I was going to cry. But (INAUDIBLE) I felt a little bit glad because she had to pay her respects one day.
SOARES: Yes.
And was it really quiet inside?
What was it like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it was really quiet, apart from the person who's sneezed.
(LAUGHTER)
SOARES: Had to sneeze. But it was beautiful no doubt. Thank you very much, thank you to you all for taking the time.
Becky, what I have, of course, been hearing throughout the morning, people have been so moved, so many Scots saying it's so poignant, of course, in many ways that the queen died in Balmoral, died in Scotland. So, they too can be part of this last journey of hers, Becky.
ANDERSON: I've really been struck by how people's tributes -- and they're arriving both here at Buckingham Palace and outside the cathedral there -- it has been a family affair. You see multi generations gathering together to pay their respects. A service of reflection for the life of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth
II, continues in Belfast, we will take a very short break, back after this.
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[10:25:00]
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ANDERSON: Turning the tide of the war, Ukraine's president says his military's lightning fast offensive in the northeast has taken back 6,000 square kilometers of territory from Russia since the start of the month.
You can see it on this map, the red areas occupied by Russia, turning yellow as Ukraine liberates more and more towns and villages.
Now perspective for you: this still represents only a very small part of the land that Russia has captured and the Russians continue to attack. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the entire Kharkiv region went without of electricity today due to, quote, "insidious shelling" by Russia.
Sam Kiley connecting us from Kharkiv.
You and your crew the first international journalists to get inside the city, recently liberated by Ukraine.
What did you witness when you were there?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the first thing that was most striking as we headed into Izyum, Becky, was the scale on the ground when we got there. A military commander told us that the whole of Kharkiv province had been liberated.
To give you an idea, that's the size of Delaware. But the fact of the matter is it took us 2.5 hours to traverse territory that had been captured by the Ukrainian government in the space of about a week, an extraordinary military achievement.
But this is what it looked like on the ground when we got to Izyum.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY (voice-over): It's been a stunning advance. Ukraine's rout of Russian invaders has recaptured 6,000 square kilometers, Ukraine's president says. This land was held by Russia just a few days ago.
Now it's providing a rich harvest to Ukraine's army of abandoned Russian equipment. The Russian Z symbol painted over, the guns ready to kill Russians.
The capture of Izyum, a strategic prize, accelerated by precision strikes from new artillery donated by Western allies.
KILEY: This is clearly hit with a large piece of artillery or an airstrike. You can see how important it was, strategically; clearly a former school. There's a kind of children's painting on the wall.
But it has also got these large holes, which have been dug to store tanks or armored personnel carriers, even artillery pieces. There is one, two, three, four, five.
KILEY (voice-over): We were shown into a command center in the bunkers of an old factory.
KILEY: So down here we can see the medical facility or something with that, inside this bunker. There is the barracks.
(CROSSTALK)
KILEY (voice-over): The top brass here slept in beds made of old doors.
[10:30:00]
KILEY: And of course, the command center here. As I walk along here, it's actually extraordinary. There are the different labels for the different roles of the senior Russian officers on these school desks that have been arranged in this bunker. Now it looks like a brick factory.
Now they're safe down here, underground. But they didn't feel safe enough to stay in Izyum. What is critical, ultimately for the Ukrainian armed forces is making sure that the senior officers of the Russian army stay on the run.
If they do that, the Russian armed forces will collect completely in Ukraine and potentially threaten the longevity of one Vladimir Putin.
KILEY (voice-over): This couple celebrated liberation. They told me that some of their neighbors were less delighted and had blamed Ukrainian forces for shelling their homes. But he insisted the incoming shells never hit the checkpoints or Russian artillery based right outside his house and so blamed the Russian for false flag attacks on civilians.
He said the Russians behaved like pigs. They stole everything from all the empty houses before they ran away.
The Russian guns were busy here. The wooden ammunition boxes now stockpiled for winter fuel. And to the Ukrainian victors here, the spoils have been rich. The capture of Izyum and the rout of Russia here has broken a key link in Putin's logistics chain in the battle for the east.
KILEY: Now it's a remarkable scene, a tank is coming to collect an abandoned Russian power (INAUDIBLE).
KILEY (voice-over): I asked him if it had been a hard fight. "Not really," he said.
The latest Ukrainian successes may not be the beginning of the end of this war. But not even the Kremlin can deny that this chapter has been a very sorry tale for Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: Now, Becky, there have been relatively low level protests inside Russia. But 18 municipal senior politicians at the local level have demanded that Putin resign. There's been a lot of criticism of the whole conduct of the war, even by Putin supporters in the local Russian media.
So clearly this has rattled the Russians, notwithstanding the fact that most of what they received in terms of the media is propaganda, Becky.
ANDERSON: This is remarkable reporting, 200 days into this war, what you have just witnessed, really the successes of what has been this counteroffensive, the Ukrainian army, that is being supported by the West.
Caveat, of course, there is an awful lot of land still occupied by and run by Russia. Just provide us a little bit more perspective if you can. You say that this is by no means the end of this war. But it could be the beginnings of a weaker Russia. Just explain what you mean by that.
KILEY: Well, at a tactical, even strategic level now, Becky, the Ukrainians have proven that they are a modern NATO style army. They still have a ways to go. They're suffering very heavy casualties, so they need to keep retraining large numbers of soldiers. The Brits and others are training 10,000, currently.
They've put this new weaponry to good use and they are using maneuver tactics on the ground. In other words they are not holding unnecessary positions. They're encircling, using Special Forces.
They're putting precision weapons to best use and they are up against an old-fashioned Soviet army that is suffering, no doubt about it, morale at the very least, now manpower shortages, potentially at least in the short term, of equipment.
That's something they can capitalize on but they're also going to be vulnerable because their logistics tail gets longer.
And as they come up against the longer standing defensive positions of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, those breakaway republics, supported by Russia since before 2014 but had occupied that territory, those are going to be deeply entrenched positions and a much higher level of motivation to fight, arguably.
It will be maintaining momentum and trying to push through those lines that will really be telling in the longer term. In all probability, they won't be able to get that gun this side of winter. We're going to go into difficult, muddy territory, difficult to use
all those maneuver tactics. They'll have to wait for the winter freeze if they want to get back onto the front foot. They've got a few weeks now but they need to consolidate.
Above all, they also to give the -- make sure that the idea that they haven't won yet is understood in the international community, that this is, from their perspective, a step forward.
[10:35:00]
KILEY: But they have by no means won the race, Becky.
ANDERSON: Sam Kiley is on the ground, Sam, good to have you in Ukraine.
We are here in the U.K. Ahead, I will have more on the mourning of Queen Elizabeth II. In Edinburgh, we are seeing a parade in her honor. That's on the streets of Edinburgh.
Meantime, King Charles III and his queen consort, Camilla, are attending a service of reflection at St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast in Northern Ireland. That is ongoing at the present. Stay with us, you're watching our continuing coverage.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back, I'm Becky Anderson, live from Buckingham Palace where it's half past 3:00 in the afternoon.
Queen Elizabeth will be making her final journey here in the coming hours after thousands came out to pay their respects in Scotland. King Charles III praised his late mother's role in what he described as the healing of long-held hurts in Northern Ireland.
The king and queen consort Camilla are attending a prayer service as we speak in Belfast, as they continue their U.K. tour. They addressed leaders earlier today.
Meantime, the line to pay respects to the queen in Scotland is now closed. Her coffin will leave St. Giles' Cathedral in an hour and a half for a final journey home to London. She will be accompanied by her daughter, Princess Anne.
Mourners have been lining up since yesterday in London to say goodbye to the queen. CNN's Scott McLean is amongst them.
We are still some hours away from her casket arriving at Westminster Hall, which is where she will lie in rest, of course, and where people can file past and pay their respects. That hasn't stopped people gathering already. Nor has the rain, earlier on today, Scott. SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is absolutely right, Becky.
Look, it is more than 25 hours actually before Westminster Hall opens to the public. The beginning of the line starts right here. These three women, we spoke to them earlier, they have been here for more than 24 hours already. They were here last night.
[10:40:00]
MCLEAN: Now the line has started to swell already. We'll just walk along here and show you. You can see across the river. That is obviously the Houses of Parliament, that's where Queen Elizabeth's body will be lying in state.
And that is what people are waiting for, this 30-second or minute opportunity to slowly file past her casket.
This gentleman here is actually a newspaper reporter with a British newspaper, who is, I don't know, maybe his boss doesn't like him. But he is embedded with the line. He has a big suitcase here. He's actually cheating. He'll have to get rid of this before he gets to the front of the line because they're only allowing very small bags in.
I want to introduce you to another gentlemen, Phil, originally from Australia.
I wonder why on Earth you want to spend the night outside?
PHIL, AUSTRALIAN: It's just that -- I want to make sure I get in tomorrow at 5 o'clock and this was the only way I could guarantee it, I think, to get --
MCLEAN: Are you prepared?
PHIL: Yes, yes, I've got sandwiches, scones with jam. I haven't got the cream. If you could bring some back that would be helpful. And plenty of water. (INAUDIBLE).
MCLEAN: Good luck, thank you for talking to us.
I want to introduce you to one other person, if I can, Becky. This is Andrew, he's an American from Minnesota, does not actually have a coat with him and yet is prepared to spend the night.
I wonder, Andrew, you're an American.
Why is it so important for you to see a British monarch lying in state?
ANDREW, MINNESOTA RESIDENT: I'm actually half British. My mom is from Swinton (ph), a small town near here. She is 82 and standing out in the rain for 24 hours didn't sound like a good idea to her. So she asked me to come over to represent her.
MCLEAN: So you're kind of here on your mom's behalf?
What does Queen Elizabeth mean to your mother? ANDREW: I think it was always the touchstone of when she came to America. It was always the touchstone of her British citizenship. And so, in our house, she was dignity and class. So to be able to have the honor to be here and experience this moment in history is beyond belief.
MCLEAN: You know, we're still 25, more than 25 hours away from being able to get in.
Are you going to survive like this?
Do you have what you need?
ANDREW: I have more than I need. I stood in line for tickets to (INAUDIBLE) so I have done this before.
MCLEAN: Well, best of luck, thank you so much for talking to us.
So Becky, this just gives you an idea of the kind of people who are really committed to being here. Again just for this opportunity to file past the coffin. But everyone that we've met so far, and, I don't know, we've interviewed probably half the people in this line, say that that chance, that 30 seconds just to walk past the coffin is well worth the way of now, still, more than 24 hours.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Scott.
Let's be quite clear about this, folks. The queen's body will lie in state for four days at Westminster Palace. The preparations are in place to assume some 750,000 to as many as 2 million people will queue.
That is the start of the queue where Scott McLean is but that queue could go all the way back to the Tower of London. If you know London, you will know how far that is. As I say, there could be as many as 2 million people.
That is certainly what the police force here is anticipating.
One place with a complicated history in the U.K. is Northern Ireland. Ahead we will talk about its future as the monarchy changes hands. I'll leave you though as we go to this break with images from Edinburgh. This is Edinburgh, Scotland. This is a parade in Queen Elizabeth II's honor.
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ANDERSON: And this the service of reflection at St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, attended by King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla. A service of prayer and reflection, which started at about 44 minutes ago.
The events have been absolutely on time, as you'd expect. There have been years of preparation in advance of these events, King Charles III and his wife, moving from Scotland, where they escorted his mother's casket to St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh yesterday. And now his tour of the U.K., which currently is in Belfast.
Let's listen.
[10:45:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The peace of the (INAUDIBLE) to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The peace of the quiet Earth to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you.
[10:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And remain with you always, amen.
ANDERSON: You are listening to what is known as the organ voluntary as the clergy and the choir depart St. Anne's Cathedral. They'll be followed by His Majesty, the king, and the queen consort, who have been attending this service of reflection.
This organ voluntary a "Prelude in E Flat Major." The guests will remain seated until directed to depart by an usher. And then we may see King Charles III and the queen consort speak to people outside. We will stay on these images for you at the end of what has been a 45 minute to 50 minute service this afternoon.
Of course, the couple at the service at St. Giles' Cathedral yesterday in Edinburgh, Scotland; this is part of his U.K. tour, his mother's casket due to leave St. Giles' Cathedral where she is lying in state -- lying to rest in the next hour or so.
That car has been accompanied by Princess Anne and will fly from Edinburgh to RF Norfolk, which is to the northwest of London here. That will be part of her final journey in the casket. It will arrive here at Buckingham Palace, where it will spend the night before it is walked by the family.
They will follow the casket as it moves to Westminster Hall tomorrow, where the general public will begin four days to visit Westminster Hall and pay their last respects. Some 750,000 to as many as 2 million people could take part in that opportunity.
Well, Marie Coleman is a professor of 20th century Irish history at Queen's University in Belfast. Joining me now to, as we continue our coverage of the king's visit to Northern Ireland and the coverage of the commemoration of the queen's death.
I'm still joined here by royal biographer Mark Saunders.
As we continue to consider these images, your thoughts and reflections, Marie?
MARIE COLEMAN, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST: Well, I think I can just hear a helicopter starting overhead here from my office. So I think that's a sign they're getting ready to depart from what I thought was the potential to be a tricky engagement here today in Northern Ireland because of the fraught relationship of the island of Ireland with the royal family.
But in the end, the two events, the meeting of political (ph) leaders at Hillsborough Castle, the king's, now the king's royal residence just outside Belfast and the church service, seem to have gone very well.
And I think that reflects a strong relationship, which has emerged between the island of Ireland and the royal family over the last 25 years, really cemented by momentous steps by the late queen to the Republic of Ireland in May 2011.
ANDERSON: Mark, as we watch King Charles III, as he is now known, I know both you and I are still struggling to remember to call him that, we're only 48, 72 hours in at this point, and the queen consort, as she is now known, Camilla, leave St. Anne's Cathedral.
[10:55:00]
ANDERSON: And that was a beautiful service of reflection. We were discussing with Marie, you and I have discussed earlier, a potentially tricky visit that we had here, we've just been remarking but it's been remarkably successful.
SAUNDERS: I think that what we've seen is the United Kingdom become united since the queen died. That is something almost fortuitous or maybe there's somebody watching. But she died in Scotland, she's moved from Scotland to Northern Ireland. We've seen how great the reaction has been.
Now she's moving on to England. I always thought it would be a quiet exit at Windsor Castle when she was 101 or something, right, like her mother.
But this seems to be, you know, it's growing, momentum is growing, it's an incredible feeling of pride in a country that is saying goodbye in the way that they are.
ANDERSON: Marie, it may be a ways off yet but public opinion, let's be clear, has shifted toward the idea of a united Ireland. Before we have that discussion, let's just keep one eye on King Charles III here, with his wife. It does look as if he is out, down the steps of the cathedral and out meeting the crowd once again.
What I think is really, really interesting, Mark and Marie, is that you did see the queen greeting crowds. She didn't get too close. And she would spend a few moments. What we've seen here is King Charles, this is like the third or fourth time in the past 72 hours since the death of his mom on Thursday, really spent some time talking to well- wishers, shaking hands with them. You know, it's, there is a sense that he wants to be closer to his audience.
SAUNDERS: I don't think this is an act. I don't think this is theater. I think he was generally taken aback by the reaction of people.
ANDERSON: Let's listen into what we can hear here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: He looks and feels very comfortable, Mark.
SAUNDERS: But there is still that reverence and that respect from the general public. You know the difference, when Meghan goes out, remember the days of Diana, there was thee hysteria, the screaming. They all seem so terribly British with King Charles III. And it's wonderful to watch.
ANDERSON: Marie, you're still with us; we are just listening in to see whether we can hear any of the conversations that His Majesty is having with the crowd here. Stand by.
Very close to where King Charles is at present, Nic Robertson is very close to where His Majesty is speaking to these crowds.
What can you hear and see, Nic?
ROBERTSON: It was wonderful; they've been singing "God Save the King," before he came out. And he and the queen consort, they worked all the way along a line of crowd here, perhaps 150 people gathered here, shaking hands as they went, asking how they were.
But that moment close to the barrier, close to us, he thanked people. He said, your singing is wonderful. We've seen him waving, shaking people's hands.
