With a trumpet fanfare and gun salutes, Charles III was officially proclaimed king at a pomp-filled ceremony on Saturday, at which he pledged to emulate his late mother Queen Elizabeth II and serve for the rest of his life. A court official wearing a feathered bicorn hat declared Charles "our only lawful and rightful" monarch from the balcony of St James's Palace after a historic Accession Council meeting of senior royals, clergy and government.