The King’s Accession Council in St James’s Palace last year was the first time this once-in-a-reign ceremony has been televised.
Hitherto few knew much about what went on, so It is worth reading Uncle George’s account of Queen Elizabeth II’s Accession Council. When a person has been proclaimed monarch they become king or queen. The Coronation ceremony is a further affirmation. Think of it as the birth of a child and then at some point a Christening ceremony. So today King Charles is as much King as Edward VIII was.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ third chid, Louis, is fourth in line to the throne and unlikely to reign; another spare. But suppose he did. Would he be proclaimed King Louis I? He probably would because the Proclamation of Louis I on 12th May 1216 in St Paul’s Cathedral is not considered to have been legitimate as there was a living monarch at the time. King John was on the throne and did not die until October 1216. Nevertheless King Louis was proclaimed and at one point ruled half of England. He reigned until September 1217. However, he does not appear in any list of monarchs I have seen. I wonder if there’s a King Louis I Society; there’s one for virtually everything?
Louis was no Pretender like Lambert Simnel who, incidentally, was crowned in Dublin but never Proclaimed unless it was included in the coronation ceremony. Louis was the son of Philip II, King of France. Had Louis’ invasion of England been successful, the kingdoms of France and England would have been united as Louis succeeded his father as King Louis VIII of France in 1223. An interesting speculation; something for Robert Harris to enlarge upon in a novel.
You may be interested to learn, although perhaps you know, that on this day, 14th January, in 1216 Prince Louis as he then was captured Winchester from King John. His invasion is known as the First Barons’ War.