duty and responsibility in the king's speech

"Accepting Responsibility for Your Actions"

Author : King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Date : July 26, 1953

Location : Atlanta, Ga. ?

Genre : Sermon

Topic : Martin Luther King, Jr. - Career in Ministry

              Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views

King most likely delivered this sermon as a radio address for Atlanta's WERD while serving as associate pastor at Ebenezer during the summer of 1953. 1  The following May, when King delivered his acceptance address at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, he also preached a version of this sermon, explicitly emphasizing his commitment to the social gospel. 2

One of the most common tendencies of human nature is that of placing responsibility on some external agency for sins we have commited or mistakes we have made. We are forever attempting to find some scapegoat on which we cast responsibility for our actions. Herein lies the tragic misuse of much of our modern psychology, particularly what is known as depth psychology or psychoanalysis. This school of thought affirms that many of our conscious actions are due to unconscious motives. Now there is a kernal of truth in this theory and we owe a great debt to Sigmund Freud for opening to us the uncharted regions of the sub conscious. But the tragedy lies in the fact that many modern men have used this theory as an attractive defense mechanism. How easy it was to say that unconscious emotions and repressed sex drives were responsible for our actions rather than plain everyday sin. The word sin was gradually eliminated from the modern vocabulary and there emerged in its place a series of bombastic psychological phrases such as phabias, complexes, and inhibitions. And so modern man was convinced that psychology had given him explanations which relieved him of any responsibility for his actions.

This tendency to thrust responsibility for our actions on some eternal agency is by no means a new one. The Genesis writers found it present in the very beginning of history. Remember the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? God had placed Adam and Eve in the garden to dress it. They were given liberty to make use of everything in the garden with the exception of one thing: “They were not to eat of the tree of good and evil.” Very soon a serpent appeared on the scene and said: “Hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” And Eve answered: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the tree of good and evil God has commanded that we not eat or touch lest we die.” And the nserpent answered: “Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” After listening to these cogent words by the subtle serpent, Eve yielded to the temptation and very soon Adam and Eve were found eating from the tree that God had forbidden them to touch. When God came back on the scene to ascertain why this sin had been committed, he found each shifting responsibility on some external agency. Adam's answer was that the woman caused him to eat of the tree. Eve claimed that the serpent caused her to eat of the tree. 3  Neither Adam nor Eve stopped to realize that although they were tempted by external agencies, they were, in the final analysis, responsible for yielding to the temptation. Ultimately individual responsibility lies not in the external situation but in the internal response.

We are all familiar with the most common agencies on which we project responsibility for our actions. First we tum to environment. How easy it is for one to affirm that one's whole personality make-up and indeed one's very destiny itself is determined by one's environment. Here is a man about forty now whose life has been given in riotous living. Now as he looks back over these wasted years his comment is: “I would have been if I had been {in} a rich family with prestige and fame or if I had been in a more progressive community. It is my environment that has corrupted me.” Yet such persons as this fail to realize that many individuals rise from the very lowest of environments to be some of the most noble characters of human history. There is a Marian Anderson, born in a poverty stricken area of Phila. Pa. She could have very easily given up in despair and cried out that she was born in the wrong environment. But she was not one to make excuses. This same Marian Anderson rose from a poverty stricken environment to be one of the world's greatest contraltoes, so that a Toscanni can say that a voice like this comes only once in a century and a Seballius of Finland can say, “My roof is too low for such a voice.” 4  There is a Roland Hayes, born on the red hills of Gordon County Georgia under the most crippling restrictions. At a very early age he found himself working in an iron foundry of Chatanooga Tenn. But from these red hills of Georgia, he rose to the palace of Queen Mother of Spain. From this iron foundry in Chatanooga, Tenn., he rose to the palace of King George the 5th. 5  There was an Abraham Lincoln, born in poverty and insecurity, later working as a Kentucky rail splitter. Yet this same Abraham Lincoln rose from a Kentucky rail splitter to be one of the greatest characters in the great drama of history. These are but few of the many examples that could be used to refute the claim that one is completely determined by his environment. Those who hold such a position fail to see that many fine and noble persons stem from bad environments and many very bad and corrupt persons stem from comfortable and desirable environments.

Another external agency on which we readily cast responsibility for our actions is heredity. There are those who would affirm that one is completely determined by heredity. How easy it is to say, “I would have been better if I had had better hereditary circumstances.”

Here again those who project total responsibility for their actions on hereditary circumstances fail to see that numerous individuals rise above such circumstances. There is a John Bunyan, deprived of his physical sight, and yet he wrote a Pilgrim's Progress that generations will cherish so long as the cords of memory shall lengthen. 6  There is a Franklin D. Roosevelt, inflicted with infantile paralysis and yet he rises up to leave such an imprint in the sands of our nations history, that future history books will be incomplete without his name. There is a Hellen Keller, burdened with blindness and deafness, and she rises up to live such a sublime and noble life that millions have come to admire her as one of the choicest fruits on yhe tree of history. 7  These are but few of those who have proved that man is not finally caught in the cluches of heredity. He has within himself the power to transcend the disadvantages of bad hereditary conditions. As a world famous psychologist has said: “After going through the experimental and clinical literature, the thoughtful reader will conclude that the effects of personality upon glands are more impressive and easier to illustrate than are the effects of the glands upon personality.” 8

I must hasten to say that the above assertions do not mean to imply that heredity and environment are not important. I happen to be a firm believer in what is called the “social gospel.” Indeed, no one can intelligently care for personal life without caring about genetics and social reform. Moreover, the above assertions do not mean to imply that our actions are not somewhat conditioned by external influences. When one considers the cosmic setting of our lives, our absolute dependence on the maintenance of the earth's heat and moisture, the determining effect on each individual of the race's biological evolution, the momentous consequences of heredity, and the conditioning effect of environment, one cannot lightly talk about being the master of one's fate and the captain of one's soul. 9  Far from saying that environment and heredity have no importance in human personality, what I am really saying is that there is another factor which is the ultimate determining factor (viz) personal response. And herein lies our responsibility. We are not responsible for the environment we are born in, neither are we responsible for our hereditary circumstances. But there is a third factor for which we are responsible namely, the personal response which we make to these circumstances.

And so the challenge which confronts all of us is to respond to our circumstances with strength and courage rather than with weakness and despair. Who in all history can serve as a better example for us at this point than our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ? There was nothing so comfortable and advantageous about His environmental and hereditary circumstances. He was born in a stable and raised on a carpenter's bench. His mother and father were not menbers of the upper crust of Jewish society. They did not enjoy the power of the aristocratic Pharisee or the prestige of the cosmopolitan Saducee. Jesus was born in plain unpretentious circumstances. But Jesus had within himself a power of personal response which was destined to transform his circumstances. This same Jesus who was born in an ox stable, rose up to be the strongest and tallest oak in the great forest of history. This same Jesus, rose from a carpenter's bench to give impetus to a movement which has grown from a group of 12 men to more than 700,000,000 today. This same Jesus split history into A.D. and B.C. This same Jesus so convinced men that His message is eternal and universal that they have triumphantly sung

Jesus shall reign where ere the sun Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom spread from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 10

Not environment; not heredity; but personal response is the final determining factor in our lives. And herein lies our area of responsibility. 11

Preached July 26, 1953 {Preached at Dexter, May 2, 1954}

1.  At the end of this document, King wrote “Preached July 26, 1953,” the date he assigned to this title in his list of his radio sermons for the summer of 1953 (King, “Radio Sermons” 26 July-6 September 1953, p. 136 in this volume). King's announced sermon on 28 June 1953 was “Accepting Responsibility for Your Actions” (“Rev. King Jr. Slated at Ebenezer Sunday,”  Atlanta Daily World , 27 June 1953).

2.  King wrote “Preached at Dexter, May 2, 1954” at the end of this document and also noted, “ARYA Preached at Dexter May 2, 1954” on the inside of the file folder containing this document (King, Acceptance Address at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, 2 May 1954, pp. 166-167 in this volume).

3.  Cf. Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-13.

4.  Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), an internationally recognized conductor, and Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) made these comments on Anderson's singing during her concert tours of Europe in the 1930s (Anderson,  My Lord, What a Morning  [New York: Viking Press, 1956], pp. 149, 158). King owned Anderson's autobiography and kept it in his personal library.

5.  King refers to tenor Roland Hayes's successful singing tour of Europe.

6.  John Bunyan (1628-1688) was an English preacher and Christian writer who, in 1678, published  Pilgrim's Progress , an allegory of the Christian path to salvation.

7.  Helen Keller (1880-1968).

8.  Fosdick included this quotation in his sermon “Shouldering Responsibility for Ourselves,” in  On Being a Real Person  (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1943), p. 7. King drew a line next to it in his copy of  On Being a Real Person  and wrote, “quote.” Fosdick attributed the quotation to Starke R. Hathaway's  Physiological Psychology  (New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1942), p. 203.

9.  King paraphrases William E. Henley's 1875 poem “Invictus”: “It matters not how strait the gate / How charged with punishments the scroll / I am the master of my fate: / I am the captain of my soul.”

10.  King quotes from Isaac Watts's hymn “Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun”(1719).

11.  Fosdick,  On Being a Real Person , p. 4: “Three factors enter into the building of personality: heredity, environment, and personal response.” Next to these words, King wrote “quote (environment)” in his copy of Fosdick's book. He also underlined the words “personality: heredity, environment and personal response.”

Source: CSKC-INP, Coretta Scott King Collection, In Private Hands, Sermon Files, folder 139.

©  Copyright Information

Bertie (King George VI) (Colin Firth)

Character analysis, understandably shy.

We'll admit it: we want to give Bertie a hug and a cookie. And a soft blanket. And maybe also a cup of cocoa for good measure.

This isn't the way you think you'd feel about one of the most powerful men in the world. You'd expect to feel admiration, or fear, or respect.. But affection tinged with pity?

And that's one of the reasons that The King's Speech is just so good —it makes you feel all sorts of cozy emotions towards an otherwise intimidating figure. It makes the dang King of England human.

From the first scene of this movie, we know that Bertie isn't going to be the most sociable person in the world. How could he be, when he can barely put two words together when speaking to people? His wife Elizabeth keeps trying to get him to see speech therapists, but Bertie eventually becomes so embarrassed and defeated by his stutter that he can't bear the thought of seeing another specialist. He makes this stance clear enough when he says to his wife,

BERTIE: Out of the question. I'm not having this conversation again. The matter's settled.

You can't blame Bertie for being defensive. As a member of the royal family, he feels as though all of his flaws are exposed to public ridicule and he fears what people will think of him. When Lionel Logue tries to delve into his deeper mental pain, Bertie slams the door shut by saying, "I'm not here to discuss personal matters." Any member of the royal family would be reluctant to discuss anything personal with a stranger, but Bertie is especially guarded because of his stutter.

Maybe the worst thing about Bertie's situation is the way he constantly feels like he's letting people down. When he fears that he'll fail as a king, he can't help but shout,

BERTIE: It'll be like mad King George the Third. There'll be Mad King George the Stammerer, who let his people down so badly in their hour of need!

He knows that his people need him, and unlike his brother he's not willing to walk away from his duty to his country… because he's a stand-up guy.

Bertie's stutter obviously gets way worse whenever he's in stressful situations or speaking to people that intimidate him. That's why his stutter is much less noticeable whenever he's speaking to his wife or his darling daughters. To be fair, he doesn't jump at the chance to tell his girls a story, but instead asks "Could I be a penguin instead?"

The fact remains though that telling his daughters a story is nowhere near as stressful as giving a speech, so he gets through it reasonable well by beginning, "There were once two princesses whose Papa had been turned into a penguin by the local witch."

But just because he speaks well around his wife and children doesn't mean that Bertie is always comfortable around his family, especially those who made him feel ashamed of his stutter growing up.

Bertie stutters constantly around his father and older brother David, which provokes Logue to ask, "Why do you stammer more with David than you do with me?" We can see that Logue is hitting a nerve by the way Bertie harshly answers, "Because you're bloody well paid to listen!" Logue is convinced that Bertie's stutter is connected to the family stresses he's felt since childhood, and he's probably right… judging by the stories Bertie tells about being starved by his nanny. (Hard truth: not all nannies are like Mary Poppins.)

Great Dude, Great Friend

With the problems and responsibilities that Bertie has personally, it'd be totally understandable if he didn't think much about people other than himself.

But the guy wasn't called "The Good King" for nothing. Bertie's very concerned about the lives of others—even of people he's never met. He shows this concern when he says to Logue,

BERTIE: Sometimes, when I ride through the streets and see, you know, the Common Man staring at me, I'm struck by how little I know of his life, and how little he knows of mine.

If he has one interpersonal fault, it's that he knows how isolated he is from other humans… and that makes him a tad pompous. Over the course of the movie, though, Logue helps Bertie connect with the fact that he's a human being just like everyone else. His humanity is the core of his dignity, not his royal status.

By the end of the movie, Bertie finally realizes that he deserves to be treated with respect because he's a man with self-respect. In the movie's climax, Logue asks him who he thinks he is, and Bertie yells back,

BERTIE: A man! I have a voice!

This is the moment Logue has been waiting for the whole movie, so he answers, "Yes you do." Bertie ends the movie with a new outlook on life: not only is a he a monarch, but he's also a human. A human with a new friend in Lionel Logue.

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W hy's T his F unny?

In 2010, The King’s Speech won the Oscar for Best Picture and grossed over $414 million worldwide. It was an unlikely box office champion because it was based on a true story about King George VI of Britain (1895-1952) and an Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (1880-1953). It shows how Logue helped the king overcome a crippling stammer and how this helped him lead his country during World War II. The movie was directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler.

Critics have widely praised the editing, cinematography, directing, and acting. The movie was able to express the main characters' inner life by the clever use of lighting and other cinematic techniques. Colin Firth won an Oscar for his portrayal of George IV/ The King’s Speech was produced by a British company, and it was shot mainly in London. Among the supporting cast was Helen Bonham-Carter, who played Queen Elizabeth, the wife of the king. The movie was nominated for 12 academy awards, and it won four awards, including one for Best Picture.

Before the movie began filming, the writer, Seidler, found Logue's journal and incorporated elements from the journal into the movie. However, despite this, the historical accuracy of the movie has been questioned and even widely criticized.

When does the King's Speech take place?

The King's Speech takes place mainly in the 1930s at a critical juncture for Britain and its Empire. The nation and its various dependencies had still not recovered from the ravages of World War or the Great Depression. Internationally, Hitler was in power in Germany, and many feared, correctly, that there would be another World War. [1] The rather bleak mood of the time is captured very well by the director. At this critical point in its history, the British Royal Family faced its crisis.

After George V's death, he was succeeded by his eldest son, who became Edward VII in 1936. Edward VII's reign was both brief and controversial. Edward wanted to marry a divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Marrying a divorced was unacceptable to many in Britain at this time as the King was also head of the Church of England. Divorce was socially unacceptable, and the Anglican Bishops and others denounced the idea of the monarch marrying a divorced woman.

When Edward VII decided to marry Wallis Simpson, he was forced to abdicate his crown soon after his Coronation. This meant that his younger brother George or Bertie, as he was known, became king. [2] The depiction of these events in the movie has been fictionalized but is reasonably accurate.

However, there were some inaccuracies in the movie that troubled viewers. One of the scenes that caused the most controversy was when Sir Winston Churchill, the future leader of war-time Britain, supported the accession of George V. This scene misrepresented Churchill's view of Edward's abdication entirely. Churchill supported Edward VII (1894-1972) and believed that he should remain as king despite his marriage to Wallis Simpson. He was friendly with the abdicated king and remained a supporter. [3]

Unlike in the movie, Churchill did have grave doubts about the ability of George VI to carry out his Royal duties. He was not alone in the belief, and many others shared that view in the highest circles of the British government. Over time, he did come to accept the younger brother of Edward VII and came to respect him as an able monarch and leader . [4]

The King and his Stutter

The movie's central theme is the difficulties faced by George VI because of his stutter and how Logue was able to help him overcome his speech defect. This depiction is historically accurate, and the future George VI had a serious speech impediment. In the movie, Firth's character is shown as having a terrible stammer and that when he became nervous or anxious, he was almost unable to communicate. His stammer made public speaking almost impossible for the monarch.

The movie shows that his speech impediment was a result of his insecurity and shyness. [5] This was very much the case, and George VI did have a terrible stutter from childhood. The King’s Speech accurately shows the real problems caused by the future George VI and the entire Royal Family. In one scene at the opening of an exhibition celebrating the British Empire, George struggles with a speech and becomes visibly upset. The movie shows many senior officials and members of the Royal Family becoming gravely concerned about this. In the 1930a, when the movie is set, for the first-time, Royalty members were expected to speak in public and be effective communicators because of the growing importance of the mass media. [6]

The inability of George VI to publicly speak clearly was a real problem, and it was feared that it could damage the Royal Family and even undermine confidence in the government of the British Empire. The movie does somewhat exaggerate the importance of the king’s stutter, but it was a significant issue for the Royal Family.

When did Lionel Logue begin treating George VI?

Perhaps the biggest inaccuracy in the movie is that Logue was, in reality, able to help the King to overcome his stammer before the abdication crisis and his coronation rather than after these events. He first began to treat the second son of George V in the 1920s and continued to do so for many years. The movie shows that the treatment took place in the 1930s, and this was no doubt done for dramatic effect, but this is not strictly correct.

Cooper’s movie relates how George had been seeking help all his life for his stammer, and he tried every technique and treatment available for the time, which is true. The 2010 motion picture does really capture the sense of desperation and anxiety that the future George VI had over his speech impediment. He is shown as going in desperation to the Australian Logue, and this is also correct. The therapist is shown as using innovative techniques to help George overcome his stammer, which is right. The Australian was an early pioneer in speech and language therapy, and he was an innovator. [7] The film shows Rush trying to instill more confidence in the Royal. He adopts several strategies, but none are shown to work.

How did Logue treat George VI's speech impediment?

Eventually, he provokes the king, and in his anger, he can speak stutter-free. In reality, the speech and language therapist gave the monarch a series of daily vocal exercises, such as tongue twisters, that were designed to help him to relax. This helped the future king to relax, and this was key to the improvements in his speech. The motion picture does show that the treatment was not a total success, and the king continued to have a very slight stammer. This was indeed the case. However, the improvement in the speech of George VI was remarkable, which is accurately shown in the 2010 movie. It shows George having grave doubts about Logue and his treatment when he hears that he is not formally qualified as a therapist.

In real life, this did not cause a crisis in the relationship between the British sovereign and the Australian therapist. It is correct that Logue was not formally qualified because there was no education system for language therapy when he was young. Instead, he was self-taught and had traveled the world, studying the ideas of respected speech therapists. The movie leaves the viewers in no doubt that the king and the Royal Family owed the Australian a great debt, and this was the case, and when George VI died, his widow, the Queen, wrote to the therapist to thank him for all he had done for her husband. [8]

What was the relationship between King George VI and Lionel Logue?

The movie shows that the two men began to become real friends over time, despite their differences. This was the case, and it appears that both men liked each other and even enjoyed each other’s company. The relationship between the British king and the Australian is very realistically shown, and they remained friends until the early death of George VI. The movie shows that Logue was present when George made important Radio broadcasts to the British Public. This was the case, but Logue continued to coach the king to speak in public for many years.

In the movie, Logue is shown when George VI pronounced that Britain was at war with Germany in September 1939 during a radio address to the nation. This is not correct, but the Australian did provide the king with notes on things where he should pause and breathe, and these were a real help in the most important speech the monarch ever made. Logue continued to coach the king for many years until about 1944.

The therapist is shown as being very much at ease in the King's presence and treating him like any other client. This was not the case. Despite their genuine friendship, Logue would have been expected to have been somewhat formal and respect the Royal Person of the King at all times. In real life, Logue was not as easy-going and familiar with George VI as portrayed in the historical drama. [9]

Was George VI accurately portrayed in the King's Speech?

Colin Firth’s performance was widely praised. The British actor won the Academy Award for Best Actor. While Firth's performance was widely acclaimed, there were some concerns about how accurately he portrayed the monarch. In the main, Firth did manage to capture George VI and his character in the feature film. The British actor did correctly show that the monarch was a timid and insecure man who felt that he was not equal to his Royal duties, and this was something that greatly distressed him. [10]

His stammer may have been a result of his sense of inadequacy, but this cannot be known, for certain. Firth does show that the monarch did grow in stature after he was crowned as King. It leaves the viewer in no doubt that by the end of the movie, Firth, who has largely overcome his stammer, could lead his country in its hour of greatest danger. [11]

This was the case, and the monarch became widely respected for his leadership and his calm dignity. However, the script tended to be overly sympathetic to George and avoided his character's rather unpleasant aspects. He was alleged to have both fits of anger and alleged acts of domestic violence. Those allegations have not been confirmed.

Helena Bonham Carter's performance was praised, and she does capture the personality of Queen Elizabeth (1900-2002). She was a very supportive wife and dedicated to her husband. She did not want him to become king because she feared what it would do to him. Her family, as shown in the feature film. [12] Geoffrey Rush played the character of the speech and language therapist Logue, and he presented him as a larger-than-life figure who was charismatic, and this was indeed the case. It is generally agreed that Rush really captured the personality of the acclaimed speech and language therapist.

How realistic is the King's Speech?

Overall, the movie is historically accurate. It shows the modern viewer the importance of the King's treatment for his speech impediment. This movie also captures the real sense of anxiety in Britain in the 1930s, and it broadly captures the historical context of the Coronation of George VI. The relationship between Logue and the monarch is also largely accurate. However, this is a movie, and the need to entertain means some inaccuracies, especially concerning details such as the king's treatment. However, when compared to other historical dramas, the movie is very realistic.

Further Reading

Bowen, C. (2002). Lionel Logue: Pioneer speech therapist 1880-1953. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53

Bradford, Sara. King George VI (London, Weidenfeld, and Nicolson, 1989).

Ziegler, Philip, King Edward VIII: The Official Biography ( London, Collins, 1990).

• ↑ Thorpe, A. Britain in the 1930s (London, Blackwell 1992), p 115
• ↑ Thorpe, p 118
• ↑ Rhodes James, Robert A spirit undaunted: The Political Role of George VI (London: Little, Brown & Co, 1998), p 118
• ↑ Logue, Mark; Conradi, Peter, The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy (New York: Sterling, 2010), p 13
• ↑ Logue, p 134
• ↑ Thorpe, p. 289
• ↑ Logue, p 145
• ↑ Logue, p 115
• ↑ Logue, p. 167
• ↑ Logue, p 189
• ↑ Logue, p 192
• ↑ Rhodes, p 201
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• British History
• This page was last edited on 15 September 2021, at 05:21.
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Martin Luther King Jr. and Civic Engagement

In his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to seeing the “promised land,” a world where everyone, no matter their skin color or zip code, had equal access to opportunity. While Dr. King tragically was unable to see the full impact, in law and society, of the changes he had championed, his dedication remains a powerful example of how civic engagement can transform neighborhoods, communities and the perspective of an entire nation.

Nevertheless, nearly 48 years after the death of Dr. King, there is still more work to be done to improve the opportunity landscape. Today in the United States, 5.5 million young adults ages 16 to 24 are not working or in school and the rate of youth disconnection is higher than pre-recession levels. While the rest of the US is recovering from the Great Recession, far too many young Americans have been left behind.

These numbers are worse for disconnected young adults of color. According to Measure of America’s report, Zeroing in on Place and Race: Youth Disconnection in America’s Cities , in some major American cities, at least one in four black youth and one in five Latino youth are disconnected. These numbers are not something Dr. King would be proud of, but one solution is part of his legacy: civic engagement.

While it may be easy to pass off civic engagement as merely a feel-good activity, data suggests that volunteering is an important strategy for combating youth disconnection. Our report, Connecting Youth and Strengthening Communities: The Data Behind Civic Engagement and Economic Opportunity , shows that the chances that a young adult is disconnected drops in half if he or she volunteers.

For example, the likelihood that a black youth is disconnected falls from 27.7 percent to 17.8 percent if he or she volunteers. For Hispanic, youth, their likelihood falls from 20.9 percent to 13 percent. These findings indicate that volunteering may serve as a bridge to deeper civic participation and economic well-being for young adults.

This is why the expansion of volunteering opportunities for low-income youth is so critical. We must support the expansion of cross-sector initiatives that promote volunteering— and equal access to such opportunities—among all youth, particularly low-income young adults who can most benefit from the skill-building that these activities offer. These opportunities must be structured in an accessible way so that these teens and young adults, many of whom face time constraints and logistical challenges, such as difficulty finding transportation, can access them.

We also urge employers to lead the charge in creating volunteer programs and civic projects as a way for professionals to engage and mentor disconnected youth. These investments will help youth build the confidence and skills they’ll need to be successful in the workforce, and will also support a higher level of opportunity in their communities.

Dr. King once said, “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.” For the 5.5 million disconnected youth in America the first step we can take to help them climb the ladder of success is providing them the opportunity to serve their communities.

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The Constitution Unit

What is the role of the monarchy?

The monarch is head of state 

The King reigns, but he does not rule. Ruling is done by his government, and as head of state in the UK the King is constitutionally obliged to follow the government’s advice. His  main functions as head of state are to appoint the Prime Minister, and all the other ministers; to open new sessions of parliament; and to give royal assent to bills passed by parliament, signifying that they have become law. 

The King also chairs monthly meetings of the Privy Council, to approve Orders in Council; he receives incoming and outgoing ambassadors; he makes a host of other appointments, such as the senior judges, but in all this he acts on the advice of the government. He has a weekly audience with the Prime Minister, and receives daily boxes of state papers for his signature, and for information. He also has regular meetings with senior officials of all kinds. 

The monarch is also head of the nation 

To the public the King is more visible in his wider role as head of the nation. In this representative role the Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service. This role has been fulfilled through speeches such as the Queen's address to the nation at the start of the Covid pandemic, and annual broadcast on Christmas day; through giving honours to recognise public and voluntary service; and through visits to the armed forces, schools, hospitals, charities and local organisations. 

The Queen carried out just under 300 public engagements in 2019, and Prince Charles 520; but in total 15 members of the royal family carried out 3,567 such engagements. These include national occasions such as attending the Cenotaph for Remembrance Day, or the Trooping The Colour; but the majority are visits to all parts of the UK, to recognise and support the work of local public services and voluntary organisations. The King and other members of the royal family are patrons of over 1000 charities and organisations in the UK and the Commonwealth. 

The Commonwealth and the Realms 

The King is also head of state of 14 other countries around the world, known as the realms: they include Australia, Canada, Jamaica and New Zealand. And the King is Head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 states, mainly former British colonies and dependencies.

Related explainers:

• What is the royal prerogative? 

Further reading:

• The Constitution Unit's project on  Monarchy, Church and State
• Our British Monarchy FAQs
• Our Accession and Coronation FAQs
• Reforming the Prerogative (PDF)
• Swearing in the New King: Accession and Coronation Oaths (PDF)
• The Coronation of Charles III (PDF)
• The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy  by Robert Hazell and RM Morris, Hart 2020 
• Reforming the Prerogative  by Robert Hazell and Tim Foot, Bloomsbury 2022
• The Queen  by Ben Pimlott, HarperPress 2012 
• The official website of the Royal Family

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King's speech, deconstructed: What Charles implied about his reign and future of royal family

The experts agree the speech hit all the necessary points, but they saw some curious hidden implications about Charles’s personal vision for his kingship

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As King Charles III made his first address as monarch, the National Post asked experts to consider what his words might mean for the new King, his family, and Canada’s constitutional monarchy. Barbara Messamore is a professor of history at the University of the Fraser Valley, author of Canada’s Governors General, 1847-1878: Biography and Constitutional Evolution, and a fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada. Peter McNally is an emeritus professor of information studies at McGill University, focused on the history of books and libraries, and also a longtime enthusiast of the royal family. They agreed it was a well-constructed speech that hit all the necessary points, and was well delivered in the right tone, but they also saw some curious hidden implications about King Charles’s personal vision for his kingship.

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King's speech, deconstructed: What Charles implied about his reign and future of royal family Back to video

King Charles III: I speak to you today with feelings of profound sorrow. Throughout her life, Her Majesty the Queen, my beloved mother, was an inspiration. An example to me and to all my family. And we owe her the most heartfelt debt any family can owe to their mother, for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example.

McNally: He spoke well. He has a good speaking voice. One thing you can say, he doesn’t have floppy diction and he doesn’t mumble. He didn’t sound nervous. There was no edge to his voice.

King: Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well-lived. A promise with destiny, kept. And she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service, I renew to you all today. Alongside the personal grief, that all my family are feeling, we also share with so many of you, in the United Kingdom, in all the countries where the Queen was the head of state, in the Commonwealth, and across the world a deep sense of gratitude for the more than 70 years in which my mother, as Queen, served the people of so many nations. In 1947, on her 21st birthday, she pledged, in a broadcast from Cape Town to the Commonwealth, to devote her life, whether it be short or long, to the service of her peoples. That was more than a promise. It was a profound personal commitment, which defined her whole life.

McNally: Nothing surprising there, that’s pretty standard, all the biographical things about her always emphasize that Cape Town speech. He says he wants to do the same thing. What was the implication there? She meant she would never abdicate. Did he mean that? I hear him saying, “William will wait his turn. I’m the King.” There’s an anti-Charles school that was hoping he would never become king, or abdicate to let William be king. He’s ruling out abdication.

King: She made sacrifices for duty. Her dedication and devotion as sovereign never wavered through times of change and progress, through times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss. In her life of service, we saw that abiding love of tradition, together with that fearless embrace of progress, which makes us great as nations.

Messamore: I think it’s crafted to reassure. That’s probably part of it, we’ve never most of us had to contemplate a new reign. Is it going to be a clean sweep for a 21st century monarchy? It seems not. If anyone gets it, he would. He’s a link in a long chain and it’s not his to reinvent. But there are elements that do get reinvented, often organically.

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King: The affection, admiration and respect she inspired, became the hallmark of her reign. And as every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humour, and an unerring ability always to see the best in people. I pay tribute to my mother’s memory and I honour her life of service. I know that her death brings great sadness to so many of you. And I share that sense of loss beyond measure with you all. When the Queen came to the throne, Britain and the world was still coping with the privations and aftermath of the Second World War. And still living by the conventions of earlier times. In the course of the last 70 years, we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many faiths. The institutions of the state have changed in turn, but through all changes and challenges, our nation and a wider family of realms, of whose talents, traditions and achievements I’m so inexpressibly proud, have prospered and flourished. Our values have remained and must remain constant.

Messamore: I feel like there was maybe a signal that we ought not to expect big changes in how he approaches that role, which I think to most people would be a reassuring message, that it’s a role that has endured. It’s a role that has evolved over centuries. Charles will have his missteps as inevitably happens, but those need not be a threat to the institution.

King: The role and the duties of monarchy also remain, as does the sovereign’s particular relationship and responsibility towards the Church of England, the church in which my own faith is so deeply rooted. In that faith, and the values it inspires, I have been brought up to cherish a sense of duty to others and to hold in the greatest respect, the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government.

McNally: He got into religion right away, I thought that was very interesting. I don’t recall her striking it quite so strongly. I was quite taken by this. This certainly suggests a Church of England coronation service and the title of Defender of the Faith. (Years ago, Charles suggested the more inclusive title “Defender of the Faiths” but later pledged not to use it. Curiously, Messamore observed, the title predates the Church of England.)

King: As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I, too, now solemnly pledge myself throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.

McNally: This gets to the real heart and core of what he had to say. He said he would defend and follow our constitution. People remarked in the Queen’s accession speech that she said she would follow in the constitutional steps of her father and grandfather. Although he does not say “constitutional monarchy,” what he is saying is he will be a constitutional monarch.

King: My life will of course change as I take up my new responsibilities. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But, I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.

McNally: This was one of the controversial things as Prince of Wales. He would push hard. I think what he was saying is he would have to draw back from advocating as strongly as he had as Prince of Wales. This was the issue, that he would try to be an executive monarch.

Messamore: I took that more to be the question of patronage of charities, and his role in that. I think that every monarch has their own particular interests and things they promote and care about, and that’s unlikely to change. They put their individual stamp on things. He did allude to constitutional principles in case anybody had any worries he would be too activist.

King: This is also a time of change for my family. I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla. In recognition of her own loyal public service since I married her 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort. I know she will bring to the demands of her new role, the steadfast devotion to duty, on which I have come to rely so much.

McNally: In other words, she is going to be Queen Consort, out there in front with him.

Messamore: In many eyes, she has redeemed herself. I thought it was nicely juxtaposed the way he mentioned William’s titles, but also seamlessly expressed his love for Harry and Meghan.

King: As my heir, William now assumes the Scottish titles which have meant so much to me. He succeeds me as Duke of Cornwall, and takes on the responsibilities for the Duchy of Cornwall, which I have undertaken for more than five decades.

McNally: One of the Accession Council agenda items is having the new monarch sign an oath to protect the Church of Scotland. Yet his speech ignored it despite speaking of the Church of England. That said, the King did mention his Scottish titles, that he so loves, will now be held by Prince William. Keeping Scotland happy is very important.

King: Today I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I’ve been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty. With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centreground, where vital help can be given. I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.

McNally: He doesn’t mention his sister Anne, he doesn’t mention his brothers, he doesn’t mention his cousins. This might be the sign of a streamlined monarchy. This could be the start of a slimmed down establishment.

King: In a little over a week’s time, we will come together as a nation, as a commonwealth and indeed a global community to lay my beloved mother to rest. In our sorrow, let us remember and draw strength from the light of her example. On behalf of all my family, I can only offer the most sincere and heartfelt thanks for your condolences and support. They mean more to me than I can ever possibly express. And, to my darling mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late papa, I want simply to say this: thank you. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family. And to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Messamore: I think people like when they recognize a line. (That is a quote from Hamlet.)

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Essay / Culture

Royal Duty: The King Behind the Speech

by Robert Llizo on April 4, 2011

St. Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mary and Foster-Father of Christ, has always fascinated me. He comes on the scene, plays his role, and then is never mentioned again in the gospel narratives. He is a man who is called to do one task, difficult, for sure, but one that does not win him any earthly glory. He is a man who is called to simply put one foot ahead of the other in the performance of his duty, and he does that one thing very well. While he gained no earthly glory in performing that one task, his fame echoes through eternity. My father once told me that it doesn’t matter how many people know you at your death, as long as those few who knew you remember you as a man who did his duty, in loving service to his family and his friends. The quiet influence of one human being on another has eternal ramifications, for both good and ill.

Then there are others who are called to play their role in a bigger, more public arena.

If you have seen the film on Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen , starring Helen Mirren, you may remember a candid conversation she has with her Prime Minister, Tony Blair, where she reveals that she was raised with this lesson in life: “Duty first, self second.”

Where did she learn this? She learned it from no less a source than her own father, whom she adored–King George VI. Her father was a man who was not particularly groomed for a life of kingly duty, and with ailing health and a stammering condition, didn’t have much by way of a physical constitution for the job.

His brother, Edward, as the eldest of the two, was the heir to the throne, and succeeded after the death of their father, Edward VII as Edward VIII. Nevertheless, his marriage to Wallace Simpson necessitated his relinquishing throne and crown, and by 1938, George found himself, ill prepared and not quite ready to make public speeches, to succeed his brother and perform the royal duties inherent in his office.

The stresses of royal service were compounded when on September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, thus breaking the Soviet-Non-Aggression Pact signed by Vyacheslav Molotov and Joachim von Ribbentrop, Stalin’s and Hitler’s respective foreign ministers. This brought Great Britain into war with Germany, since promises were made to Poland that Great Britain would come to its defense in the event of a German attack. Not only was Germany at war with Russia, but also with Great Britain and its allies.

All who have seen The King’s Speech know how King George VI had overcome this impediment with the help of his speech therapist, Lionel Logue. What many don’t see is the remarkable way in which he exercised his royal duties in the midst of German fighter planes raining bombs on London. Rather than follow the advice of some to relocate to Canada with his family, he, with his family, stay put in Buckingham Palace, thus facing the same risks his other subjects faced. Bear in mind that this was a man who was not always in the best of health, and yet there he was, visiting his subjects and comforting them in their most frightful and sorrowful moments. The palace itself was bombed nine times, but he continued to live there throughout the Blitz, facing the possibility of death in solidarity with his people.

He did not survive long after the war, for in 1952, after a life of dedicated service and duty that wore him down, he died in his sleep on February 6. His funeral was held at St. George Chapel, where he lies to this day. Winston Churchill, his wartime Prime Minister, gave the eulogy.

Much is rightly made of Prime Minister Churchill’s strengthening of the people’s resolve to fight for their homes and freedom. Now let’s hear how this sickly king whom he served inspired him and his subjects:

When the death of the King was announced to us yesterday morning there struck a deep and solemn note in our lives which, as it resounded far and wide, stilled the clatter and traffic of twentieth-century life in many lands, and made countless millions of human beings pause and look around them. A new sense of values took, for the time being, possession of human minds, and mortal existence presented itself to so many at the same moment in its serenity and in its sorrow, in its splendour and in its pain, in its fortitude and in its suffering. The King was greatly loved by all his peoples. He was respected as a man and as a prince far beyond the many realms over which he reigned. The simple dignity of his life, his manly virtues, his sense of duty – alike as a ruler and a servant of the vast spheres and communities for which he bore responsibility – his gay charm and happy nature, his example as a husband and a father in his own family circle, his courage in peace or war – all these were aspects of his character which won the glint of admiration, now here, now there, from the innumerable eyes whose gaze falls upon the Throne. We thought of him as a young naval lieutenant in the great Battle of Jutland. We thought of him when calmly, without ambition, or want of self-confidence, he assumed the heavy burden of the Crown and succeeded his brother whom he loved and to whom he had rendered perfect loyalty. We thought of him, so faithful in his study and discharge of State affairs; so strong in his devotion to the enduring honour of our country; so self-restrained in his judgments of men and affairs; so uplifted above the clash of party politics, yet so attentive to them; so wise and shrewd in judging between what matters and what does not. All this we saw and admired. His conduct on the Throne may well be a model and a guide to constitutional sovereigns throughout the world today and also in future generations. The last few months of King George’s life, with all the pain and physical stresses that he endured – his life hanging by a thread from day to day, and he all the time cheerful and undaunted, stricken in body but quite undisturbed and even unaffected in spirit – these have made a profound and an enduring impression and should be a help to all. He was sustained not only by his natural buoyancy, but by the sincerity of his Christian faith. During these last months the King walked with death as if death were a companion, an acquaintance whom he recognized and did not fear. In the end death came as a friend, and after a happy day of sunshine and sport, and after “good night” to those who loved him best, he fell asleep as every man or woman who strives to fear God and nothing else in the world may hope to do. The nearer one stood to him the more these facts were apparent. But the newspapers and photographs of modern times have made vast numbers of his subjects able to watch with emotion the last months of his pilgrimage. We all saw him approach his journey’s end. In this period of mourning and meditation, amid our cares and toils, every home in all the realms joined together under the Crown may draw comfort for tonight and strength for the future from his bearing and his fortitude. There was another tie between King George and his people. It was not only sorrow and affliction that they shared. Dear to the hearts and the homes of the people is the joy and pride of a united family. With this all the troubles of the world can be borne and all its ordeals at least confronted. No family in these tumultuous years was happier or loved one another more than the Royal Family around the King. No Minister saw so much of the King during the war as I did. I made certain he was kept informed of every secret matter, and the care and thoroughness with which he mastered the immense daily flow of State papers made a deep mark on my mind. Let me tell you another fact. On one of the days when Buckingham Palace was bombed the King had just returned from Windsor. One side of the courtyard was struck, and if the windows opposite out of which he and the Queen were looking had not been, by the mercy of God, open, they would both have been blinded by the broken glass instead of being only hurled back by the explosion. Amid all that was then going on, although I saw the King so often, I never heard of this episode till a long time after. Their Majesties never mentioned it or thought it of more significance than a soldier in their armies would of a shell bursting near him. This seems to me to be a revealing trait in the royal character. There is no doubt that of all the institutions which have grown up among us over the centuries, or sprung into being in our lifetime, the constitutional monarchy is the most deeply founded and dearly cherished by the whole association of our peoples. In the present generation it has acquired a meaning incomparably more powerful than anyone had dreamed possible in former times. The Crown has become the mysterious link, indeed I may say the magic link, which unites our loosely bound, but strongly interwoven Commonwealth of nations, states, and races…. For fifteen years George VI was King. Never at any moment in all the perplexities at home and abroad, in public or in private, did he fail in his duties. Well does he deserve the farewell salute of all his governments and peoples. It is at this time that our compassion and sympathy go out to his consort and widow. Their marriage was a love match with no idea of regal pomp or splendour. Indeed, there seemed to be before them only the arduous life of royal personages, denied so many of the activities of ordinary folk and having to give so much in ceremonial public service. May I say – speaking with all freedom – that our hearts go out tonight to that valiant woman, with famous blood of Scotland in her veins, who sustained King George through all his toils and problems, and brought up with their charm and beauty the two daughters who mourn their father today. May she be granted strength to bear her sorrow. To Queen Mary, his mother, another of whose sons is dead – the Duke of Kent having been killed on active service – there belongs the consolation of seeing how well he did his duty and fulfilled her hopes, and of knowing how much he cared for her. Now I must leave the treasures of the past and turn to the future. Famous have been the reigns of our queens. Some of the greatest periods in our history have unfolded under their sceptre. Now that we have the second Queen Elizabeth, also ascending the Throne in her twenty-sixth year, our thoughts are carried back nearly four hundred years to the magnificent figure who presided over and, in many ways, embodied and inspired the grandeur and genius of the Elizabethan age. Queen Elizabeth II, like her predecessor, did not pass her childhood in any certain expectation of the Crown. But already we know her well, and we understand why her gifts, and those of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, have stirred the only part of the Commonwealth she has yet been able to visit. She has already been acclaimed as Queen of Canada. We make our claim too, and others will come forward also, and tomorrow the proclamation of her sovereignty will command the loyalty of her native land and of all other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire. I, whose youth was passed in the august, unchallenged and tranquil glories of the Victorian era, may well feel a thrill in invoking once more the prayer and the anthem, “God save the Queen!” Source

Robert Llizo

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After Harrison Butker's Commencement Speech, Women Are Flooding The Kansas City Chiefs' Instagram Account With Sarcastic "Womanly Duties" Comments You Have To See For Yourself

"I hope I can see the TV from the kitchen."

BuzzFeed Staff

On May 11th, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker gave a commencement address to graduates from Benedictine College . During his speech to the private Catholic liberal arts college in Kansas, he suggested Pride Month was a "deadly sin," condemned abortion rights, and informed women that they had "the most diabolical lies" told to them (after he quoted a Taylor Swift song earlier in his speech, of course).

Harrison directly addressed the women in the crowd by saying, "How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

He went on to speak about his wife, Isabelle , claiming she would be the first to say that "her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother" and that he was able to be the man who he is because his wife embraced one of the most important titles of all: being a homemaker.

After harrison gave his speech, it not only garnered a direct response from the nfl stating that harrison's views were not those of the nfl as an organization but also widespread backlash from people across the country. but while a lot of people have vocalized their disgust about the commencement address on their own personal social media accounts, women have begun to leave sarcastic comments about their "abilities as a woman" directly on the kansas city chiefs's instagram account — and they're brutal in the best way possible..

1. Here are some of the top comments that were left on multiple Chief's Instagram posts, like this woman who's sad she won't be able to attend any more games because of her "true vocation."

2. Or this woman who said her life hasn't begun because she's not married to a man yet.

3. It seems like snack time is vital for this couple.

4. This commentor also wants some clarification.

5. A woman watching men on TV? Not in this household.

6. Sorry, gotta skip the game, the kitchen is calling.

7. Maybe this person's husband is nice enough to give permission. Fingers crossed.

8. Who needs thoughts when you have a husband, am I right?

9. Shoot, I bet our 84 cents to the dollar won't even be worth anything.

10. I would be concerned, too.

11. This woman doesn't even believe she's considered to be "alive" before marriage.

12. Even the men are wondering what they can do with their wives now.

13. At least this man is honest about his wife's "abilities."

14. It's a valid question.

15. Finally, does anyone know the answer to this question?

Do you have any thoughts about Harrison Butker's commencement speech? Tell us in the comments below.

Share this article.

Travis Kelce reacts to teammate Harrison Butker's controversial graduation speech

Travis Kelce is weighing in on his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech from earlier this month.

In his May 11 address to graduates at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, Butker touched on issues including birth control, abortion and describing Pride Month as a "deadly sin." Perhaps the most headline-grabbing was him telling the female graduates in attendance they'd been told "the most diabolical lies" about putting their career above their roles as mothers and wives and "homemaker."

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Kansas City Chiefs player faces backlash for graduation speech criticizing working women, calling Pride a 'deadly sin'

Kelce, in the May 24 episode of his "New Heights" podcast, said he "cherish[ed]" Butker -- whom he said he called Harry -- as a teammate and, despite not agreeing with his opinions, said the Chiefs kicker has every right to have them.

"He’s treated friends and family that I've introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness, and that's how he treats everyone," the tight end said.

"When it comes down to his views and what he said at the Saint Benedict's commencement speech, you know, those are his," he continued. "I can't say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids, and I don't think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life. That's just not who I am."

Kelce said growing up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in "a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities" showed him "a broad view of a lot of different walks of life."

"I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons, and I never once had to feel like I needed to judge them based off of their beliefs," he said.

Kelce then praised his parents, Ed and Donna Kelce, for both making a home for their family.

Patrick Mahomes responds to teammate Harrison Butker's controversial graduation speech

"They were homemakers and they were providers and they were unbelievable at being present every single day in my life. That was a beautiful upbringing for me," he said. "Now, I don't think everyone should do it the way that my parents did, but I certainly -- and sure as hell -- thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and making sure that home was what it was because I'm not the same person without both of them being who they were in my life."

Kelce's thoughts on Butker's commencement speech echo those of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes who, earlier this week, told ESPN he did not "necessarily agree with" what his teammate said but that he would "judge him by the character that he shows every single day" and called him "a great person."

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The King's speech in full: Charles III's first address to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth

King Charles III has made his first public address to Britain and the Commonwealth since the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. 

Here is the new King's address to the nation, in full: 

"I speak to you today with feelings of profound sorrow. Throughout her life, Her Majesty the Queen – my beloved mother – was an inspiration and example to me and to all my family, and we owe her the most heartfelt debt any family can owe to their mother; for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example.

"Queen Elizabeth was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.

"Alongside the personal grief that all my family are feeling, we also share with so many of you in the United Kingdom, in all the countries where The Queen was head of state, in the Commonwealth and across the world, a deep sense of gratitude for the more than 70 years in which my Mother, as Queen, served the people of so many nations.

"In 1947, on her 21st birthday, she pledged in a broadcast from Cape Town to the Commonwealth to devote her life, whether it be short or long, to the service of her peoples.

"That was more than a promise: it was a profound personal commitment which defined her whole life. She made sacrifices for duty.

"Her dedication and devotion as sovereign never wavered, through times of change and progress, through times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss.

"In her life of service we saw that abiding love of tradition, together with that fearless embrace of progress, which make us great as nations. The affection, admiration and respect she inspired became the hallmark of her reign.

"And, as every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humour and an unerring ability always to see the best in people.

"I pay tribute to my mother's memory and I honour her life of service. I know that her death brings great sadness to so many of you and I share that sense of loss, beyond measure, with you all.

"When the Queen came to the throne, Britain and the world were still coping with the privations and aftermath of the Second World War, and still living by the conventions of earlier times.

"In the course of the last 70 years we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many faiths.

"The institutions of the state have changed in turn. But, through all changes and challenges, our nation and the wider family of realms – of whose talents, traditions and achievements I am so inexpressibly proud – have prospered and flourished. Our values have remained, and must remain, constant.

"The role and the duties of monarchy also remain, as does the sovereign's particular relationship and responsibility towards the Church of England – the church in which my own faith is so deeply rooted.

"In that faith, and the values it inspires, I have been brought up to cherish a sense of duty to others, and to hold in the greatest respect the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government.

"As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.

"And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.

"My life will of course change as I take up my new responsibilities.

"It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.

"This is also a time of change for my family. I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla.

"In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort.

"I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.

"As my heir, William now assumes the Scottish titles which have meant so much to me.

"He succeeds me as Duke of Cornwall and takes on the responsibilities for the Duchy of Cornwall which I have undertaken for more than five decades.

"Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I have been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty.

"With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given.

"I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.

"In a little over a week's time we will come together as a nation, as a Commonwealth and indeed a global community, to lay my beloved mother to rest.

"In our sorrow, let us remember and draw strength from the light of her example.

"On behalf of all my family, I can only offer the most sincere and heartfelt thanks for your condolences and support.

"They mean more to me than I can ever possibly express.

"And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you.

"Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years.

"May 'flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest'."

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What does a king actually do?

Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland

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This weekend’s coronation ceremony formally invests the monarch with their regnal powers – but King Charles III has been doing the job since he was proclaimed king in September 2022. So what does a monarch actually do?

Historically, the role of the monarch was to maintain the peace of the realm, oversee the administration of justice, and to uphold the rule of law in the land. While the king still represented the nation symbolically, it was a far more hands-on, practical role than monarchs of today.

Roles and responsibilities

The monarch’s position description, so to speak, includes the roles of head of state, head of nation, head of the Church of England, head of the Armed Forces, and head of the Commonwealth. These are largely ceremonial and symbolic roles – the king does not intervene in the day-to-day running of these institutions.

As head of state, the king performs certain constitutional duties. These include appointing a prime minister and inviting them to form a government, forming and dissolving parliament, opening and closing parliament each year, and signing legislation.

Upon election, the prime minister meets with the king, who formally invites them to form a government. While monarchs are expected to remain non-partisan and apolitical, they are kept informed on state matters daily and meet with the prime minister each week. These meetings are private and no record is kept of what is discussed – so, yes, those scenes in The Crown are complete fiction . The king can consult and advise, but the prime minister is under no obligation to follow any advice he provides.

The king’s parliamentary roles are largely ceremonial, with one exception. The king can dissolve parliament. The last king to do this was William IV in 1831 during the Reform Crisis.

Throughout the Commonwealth, such as Australia, the king is represented by governors-general. They perform for these nations the same constitutional duties performed by the king for the UK. Governor-General Sir John Kerr famously dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and dissolved Australian parliament in 1975. After decades of speculation about the role of the Queen in the dismissal, the so-called Palace Papers revealed that while the Palace was interested in the matter, Kerr had acted independently.

Read more: Australian politics explainer: Gough Whitlam's dismissal as prime minister

In international affairs, the king can act as a representative of the United Kingdom, such as meeting political leaders and hosting state functions, but cannot act politically on its behalf.

As head of nation, the king is a “ focus for national identity ”, symbolising its unity and continuity. In this role, the king recognises citizen achievements, attends events, and broadcasts special messages to the nation. This may include annual messages, such as the Christmas message, or special broadcasts, such as the Queen’s address at the height of the pandemic.

The king is also the head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith . However, prior to his ascension to the throne, Charles expressed a more inclusive desire to be the defender of faiths, reflecting the multicultural and multi-faith reality of the UK and the Commonwealth.

Although the king served in all three arms of the British forces and still maintains several ceremonial rankings, the role of Head of Armed Forces is also symbolic. Should the UK go to war, the king won’t determine its defence strategy, but he will officially declare both when the country is at war and when it is over.

During the second world war, the royal family played an important role in fostering national and military morale. Then- Princess Elizabeth famously joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service when she turned 18, and trained as a mechanic.

In addition to these roles, the king also holds various royal patronages . This involves providing support to his chosen organisations by attending events and bringing publicity to the causes.

As the Prince of Wales, Charles held over 420 patronages . He inherited a further 600 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Some patronages were associated with the rank of Prince of Wales, so have been passed on to Prince William. Others may be redistributed amongst the senior royals in order to ensure a manageable royal workload.

Read more: King Charles will redistribute hundreds of charity patronages – here's why they are such an important part of royal life

Senior royals and Counsellors of State

Although there is only one monarch (it’s in the name, after all), the king does not work alone. He is often assisted in his representational duties by a group of family members referred to as the “senior” or “working royals”. These are members of the royal family who carries out duties on behalf of the Crown. Traditionally, the senior royals comprise the monarch’s consort, the heir and the heir’s spouse and children, and other children and their spouses. However, the current list of senior royals includes the king’s brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Countess Sophie, and the king’s sister, Princess Anne.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (aka Harry and Meghan) famously resigned from their role as senior royals in early 2020. Prince Andrew has been removed from public duties due to allegations of sexual abuse and his association with the convicted sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.

However, both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew remain among the Counsellors of State . Counsellors are determined by law – the Regency Act – and are authorised to carry out minor official constitutional duties of the king if he is overseas or unwell, such as attending Privy Council meetings and signing routine documents. But they can’t perform major duties such as appointing prime ministers or dissolving parliament.

Counsellors of State are appointed from the four adults next in succession who have reached the age of 21. The monarch’s spouse is also eligible for appointment, even though they are not in line to the throne. This meant that following the ascension of King Charles, the Counsellors of State were Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Princess Beatrice.

However, as Prince Harry and Prince Andrew are not actively carrying out royal duties, and Prince Harry is no longer resident in the UK, there was some concern about the appropriateness and the sheer logistics of the current list of counsellors. To address this, the Counsellors of State Act 2022 expanded the Regency Act to specifically include Prince Edward and Princess Anne, providing the king with two more local, active, and experienced counsellors to call on.

Read more: Why Prince Andrew and Prince Harry can fill in for the King, and how the law might change

Questioning the monarchy today

King Charles’ ascension to the throne in September 2022 prompted various national conversations around the Commonwealth of Nations about the prospect of becoming republics.

The monarch’s various duties may be largely symbolic, but symbols are powerful articulations of particular values, relationships, and histories . It is important for the various nations of the Commonwealth to reflect on their symbols and institutions as they look toward their futures.

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King Charles Gives Major Announcement on Monarchy

K ing Charles III announced he is suspending a number of royal engagements less than a month after his return to work due to a general election in Britain.

The monarch, 75, had his first public visit in months on April 30 and on May 9 said he had been "allowed out of my cage" during a visit to a barracks.

However, less than a month into his return to public duties, he has again had to scrap any visits that would distract from a general election called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

A statement from the king and Queen Camilla read: "Following the Prime Minister's statement this afternoon calling a general election, the royal family will—in accordance with normal procedure—postpone engagements that may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign.

"Their Majesties send their sincere apologies to any of those who may be affected as a result."

While the move may be in keeping with convention, it is a blow to Charles and Buckingham Palace who had a busy program lined up for June which will now be under threat.

The election has been called for July 4, meaning events planned between now and then could face the chop.

Already, the king has scrapped a planned trip to Crewe, in Cheshire, where he would have visited high end car manufacturer Bentley and a community center, on Friday.

Some will still go ahead, including his attendance at events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6.

However, it is not yet clear whether a state visit by the Emperor and Empress of Japan will have to be postponed.

The king also has a potential big leadership moment coming up in June when it is due to be his birthday parade, Trooping the Colour.

He had a big decision to make about whether, at 75 and while still undergoing treatment for cancer, he could ride on horseback or whether he would be consigned to the Buckingham Palace balcony. The Daily Telegraph reported recently that he was expected to aim for the balcony only.

Either way, photographs of the royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace are iconic and Trooping regularly draws big crowds.

And it is still hypothetically not impossible Princess Kate could make an appearance on the balcony, though all signs from Kensington Palace so far are that off work means fully out of the limelight.

Her children, Prince George , Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis , are regularly stars of the show.

It is not clear whether it will have to be canceled, the issue does not usually arise since most general elections take place in May.

The best recent precedent may be the Brexit referendum which took place on June 23, 2016, less than two weeks after Trooping the Colour, which went ahead as planned on June 11. The pre-election period, known as purdah in Britain, had begun before Trooping, on May 27.

And Charles will also have a new major date added to his diary as a new prime minister will bring a new session of Parliament, meaning a State Opening ceremony on July 17.

Needless to say, for the monarchy it is a descent back into chaos just as some normality appeared to be taking hold.

Sunak, speaking outside Downing Street in pouring rain with no umbrella, said on Wednesday: "Earlier today I spoke to His Majesty the King to request the dissolution of Parliament. The King has granted this request and we will have a general election on the 4th of July."

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek , based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter ) at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek 's The Royals Facebook page .

Do you have a question about Charles, Camilla, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.

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King Charles and Prince William Cancel All Their Royal Outings This Week

The sovereign and his son might not be seen as regularly until after July 4

Janine Henni is a Royals Staff Writer for PEOPLE Digital, covering modern monarchies and the world's most famous families. Like Queen Elizabeth, she loves horses and a great tiara moment.

King Charles and Prince William are changing their calendars amid a political shakeup in the U.K.

The King, 75, and Prince of Wales, 41, will no longer be making engagements slated for the rest of the week after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a surprise general election on July 4.

Charles had an outing planned for May 23 and two more on May 24. The palace hopes to reschedule the stops. William also had a royal outing scheduled for this week that was abruptly canceled. The royal family will continue to postpone engagements "which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign," Buckingham Palace said in a statement on May 22.

The canceled outings come amid Charles' recent return to public-facing duties amid his cancer treatment. William's wife Kate Middleton has also taken a step back from public outings amid her cancer diagnosis .

While members of the royal family historically do not get involved in politics, they do shift their schedules amid elections. Adjusting the schedule during election campaigns is standard practice. The palace aims to ensure the public's attention remains on the election and the key issues it presents.

Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg via Getty

It's also important that the royals aren't questioned on political matters while they are on outings.

While it remains to be seen what the next six weeks might look like for working royals like King Charles and Prince William, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said that the royal family will postpone engagements that could be seen as a conflict amid the election.

Chris Jackson/Getty; Yui Mok / POOL / AFP via Getty

"Their Majesties send their sincere apologies to any of those who may be affected as a result," the spokesperson said. 

Events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, including King Charles' first overseas trip since he announced his cancer diagnosis in February, are expected to go on as scheduled, while others are under review and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Expectations around classic June events on the royal calendar like Trooping the Colour and Order of the Garter Day remain unclear. 

Chris Jackson/Getty

Prince William and King Charles both stepped out for work on the day of the election announcement. The Prince of Wales helmed a morning investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on behalf of his father the King, and King Charles hosted an afternoon reception for the winners of The Prince Trust Awards 2024 at Buckingham Palace.

The King congratulated winners of the awards recognizing youth who have succeeded against the odds and made a positive difference in their local communities, supporting the charity he founded as the Prince of Wales in 1976. The Prince’s Trust U.K. is transitioning to an even more regal name — The King’s Trust — and the sovereign showed off his fist-bump when mingling with DJ Tyler West.

Chris Jackson / POOL / AFP via Getty

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

King Charles resumed forward-facing royal duties on April 30 following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis and treatment on Feb. 5, and has alluded that he’s thrilled to be back to public engagements. The sovereign said during a May 9 stop at the Royal School of Military Engineering that he was glad to be "out of my cage," likely referring to the interim period of small audiences and meetings from February to late April.

Prince William, meanwhile, tapped some of his first cousins for support in hosting a Buckingham Palace garden party on May 21, while Princess Kate remains outside of the spotlight while receiving cancer treatment. 

 YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty 

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King Charles reveals strange side effect of cancer treatment

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King Charles III has reportedly lost his sense of taste while undergoing treatment for cancer .

The British monarch made the revelation while visiting the Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, with his son Prince William on Monday, according to the Daily Mail and the UK Sun .

The outlets report that Charles spoke with British Army veteran Aaron Mapplebeck, who confided in the royal about losing his taste while receiving his own chemotherapy for testicular cancer.

Charles, 75, then allegedly chimed in that he, too, suffered a “loss of taste” when undergoing treatment for his undisclosed type of cancer.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment, nor have they publicly confirmed or denied the report.

Charles and William, 41, made a rare joint appearance at the museum, where the proud dad officially made his son the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps.

“Let me just say what a great joy it is to be with you even briefly on this occasion but also it is tinged with great sadness after 32 years of knowing you all, admiring your many activities and achievements through the time that I’ve been lucky enough to be Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps,” Charles said during a speech in front of veterans and their families.

The monarch added that his oldest son is a “very good pilot, so that’s encouraging.”

Charles shared the reported remarks less than two weeks after resuming his public duties on April 30 after taking some time off for treatment.

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The king and his wife, Queen Camilla, visited the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre to meet with cancer patients and staff members.

The royal family announced that Charles would be returning to “public-facing duties after a period of treatment and recuperation following his recent cancer diagnosis” in a statement on April 26.

“Their Majesties remain deeply grateful for the many kindnesses and good wishes they have received from around the world throughout the joys and challenges of the past year,” they continued.

Buckingham Palace announced Charles’ cancer diagnosis after he underwent “routine hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement” and a “separate issue of concern was noted” in a statement in February.

“He is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible,” the statement continued.

The royals have yet to reveal any additional information regarding Charles’ diagnosis or treatment plan.

A little over a month later, Kensington Palace revealed that William’s wife, Kate Middleton, had also been diagnosed with cancer after getting “major abdominal surgery” in January.

“The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” she said in an Instagram video in March.

The Princess of Wales has mainly stayed out of the public eye ever since as she continues her recovery.

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The End of an Era: Hasso Plattner Steps Down

SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp once said about co-founder Hasso Plattner: “It’s hard to quantify his legacy. All I can say is that without him, SAP would never have been so successful.” At the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 15, Plattner will step down from the SAP Supervisory Board after 21 years as its chairman.

One need only look at the key milestones in Plattner’s 52-year career at SAP to gain a vivid picture of his legacy. Together with Dietmar Hopp and his fellow co-founders, Plattner created the market for real-time business software, helped steer SAP through more than five decades of fast-moving IT history, and drove SAP’s global expansion – transforming it from a single-product company to the world’s No. 1 provider of enterprise applications.

Over the years, he worked tirelessly to open new horizons for the company and its employees, identifying technological trends and channeling his pioneering spirit into revolutionizing far more than just data management.

1972-1973: The Early Days

Having created Germany’s first real-time software application with a user interface, Hasso Plattner and Dietmar Hopp founded a company they named Systemanalyse Programmentwicklung (“System Analysis Program Development”) on April 1, 1972, together with their IBM colleagues Claus Wellenreuther, Klaus Tschira, and Hans-Werner Hector.

In 1973, the entrepreneurs launched RF, their first financial accounting system. The “R” in the name stood for “real time.” Developed under Plattner’s leadership, RF laid the foundation for a series of software modules in a system that would later be known as SAP R/1.

“Before I worked on RF,” Plattner once said, “I knew nothing about financial accounting; afterwards, I could hold seminars about it for CFOs. And not because I’d read stacks of books or was very smart, but because I’d learned from customers how to build this kind of system. I worked side by side with our customers at their offices every day.”

1976: The Formative Years

Systemanalyse Programmentwicklung was renamed “SAP.” Each of the founders and their employees – numbering about 30 at this point – was a developer, salesperson, and consultant all rolled into one.

Hasso Plattner and Dietmar Hopp were constantly competing to be the best at programming and selling their products. Plattner recalls that it made him really mad once when Hopp sold more than he did. Wherever their tasks and skills converged, they would engage in a private, “take-no-prisoners” contest to outdo each other.

Nevertheless, both men also knew how to harness their ambition and fondness for friendly competition to the benefit of their fledgling business.

1988: Conversion and IPO

SAP GmbH was converted to a stock corporation, SAP AG, and in October 1988 it listed on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, providing the company with the funding it needed to expand into even more markets.

1991: SAP R/3

At SAP’s 25th anniversary celebrations in 1997, Plattner recounted an incident in late January 1991, which he described as “probably the most dramatic situation” in the company’s history: “A year before the final delivery date for R/3, we realized during testing that its performance on our mainframe was completely unsatisfactory and that the test conditions were unacceptable. Six weeks before we had planned to present R/3 at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, we had all but given up on the project.

We called an emergency meeting at which everyone remained standing, such was the urgency of the matter at hand. We decided to halt work on the mainframe systems and, in a last-ditch attempt, to switch to the new, more powerful Unix workstations, which we’d previously only used in development.

The presentation of R/3 on Unix was a huge hit. A year and a half later, we began shipping our new client-server software to customers. That was the start of R/3, a business application for network-based computers.”

1992: Heading Stateside

In the early 1990s, when everyone else’s attention was focused on getting SAP R/3 to market quickly, sales of SAP R/2 in Germany were a cause of concern for Dietmar Hopp. As Plattner recalls: “Dietmar and I were standing in his office, and he said to me, ‘It’s not looking good. The only option I can see is for you to pack the system up and take it to America.’” They agreed to continue promoting the SAP R/2 mainframe software in Germany while going all-in on SAP R/3 in the U.S.

At the Sapphire customer conference held in Orlando in September 1992, Plattner announced that SAP would deliver the SAP R/3 system within six weeks to anyone who ordered it there and then. By October, computer manufacturer Convex had signed a contract for the new product, giving SAP its first SAP R/3 customer in the United States. And when, not long after that, oil giant Chevron – one of the country’s largest companies – also opted for R/3, SAP’s new software, originally built with the midmarket in mind, was well on track to becoming a global success story.

1993: A Very Special Partnership

SAP entered into an alliance with the world’s largest software company: Microsoft. Bill Gates, who had flown into Munich to sign the contract in person, told the audience at the press conference announcing the partnership: “We are delighted that SAP, one of the leading providers of standard software, supports Microsoft’s client-server operating system. We believe that many businesses will see this move by SAP as a compelling reason to opt for Windows NT.”

And when, in 2010, Plattner received the Transatlantic Partnership Award, Gates had this to say about his friend and colleague: “I’ve known Hasso for more than three decades. His knowledge, energy, and vision never cease to impress me.”

1997: SAP Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary

Plattner was appointed co-CEO, alongside Dietmar Hopp. In his speech at SAP’s 25th anniversary celebrations, he spoke about what had helped the company prosper: “Product focus is one pillar of SAP’s success. When a product sells well, the employees share in that sense of achievement. That feeling is just as important to them as the pay they take home each month. Our employees identify with the product – that’s why they have always gone the extra mile. No matter how different our views at times were, we always managed to regroup and we never lost sight of the product. For the past 25 years, the founders and employees of SAP remained true to the original product vision and never veered off course.”

1998: SAP Conquers New York

On August 3, 1998, the company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the world’s largest exchange. CEO Hasso Plattner described SAP’s Wall Street listing as “a strategic necessity and logical milestone in the history of SAP.”

That same year, Plattner founded the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) for Software System Engineering in Potsdam, near Berlin. “The institute here in Potsdam is my contribution to training internationally competitive junior managers who help shape and advance the digital world,” he said.

Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira transitioned from the Executive Board to the Supervisory Board, and Plattner became co-CEO alongside Henning Kagermann.

1999: The mySAP.com Revolution

In May, Plattner announced the mySAP.com strategy, which set the company and its product portfolio on an entirely new path. Using the latest Web technology, mySAP.com connected e-commerce solutions with the company’s existing ERP applications.

According to Plattner, success on the Internet was key to the company’s survival. At the Sapphire conference in Philadelphia in September 1999, a live demo of mySAP.com — with a prelude by Plattner playing Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” live on electric guitar — was enough to convince customers to adopt SAP’s Web strategy.

And, true to form, Plattner was already thinking about where the technology would go next, predicting that e-commerce and the hosting of applications on SAP servers would be “the future of software sales.”

2003: From Executive Board to Supervisory Board

Plattner stepped down from the Executive Board and was elected chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in May, he said: “This rising star of the 90s is now playing in the same league as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle.”

Though no longer its CEO, Plattner continued to channel his passion and his eye for technological trends into driving SAP forward, but now in his new role as chief software advisor on the Supervisory Board. That same year, he helped found the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (“d.school”) at Stanford University, providing funds to support its work on design thinking, a new approach to finding creative solutions to complex problems.

2006: The In-Memory Database

It was in 2006 that Plattner and students at HPI began work on a revolutionary technology. The result was SAP HANA ( H igh-Performance AN alytic A ppliance), an entirely new, column-oriented, in-memory database management system.

“It’s not so easy for a big company to break out and do something radically different,” said Plattner. “The university context gives you the freedom to do it.”

2011-2013: SAP HANA Drives Growth

Five years later, the first SAP HANA customers began implementing the new database, which generated the kind of demand not seen since the market launch of SAP R/3.

By the end of 2013, the entire SAP Business Suite had moved to SAP HANA. In the three years since its launch, SAP HANA had garnered nearly €1.2 billion in revenues, making it one of the fastest-growing products in the history of enterprise software.

In an interview with German daily Handelsblatt in 2020, Plattner said: “SAP HANA is so superior in practice that there is no alternative. And quite honestly, it saved SAP’s life, because it let us massively accelerate our ERP system without a lot of changes, while physically downsizing it at the same time. That meant a huge cost saving for our customers.”

2015: The Foundation

Plattner reinforced his commitment to promoting education and culture by setting up the Hasso Plattner Foundation.

Among the many causes the foundation has supported over the years are programs to promote healthcare and health education in South Africa. The German city of Potsdam also has much to thank Plattner for: The Hasso Plattner Institute is the largest investment in Potsdam and the one that bears his signature most strongly. The Barberini Museum that he rebuilt completes the inner cityscape of Potsdam and provides a home for his impressive Impressionist collection — the largest outside of France. With the Kunsthaus MINSK, he saved one of the few architectural icons of the GDR era and created a home for his GDR art collection.

On being asked why he chooses to get involved with causes and projects of this kind, Plattner explained: “I owe the resources and skills for life to my parents and, above all, to my studies at the public technical university in Karlsruhe. That’s why I want to give something back in the area of education, so that others can also benefit from it.”

2022: Learn from Our Customers

In an interview to mark SAP’s 50th anniversary, Plattner shared some advice: “I recommend a return to the approach we used in the early days of SAP – of sending SAP teams out to the customer. Instead of implementing our standard systems, they should find out how people actually use the tools they get from SAP and other vendors. That will give us our starting point. There are so many interesting companies out there. We can learn from them and with them. We have to step outside SAP and do something with the customers.”

And in a comment directed to SAP employees, he said: “Treat the customers well – once we have them, we have to keep them. That’s one of SAP’s strengths. And never think it’s done. You have to carry on. The job is never done!”

Plattner will step down from the Supervisory Board on May 15, the last of the SAP co-founders to leave the company.

More in Corporate

“Source from Ukraine” Initiative: The S Stands for Solidarity

Olaf Scholz Leads Farewell Tributes to Hasso Plattner

Alexandra Steiger to Join SAP as Global Head of Investor Relations

Point of Order

Politics and the economy

Shane Jones has the zeal, sure enough, but is too busy with his mining duties (we suspect) to be available for climate change job

Buzz from the Beehive

The hacks of the Parliamentary Press Gallery have been able to chip into a rich vein of material on the government’s official website over the past 24 hours.

Among the nuggets is the speech by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and a press statement to announce the Government’s vision for the future of minerals and the mining industry.

Doubling the value of minerals exports is among the objectives.

Another statement provides an update on the progress of Māori wards legislation.   A bill  to restore the rights of communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards has passed its first reading in Parliament.

This one has generated shrieks of outrage from opponents whose idea of democracy is to brandish the Treaty of Waitangi and insist it entitles one ethnic group of people in New Zealand to electoral privileges.

An announcement today at first blush  looked like jobs for the boys, with the naming of the Inaugural Board of Integrity Sport & Recreation Commission. But no. The Don Mackinnon who will head the new commission is not the bloke who was Deputy Prime Minister back in Jim Bolger’s day.

But wait.  A new job opportunity has opened at the  Climate Change Commission . 

It’s a shame Shane Jones already has a job.  If he tackled the climate change challenge with the same zeal he is investing in digging for minerals – the mind boggles!

Housing Ministers Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka are braying about new social housing funding in Budget 2024 which (they say) will ensure the Government can continue supporting more families into warm, dry homes from July 2025.

Are they projecting themselves as benevolent people who won’t be tossing poor families into the street from that date? Well, good for them.

Oh – and Shane Jones isn’t the only New Zealand First bigwig crying out for attention.  Foreign Minister Winston Peters is vying for attention by crowing about what Vote Foreign Affairs in Budget 2024 will provide.

Latest from the Beehive

24 MAY 2024

Climate Change Commission Chair to retire

The Climate Change Commission Chair, Dr Rod Carr, has confirmed his plans to retire at the end of his term later this year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.

Inaugural Board of Integrity Sport & Recreation Commission announced

Nine highly respected experts have been appointed to the inaugural board of the new Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission.

A balanced Foreign Affairs budget

Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed today that Vote Foreign Affairs in Budget 2024 will balance two crucial priorities of the Coalition Government.

New social housing places to support families into homes

New social housing funding in Budget 2024 will ensure the Government can continue supporting more families into warm, dry homes from July 2025, Housing Ministers Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka say.

23 MAY 2024

New Zealand’s minerals future

New Zealand boasts a long and rich history of mining, deeply interconnected with how our country has developed over the last 200 years.

Government sets out vision for minerals future

Increasing national and regional prosperity, providing the minerals needed for new technology and the clean energy transition, and doubling the value of minerals exports are the bold aims of the Government’s vision for the minerals sector.

Government progresses Māori wards legislation

The coalition Government’s legislation to restore the rights of communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards has passed its first reading in Parliament, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.

In his speech on New Zealand’s minerals future , Shane Jones said minerals currently generate export earnings of $1 billion annually, $21 million in royalties and more than 5000 direct jobs for New Zealanders.

But we anticipate accelerated growth, through existing minerals like gold and coking coal, new minerals important to the clean energy technologies, and on top of this we expect increased domestic refining to add value to our raw minerals. My goal is for the sector to double its export value to $2 billion by 2035, provide more than 7000 direct jobs across regional New Zealand, and support other sectors through the stable supply of essential minerals. This is not out of reach. The establishment of 10 significant mining operations, each having the potential to generate $100m per annum, can lead this growth pathway.

This Government will develop a long-term strategic approach for minerals that sets clear policy direction, identifying the actions needed to secure and increase minerals supply and their potential for use and export to maximise economic and Crown benefit from our mineral estate.

Jones said he supports sustainable and environmentally approved mining on stewardship land and other categories of DOC land.

A major priority is to clarify access arrangements for mineral extraction.

To allow efficient mining development we need to remove red tape. The sector is impacted by the revolving list of regulatory barriers which currently exist, because we’ve never had a solid plan that we stick to.

Ultimately, the government wants to enable major projects by improving decision making timeframes and giving greater investment certainty, with well-designed projects having a clear and fast path to consent.

Another objective is domestic resilience

Jones would rather minerals be extracted from our own backyard than be imported from places with lower environmental and employment standards.

The name “Don Mackinnon” (the chairman) is among the nine appointees to the new independent Crown entity, which was established under the Integrity Sport and Recreation Act last year, and will officially commence on 1 July this year.

But the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and  secretary-general  of the  Commonwealth of Nations   is Sir Donald Charles McKinnon

Don Mackinnon is an employment lawyer and one of New Zealand’s leading sports lawyers and directors. He currently chairs the Super Rugby franchise The Blues, was a long serving director of NZ Cricket (and chair of its High-Performance Committee) and has served as chair of the Integrity Vetting Panel of World Athletics based in Monaco.

• Brief biographies of the other commission members can be found here.

Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka made their latest announcement while visiting Dwell Housing Trust’s social housing development in Kilbirnie.

They said this is a good example of a community housing provider and a development that will be eligible for funding with the new places.

Bishop harked back to an announcement earlier this week that Budget 2024 allocates $140 million to fund 1,500 new social housing places which will be provided by Community Housing Providers (CHPs).

Potaka says the social housing waitlist is over 25,000 applicants “and too many Kiwi families are living in emergency housing motels or sleeping on relatives’ couches while they wait to move into warm, dry, stable housing,”

Today they outlined how the 1500 new homes will be allocated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development from 1 July 2025 onwards.

This won’t greatly dent a waiting list of 25,000 applicants – but hey, it’s  better than doing nothing, eh?

Winston Peters, promoting his budget-negotiating prowess, brought our safety into considerations:

“While Budget 2024 reflects the constrained fiscal environment, the Government also recognises the critical role MFAT plays in keeping New Zealanders safe and prosperous. “Consistent with the central role of the Pacific in the Government’s foreign policy reset, Budget 2024 provides nearly $60 million in capital and operational investment for the necessary renewal of New Zealand’s diplomatic post infrastructure in the Pacific. “Given the legacy of exploding debt and budget deficits across the Government’s books under our predecessors, we have found $15 million in savings per year in Vote Foreign Affairs from back-office efficiencies and lower priority activities to play our part in turning around the country’s fiscal position – for a total of $60 million across the forecast period,” says Mr Peters. “Under new Board leadership, we are also turning around the serious fiscal risks we inherited on the stalled Scott Base Redevelopment project, reducing taxpayer liability for what remains a significant project of national interest,” says Mr Peters. “The balance struck in this year’s budget is between risk and opportunity and between back-office savings and front-line investment. Its emphasis on fiscal savings and risks is entirely appropriate while we review the Ministry’s overall operations, including our overseas diplomatic network in the coming months to better align it to the Coalition Government’s foreign policy priorities and opportunities to seriously lift our export performance over the coming decade. “MFAT will also be benchmarking its diplomatic reach against countries we compare ourselves to, as New Zealand more effectively advances our economic and security interests internationally,” said Mr Peters.

We wrap up today’s Buzz with news from Simeon Brown, who says the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill will give councils that established a Māori ward without referendum the chance to reverse their decision or hold a binding poll at the 2025 elections on whether to continue with the Māori ward.

Councils that retain their Māori wards will be required to hold a poll alongside the 2025 elections. The results of these polls will be binding on councils and will take effect for the local government term beginning October 2028.

Restoring the right to local referendums on the establishment and ongoing use of Māori wards is a commitment under both the ACT and NZ First coalition agreements with National.

The Bill will reinstate a requirement for 5 per cent of voters to initiate a referendum on proposals for a Māori ward.

Brown explained:

“The coalition Government’s view is that any decision to establish or disestablish a Māori ward is one that should remain with communities. These changes ensure that local communities have a say in their governance arrangements.”

The omnibus Bill will also make broader amendments to the statutory timeframes for local elections, extending the delivery period for voting papers from six days to 14 days, and extending the voting period by ten days.

The Bill will have a shortened committee process to ensure changes are in place to give councils time to make their decisions before the 2025 local elections.

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King Charles III Unveils First Official Painted Portrait Since Coronation

The king, who was diagnosed with cancer in February but has since returned to public duties, unveiled the striking painting by Jonathan Yeo at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

By Livia Albeck-Ripka

King Charles III on Tuesday unveiled the first official painted portrait of himself since his coronation just over a year ago — a striking oil painting in which he stares head-on against a backdrop of mottled red, pink and fuchsia hues.

The painting, by the renowned portrait artist Jonathan Yeo, was unveiled at Buckingham Palace, the royal family said on social media . Video showed the king tugging at a ribbon attached to fabric covering the towering work, which, as it dropped, appeared to give him a small surprise.

Mr. Yeo, who has painted the likes of David Attenborough, Idris Elba and the activist Malala Yousafzai, began the portrait in June 2021, when the king was still the Prince of Wales. It depicts him wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was a Regimental Colonel, with a butterfly hovering over his shoulder.

Much like that butterfly, the king’s “role in our public life has transformed,” Mr. Yeo said in the statement released on Tuesday by the royal family. “I do my best to capture the life experiences and humanity etched into any individual sitter’s face, and I hope that is what I have achieved in this portrait,” he said, noting that to try to capture the king was “both a tremendous professional challenge, and one which I thoroughly enjoyed and am immensely grateful for.”

The 7.5-foot-by-5.5-foot portrait was commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Drapers, a medieval guild of wool and cloth merchants that is now a philanthropy. It will hang in Drapers’ Hall, the group’s baronial quarters in London’s financial district, which has a gallery of monarchs from King George III to Queen Victoria.

The unveiling came just weeks after the king announced his return to public duties , nearly three months after he disclosed that he had cancer , bringing palpable relief to a country anxious about another wrenching change in the British monarchy.

Mr. Yeo previously told The New York Times that he had not learned of the king’s illness until after he completed the painting, which depicts his subject in vivid color with a contemplative yet commanding glare. Mr. Yeo has also painted the king’s wife, Queen Camilla, and his father, Prince Philip. Other subjects have included former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the actors Dennis Hopper and Nicole Kidman and the media mogul Rupert Murdoch. He has said that the best portraits capture visual characteristics that remain relevant even as the person ages.

When it came to the king, Mr. Yeo told The Times that he had noticed physical changes in their four sittings together — during which time the king was going through a metamorphosis of stature.

“Age and experience were suiting him,” Mr. Yeo said. “His demeanor definitely changed after he became king.”

Livia Albeck-Ripka is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering breaking news, California and other subjects. More about Livia Albeck-Ripka