Do we like King Charles III?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Decent record on the climate and on owning up to the past, held back by a quiet record on LGBTQ+ rights and a household with some stains.
First, the job. Charles has been king since 2022, and the monarch is expected to stay out of party politics, so there are no votes or manifestos to judge him on. What we can judge is what he says in public and who he stands next to.
The Caribbean tour is the big one right now. In the Bahamas he said it was “only right” to acknowledge the suffering and injustices of the past, and he spoke about climate threats to island nations. Protesters still demanded reparations, and the British government has consistently rejected an apology or reparations, so his words go further than his government's policy.
In April he addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress, telling lawmakers that the challenges we face are too great for any one nation to bear alone. He called for continued US support for Ukraine and drew a bipartisan standing ovation. Some read it as a quiet counter to Trump's attacks on NATO, but he never named him.
On the harm test, the gap is LGBTQ+ people. PinkNews reported in 2023 that activist Peter Tatchell said Charles has never publicly acknowledged LGBT+ people and that none of his charity patronages are LGBT+ causes. That is a silence, not a campaign, and it's one critic's reading, but it's a long way from an ally.
The family problem is Andrew. Buckingham Palace said in February that the King has shown “profound concern” and would support police if approached. That followed reports that police were assessing allegations about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The King has already stripped him of his titles and removed him from his residence.
There's also the old cash-for-honours saga. The Sunday Times alleged that staff at the King's Prince's Foundation charity offered to help a donor with an honour and citizenship. The Met closed its investigation in 2023 with no charges, and police said there were no suggestions of wrongdoing by the King.