Accession ceremonies in the Maritimes proclaim the new King of Canada

Maritimes hosts accession proclamation ceremonies As a Commonwealth country, the tradition acknowledges Charles III as King of Canada following the death of his mother.

Several accession ceremonies took place across the Maritimes on Saturday, proclaiming His Majesty Charles III as Canada’s new sovereign.

In New Brunswick, Lieutenant Governor Brenda Murphy issued and read a formal proclamation under the Great Seal of the Province of New Brunswick proclaiming the new Monarch.

"The crown of Canada vests in His Royal Highness Charles Philip Arthur George,” the Lieutenant Governor read from the proclamation.

“We, The Honourable Brenda L. Murphy Lieutenant Governor of the province of New Brunswick assisted by His Majesty's executive council for the province of New Brunswick proclaim that His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, is now by the death of our late sovereign, Charles III, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and his other realms and territories, King,” she read.

She was joined Attorney General Hugh Flemming, Elder Imelda Perley, and Premier Blaine Higgs amongst other prominent guests.

"It's an honour to be premier at this time,” Higgs said. “It's a humbling experience because 70 years is a long time and Queen Elizabeth II [was] a reigning monarch who certainly stood the test of time,” said Higgs.

In Halifax, Lieutenant Governor Arthur J. LeBlanc was joined by Premier Tim Huston and Justice Minister Brad Johns as they welcomed King Charles III as the King of Canada.

LeBlanc signed and read the declaration and toasted to the new King.

"It is my duty to advise the Lieutenant Governor to issue a proclamation under the Great Seal of the province of Nova Scotia,” Houston said. “Announcing the death of her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of his majesty King Charles III, King of Canada.”

The tradition dates back to the accession of King George III in 1760. It calls for a proclamation of accession ceremony to be held when a new sovereign inherits the throne upon the death of the previous King or Queen.

A 21-gun salute took place at each ceremony.

"We have conducted the Royal salute. That was our main task today and a privilege to do,” said Cmdr. Yan-Philippe Cote-Baribeau of the 115 Battery RCA, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment.

“First, when we heard the sad news, we were kind of like, ‘OK, what's going on now?’ And we start going over what happens next and realized the artillery has a real big place in those ceremonies,” Cote-Baribeau said. “So I would say my troops were very excited to volunteer to do that important task.”

It was announced Friday that the funeral for Queen Elizabeth will take place on September 19th.