The King will start a new tradition when he visits an island that still addresses him by one of his oldest titles.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are due to visit Jersey in the coming days. But the usual welcome given to the Monarch on the biggest of the Channel Islands has undergone a subtle shift.
It’s long been the custom for the Sovereign to be presented with two dead ducks when they arrive in Jersey. Queen Elizabeth II was offered a pair of mallards when she visited in 2001.
However, the first Channel Islands tour of the reign of Charles III will see a change.
The King will be offered some duck eggs instead. His Majesty is expected to accept by touching the bowl they are presented in.
The ceremony will come at the start of a two day stop in the Channel Islands for King Charles and Queen Camilla where environmental and farming matters will be high on the agenda.
Among the engagements lined up for Their Majesties is a mini version of a famous potato contest.
And King Charles will also have to get used to a different title while he is in Jersey and Guernsey. The Channel Islands still refer to the Monarch as the Duke of Normandy, the title held by William the Conqueror before his famous win at Hastings. As King William, he left the duchy to one son and England to another but family feuding meant that the title returned to the Crown where it has stayed ever since.
Charles III will be toasted on the Channel Islands as ”The Duke – our King”.
