He is coming to the end of what, by anyone's standards, has been a hectic summer schedule. But as the King looks ahead to a few precious weeks of downtime in Scotland, following next Thursday's opening of the Commonwealth Games, there is one final piece of business that cannot wait.
For most people, the final days before a summer holiday are spent winding down. For Charles, they involve appointing a new Prime Minister. When he formally invites Andy Burnham to form a government on Monday, he will be carrying out the ritual for the third time since his accession.
Burnham will become the fourth Prime Minister of his reign – an extraordinary rate of turnover in a country where governments are normally elected for terms of up to five years. At this rate, Charles would overtake his mother's record of 15 Prime Ministers by 2037.
A King under pressure
This has provided an unusually turbulent backdrop to what is still a relatively young reign. While continuing to undergo cancer treatment, the King has spent the past four years navigating political upheaval, international crises and family challenges, all while maintaining a remarkably full programme of public engagements.
For Charles, who is a tireless worker, it is another reminder that, however full his diary already is, the work of being monarch is never quite finished. As always, when duty calls, he will rise to the occasion.
The formalities follow a long-held tradition. Outgoing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will travel to Buckingham Palace for a final audience with Charles, during which he will formally tender his resignation. Burnham will arrive soon afterwards and will be asked to form a new government and officially become Prime Minister.
Timing is everything, and while the King still has at least a week of public engagements to go before he begins his break, a planned away day on Monday will begin only after he has appointed the country's new leader. The fact that the rest of his working day will continue afterwards says everything about his approach to duty. Persuading him to slow down is clearly one of the hardest jobs in the Palace and one with which even Queen Camilla struggles.
Being on holiday would not, in any case, prevent the Sovereign from carrying out the process. Queen Elizabeth II appointed Liz Truss while at Balmoral in 2022, although that was largely due to her declining health. She died just two days after carrying out her final duty. In 1908, Herbert Asquith was summoned to Biarritz, France, by boat and train, so that King Edward VII could appoint him while on holiday.
How tradition will unfold
This time round, the King will be at "Monarchy HQ", where his Principal Private Secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, will await the new leader in the courtyard before taking him to an antechamber for a briefing and then to the audience room to join the King.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesWhat happens between the King and the so-called King of the North in that meeting will remain private. No one else is in the room. But the traditional "kissing of hands" – now replaced by a bow or curtsy and a handshake – is photographed and filmed for the history books.
Meanwhile, a fresh chapter will begin in the so-called "golden triangle" relationship between Sir Clive, the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. While the King and Prime Minister are in talks, these three figures hold their own meeting to keep communication flowing and ensure that neither side is ever taken by surprise by a speech or policy announcement.
New faces and a new phase
The King will also need to give his informal approval to new ministerial appointments so that the Government can announce them, even before they are sworn in at their first Privy Council on Tuesday. At the end of this first audience, there is another handshake before the new PM is shown out by an equerry and leaves via the Ministers' Staircase to face the cameras outside 10 Downing Street.
© Getty ImagesThe whole thing will take only 20 minutes or so, yet it marks the beginning of a relationship that may shape the next phase of the King's reign. For the monarch, this is where the real work begins. A new Prime Minister brings a different dynamic to weekly audiences, another set of ministers to get to know and new personalities to understand, all while staying well out of the political fray.
It's a process he's already had to undertake twice so early into his reign. By the time he finally retreats to the peace of Scotland's mountains and rivers, the King will have ticked off yet another constitutional milestone that few monarchs would ever expect to repeat so often, so soon.
After months of relentless travel, engagements and ongoing treatment, his holiday will be more than deserved. Yet there is no question of him leaving until the job is done. In an era when the Government can change with extraordinary speed, the quiet choreography of Monday's audience is a reminder that while politics can shift overnight, the Crown endures. And perhaps that continuity is needed now more than ever.
