This is the Guardian.

I'm Robert Booth, I'm the Guardian's Social Affairs Correspondence, and in 2014

I followed the then-princed Charles around for a few days and spent several weeks investigating

the question of what kind of king he would be. That resulted in a long read that tried to answer

that question. And it's a question now of course, which is absolutely live because the moment is

upon us that Prince Charles has finally become King Charles III. One of the key questions I wanted

to think about was how Charles would balance his activism and his dynamic approach to being

heir to the throne where he would campaign and convene powerful people in order to create change

on issues like climate change, on architecture, on alternative medicine. And how he would balance

that with the needs of being a sovereign and a unifying figure in the country. That's the very

issue that we have to see now how King Charles III will develop as a sovereign. One of the things

that struck me in writing the piece was the depth of Charles's involvement in the subject that he

cares about and how he wanted to get into the detail of whatever it is that he is interested in.

That's something that has defined his life and it's going to be a challenge for him I think as he

becomes King and sovereign of the United Kingdom to balance that with the need to somehow act as

a figurehead that everybody can rally around, not just on the causes that he finds interesting.

Welcome to the Guardian Long Read showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture,

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for a slash long read. What kind of King will Charles III be by Robert Booth?

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