A Report Card on King Charles’s First Year as Monarch, According to Tina Brown

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since King Charles, 74, ascended the throne after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away at the age of 96. And yet, here we are living in this new era of reign that, in many ways, still feels new to a lot of people. So, how did King Charles handle his first year as monarch? 

On a recent episode of Royally Obsessed, podcast co-hosts Roberta Fiorito and Rachel Bowie chatted with journalist and royal expert ​​Tina Brown, who has written novels about the British royal family (such as The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers).

The king’s first year certainly wasn’t an easy one. With the release of Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare, as well as the premiere of the explosive Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, King Charles experienced a whirlwind of change.

Despite the chaos, Brown admitted that the royal family handled everything “flawlessly.” She continued, “That could have thrown the whole story again. But, the [royal family] made the decision to keep going, come out in force, do your public service and everything will calm down. And they did it.”