LONDON: Britain’s King Charles III has faced criticism for remaining silent on the near-daily riots seen since early last week following a deadly knife attack that killed three children.

While the monarch and his wife Camilla conveyed their condolences to the families of the three girls killed in the mass stabbing on July 29, Buckingham Palace has not commented on the riots which ensued.

“I am surprised that the king as head of state hasn’t come out more forcefully, given that it’s a perilous moment for the United Kingdom,” said historian and royal commentator Ed Owens.

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However, according to constitutional law expert Craig Prescott, “the monarchy does not comment on current political events”.

“Once the riots have subsided, you might expect members of the royal family to visit places affected and perhaps to see them more in multicultural settings,” Prescott said in a post on X. “If the king speaks out about this, then what about the next big issue, and the one after that?”

“Too ‘combustible’”?

Charles’s silence is in keeping with his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, who remained similarly quiet during the last wave of riots which shook England in 2011. It is typically explained by the expectation that British monarchs avoid commenting on anything deemed political.

Owens argued Charles, who has gradually resumed public duties after a cancer diagnosis earlier this year, may not have publicly reacted due to two main reasons.

On the one hand, he may have been “advised by his government that it would be unwise at this stage of intervene directly”. On the other, the monarch might himself have deemed the issue too “combustible”.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024