This is the most painful occasion on which I shall ever be called upon to address you.
My first and melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of my beloved mother, the Queen, and I know how deeply you, the whole nation, and I think I may say the whole world, sympathise with me in the irreparable loss we have all sustained.
I need hardly say that my constant endeavour will be always to walk in her footsteps. In undertaking the heavy load which now devolves upon me, I am fully determined to be a Constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and as long as there is breath in my body to work for the good and amelioration of my people....
In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the nation to support me in the arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance, and to which I am determined to devote my whole strength during the remainder of my life.
10. In this address, we observe, the King solemnly declares that he will act as "a Constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word." This means that in his official acts the Sovereign will be guided by the advice of his ministers, not merely by his own personal will and wisdom. This principle is the corner-stone of the British Constitution, as it makes the King's ministers responsible for his action, in all state affairs, and enables the nation, through Parliament, to call them to account for the same.
11. It is a maxim of our Constitution that "the king never dies," which implies that at the moment one reign ends the next begins. Hence the accession of Edward VII. dates from the 22nd January, 1901, but his solemn installation as king was deferred until June 26th, 1902, a day that will long be remembered as Coronation-day, when King Edward received the crown, as the symbol of sovereignty, in the presence of representatives from every corner of his wide dominions.