Before entering the palace the king got out of his car to meet some of the crowd of mourners gathered at the gates.
ADVERTISEMENTOn Friday afternoon, for the first time, King Charles entered Buckingham Palace as the nation's new monarch.
And at 73 it is a role that has been decades in the making for Queen Elizabeth's eldest son.
The King made a point of getting out of his car and greeting some of the mourners assembled at the gates before entering the palace.
It was an indication of how different his reign might be to his mother's, less formal certainly and less of an enigma to his subjects.
One woman even kissed the King's hand in stark contrast to prohibition on ever touching the Queen, except for shaking her hand.
And unlike his mother, Charles has given many interviews and his views, particularly on the environment are well known. It means that he's much less of an enigma to his subjects and so the monarchy itself will become far less mystical to them.
Despite grieving for her Charles went immediately to work: his first engagement was an audience with Britain's new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who herself has only been in office for four days.
A new role too for his wife Camilla who will now be known as the Queen consort. Charles had wanted his second wife to be anointed queen, but earlier this year before the 70th anniversary of her reign, his mother decided she would be known by a lesser title.
His first wife Princess Diana was a wildly popular royal figure, not just in the UK but worldwide.
In a controversial interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1995, and with reference to Camilla, she had said there were "three people in this marriage."