Our new King is said to have thought long and hard before choosing the regnal name Charles III.
He had toyed with becoming George VII in tribute to his grandfather and briefly considered using another of his middle names.
Because Charles has not been the luckiest of monickers in the history of the British monarchy.
Some even consider it cursed by association with the turbulent history of his two predecessors.
War, scandal, the collapse of the monarchy and execution for the first.
Plague, fire, more wars and further scandals for the second.
And three months into his own reign King Charles III must surely be wondering if those jinx rumours weren’t right all along. Because in the space of a few days his family’s squabbles have escalated into full blown conflict while a racism scandal is threatening the foundations of his inclusive modern monarchy.
It was still all quiet on the Windsor front on Tuesday.
The Queen Consort was holding a landmark summit at Buckingham Palace aimed at tackling violence against women while the Prince and Princess of Wales were preparing to conquer the US and host William’s worthy environmental project, the £50million Earthshot Prize.
But then it emerged that the late Queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting had racially insulted a black British charity boss at Camilla’s bash.
And then Meghan and Harry – who clearly believe that they own America and have a monopoly on royal racism claims – decided to launch the revenge attack they’ve been plotting since quitting the Firm. A trailer for their explosive new Netflix series was deliberately timed to steal Kate and William’s thunder.
And the moody, black and white teaser suggests the Sussexes are poised to press the nuclear button and blow the royal family to smithereens.
Our new King is becoming embroiled in a most uncivil war.
So he must act firmly to stop his reign going the way of his two infamous namesakes. That means redoubling his efforts to tackle racism, intolerance and division in Britain.
But it also means finding a way through the acrimony to broker a family peace deal. Because unless there is a rapprochement with the angry Sussexes it is they who will eventually bring down his inclusive modern monarchy.
It is not going to be an easy task but I believe that Charles III can do it.
He just needs to keep his head.
