After Edinburgh, King Charles III goes to Belfast. In a United Kingdom where the monarch plays the symbolic role of unifying figure, the new king of Great Britain and Northern Ireland arguably has a taller order here than in Scotland, where nationalists so far want to keep the crown with or without independence.
Charles fully understands what is at stake: as prince of Wales, he visited Northern Ireland 39 times. He lived through the Troubles, saw his late mother play the role of reconciler during an historic state visit to Dublin in 2011, and grasps what may be a turning point today with nationalists for the first time edging out unionists in recent regional assembly elections. Those unionists have since boycotted Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.
What role for the new king? What role for a brand new prime minister, one who campaigned on the pledge of picking a fight with the EU over the post-Brexit agreement that puts a border in the Irish Sea? We ask our panel about the olive branch floated by Brussels. Could Liz Truss's decision on that go so far as to chart the course Northern Ireland chooses?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
