King Charles took a moment to pen a deeply personal message during the wee hours of Wednesday morning after he received some tragic news.
The Buckingham Palace released the monarch’s message after he was informed of the passing a of key figure in one of his commonwealth states.
“My wife and I were profoundly saddened to learn of the loss of Sir Julius Chan,” the King wrote. “He was a dedicated public servant, and devoted his life to help build Papua New Guinea into the strong, independent nation that it is today. His dedication served as an inspiration to many and I remember with great fondness meeting Sir Julius many times over his decades of service.”
He continued, “My wife and I send our heartfelt condolences to Sir Julius’s family, and to all Papua New Guineans, as his loss is mourned throughout Papua New Guinea,” and signed it off with, “Charles R”
Chan was affectionately called “Sir J” as he was the country’s longest serving politician. He was first elected in PNG’s pre-independence House of Assembly in 1968, when John Gorton was Prime Minister of Australia. He would go on to become PNG’s second Prime Minister.
The politician was still a member of the national parliament and governor of his beloved New Ireland province when died last week at the age of 85.
