Charles gets an early poll bump, emphasis on early

So what does this mean long term?

It’s too early to say. Same goes for questions about republican movements.

For years, people have wondered whether Commonwealth countries such as Australia might opt out after the queen died. As former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull noted after meeting the monarch in 2017: “Even republicans like myself can be, and in my case are, very strong Elizabethans.” But after Elizabeth? Her less popular son wasn’t a sure bet to be welcomed.

A rise of republicanism isn’t likely just yet. “Now is not a time to talk about our system of government, now is a time for us to pay tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this week. Similarly, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects her country to become a republic but not “any time soon” — and has no plans to push the issue in the wake of the queen’s death.

Some are resistant to Charles’s reign; #NotMyKing has trended recently on social media, and a few demonstrators have been arrested. Recent sympathy also might not turn into long-term support. But the focus will stay on honoring Elizabeth’s legacy at least through her funeral.

Regal dash: Charles landed in Belfast on Tuesday as part of his plan to visit all realms of the United Kingdom ahead of the queen’s funeral. This is the first visit by a monarch to Northern Ireland in six years. Charles’s whirlwind tour, a highly choreographed charm offensive known as Operation Spring Tide, took him to Scotland on Monday; he is scheduled to visit Wales on Friday.

Long lines: Some 26,000 people paid their respects to the queen in Scotland before the queue closed, the Scottish government said Tuesday, with more still waiting. Here in London, people began queueing well before the lying in state opens later this week. (The Post has mapped the queen’s 500-plus-mile final journey.) The line in the capital is expected to extend miles and might take 30 hours, officials have warned. Because of restrictions on what mourners will be allowed to carry past the coffin (no large bags, no food or drinks, no seating or other bulky items), a few have opted to try to stake out spots along the funeral procession. Some royal fans began camping along the Mall days ago. Yes, days.

Government guidance discourages camping along the procession route.

Critic quieted: A man who heckled Prince Andrew during the procession in Edinburgh on Monday was arrested for disturbing the peace.

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“ ‘In our countries, colonialism is now.’ ” Reporters Rael Ombuor, Rachel Chason and Meena Venkataramanan assess complicated reactions to the queen’s death in England’s former colonies, “some of which fought violent struggles to secure their independence during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.” The crux: what responsibility lay with the queen, who had a largely ceremonial role, “and how to balance respect for the dead with reckoning of past wrongs.”

“Charles has been not merely correct but a generation ahead of the curve” on climate change and the environment, writes Opinions columnist (and former London correspondent) Eugene Robinson. But the new king — once dubbed “the meddling prince” for his advocacy — “is expected to express no opinions at all” in his new position. Perhaps a 73-year-old can change, Robinson says, but it’s “hard to imagine he will have an easy time zipping the royal lip.”

Scotland embraced its “Queen of Scots,” write William Booth, Anthony Faiola and Karla Adam, with details from Monday’s events in Edinburgh. Although most people here deeply respected the queen, “Scots hold complicated feelings about the monarchy and whether Scotland should be independent — or even a republic free of hereditary royals.”

The queen’s four children took positions around her coffin at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday. Princess Anne was the first woman to participate in the brief Vigil of the Princes (along with her siblings Charles, Andrew and Prince Edward). See more photos from Monday’s events here.

“The weight of history” surrounds us, King Charles III said in his first address to both houses of Parliament as sovereign. (In previous addresses to Parliament, he spoke on behalf of the queen.) London correspondent Karla Adam notes that the king spoke beneath the medieval timber ceiling at Westminster Hall, built in 1097. Generally monarchs are not allowed into the House of Commons — a centuries-old tradition established after King Charles I “tried to break in and cause chaos.” Speaking there is considered a special honor.

ICYMI: The Post’s Retropolis looked back at the first two British kings named Charles.

And here’s video of the new king’s address to Parliament and, later, activities in Scotland on Monday.

Follow The Post’s live coverage Wednesday starting at 8:30 a.m. ET as Queen Elizabeth II is transferred via gun carriage from Buckingham Palace to lie in state in Westminster.

Photographer Samir Hussein (@samhussein1) captured this image outside St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday.

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Do you have questions about Britain’s royal transition? Submit them here.