King Charles III has become the oldest monarch to assume the British throne at 73 years old. He takes over from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, after her death earlier in September. Elizabeth was the longest-serving monarch in Britain’s history. Charles, by contrast, is stepping into the role after living a full life in the public eye.

READ MORE: How to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral

While Charles’ coronation is likely still months away, royal expert and Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison said he still has duties he must fulfill in the meantime. The coronation, however, does bestow spiritual meaning to the role of king.

He has got such a big to-do list and everything is No. 1 at the top of it.”

“Charles has talked about being not a defender of the faith, but of faith and of faiths,” Morrison said.

“I think that apropos of his reign as it goes forward, and relationships with other countries in the Commonwealth, this is a big opportunity for Charles to take an important, nonpolitical stand as a defender of faiths, plural. He’ll be reaching out…to countries that were and are still in the Commonwealth through the means of faith. And this could be a very powerful tool for him in the months and years to come.”

READ MORE: King Charles III will succeed Queen Elizabeth II. Who is next in line to take the throne?

Morrison said that while Charles is stepping into the role as an older person, she expects his reign to last at least 10 years because of his health consciousness. But, expectations for his job performance are immediate and challenging. His rule begins amid historic inflation, a war in Ukraine and an ongoing pandemic.

“I don’t know that any monarch has come to the throne with the kind of difficulties that the political Britain is facing with Brexit, with energy prices,” she said. “The king has no political power, but how he exerts his soft power as a presence and as a neutral leader is going to be vital, important, vitally important at the beginning of his reign as to how he’s perceived for the rest of it.”

WATCH MORE: Final tributes for Queen Elizabeth in Scotland

Not only will King Charles have to face current affairs, but also changing outlooks about the monarchy’s imperial, colonialist and racist past. Morrison said Charles has seen the Commonwealth slowly break apart during his lifetime, and now has to reckon with what the future of that Commonwealth will look like.

“The challenge at home, as you point out, is to stay nonpolitical, but to make it seem, to make it look as if all of this is still mattering to the people of Britain, that the Commonwealth matters, that the state of Britain matters to them,” she said. “He has got such a big to-do list and everything is No. 1 at the top of it.”

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sa7SZ6arn1%2Bjsri%2Fx6isq2enpL%2BtsI6koKefXZi1or7LnqpmoZmeeqetwp6qZpldl7aoec6pp6iqpKq7qsDYZpisZZiaeqK%2Fwp6lnatdqbxuwMeeZK2goqS7pg%3D%3D