King Charles stepping back from public duties could see other senior royals and non-working members of the Firm step up and take on extra work, it can be revealed. The King, 75, has been diagnosed with cancer and will postpone public-facing duties while he is treated. But with Charles taking time away, and the Princess of Wales also being out of action until Easter as she continues to recover from her abdominal surgery, the question remains as to who will hold the royal fort for the time being. The monarch is known to be in favour of a ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy – with only half the number of working royals as there were in 2017. With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the U.S., and Prince Andrew in the cold, there are only five senior royals to call on: Prince William when he returns to public duties this week, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne , Prince Edward and Sophie, th Duchess of Edinburgh. The King’s health update may even see the return of non-working royals, such as Princess Eugenie and Beatrice, while minor royals could play a greater role in day-to-day engagements. Here, FEMAIL reveals a list of the members of the royal family who could step in to help while Charles focuses on putting his health first.
The heir to the throne, 41, recently postponed his royal duties as the Princess of Wales recovers from abdominal surgery at home in Windsor. Prince William took time out of the royal spotlight to help look after their three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five. Kensington Palace has now announced that he will resume public duties this week by conducting an investiture on Wednesday at Windsor Castle , followed by a gala fundraising event for the London Air Ambulance in the evening. William – a former air ambulance pilot, who is the charity’s patron – was last seen nearly three weeks ago leaving The London Clinic on January 18 after visiting Kate.
His return to work is expected to be a hectic one, with the heir to the British throne likely stepping up to support the Firm more by undertaking some duties on behalf of his father, while the King undergoes treatment. Buckingham Palace said the King personally called both the Duke of Sussex and the Prince of Wales – as well as his siblings the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Duke of Edinburgh – to share news of his health.
Mother-of-three Kate Middleton, 42, is taking time to recover from planned abdominal surgery earlier this month and is not expected to return to royal duties until after Easter. The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic – the same private hospital in Marylebone where the King underwent treatment – for a planned operation on January 16. The future Queen left and returned to home in Windsor almost two weeks later on January 29, and is not expected to get back to official duties until after Easter. While she recovers from the procedure, she will not carry out royal engagements in person, but may continue some work from home depending on doctor’s orders. After Easter, her return will hopefully mean that two out of the ‘big three’ royals will be actively taking part in public engagements.
The exact details of the Princess’s condition have not been revealed but the Palace said previously it was not cancer-related and that Kate wished her personal medical information to remain private. Kate is now under the careful watch of royal doctors and is also benefiting from the London Clinic’s aftercare, with dedicated physiotherapists on hand with a personalised plan and a video check-up at home with a nurse specialist on offer. Among the engagements Kate will miss over the coming weeks are the Baftas this month, the annual Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey, and the St David’s Day Parade at the start of March, as well as the St Patrick’s Day parade with the military later the same month. Aides insist the Princess will be out of sight over the next few months but is likely to be working behind the scenes on her early years projects. Official overseas tours for William and Kate are also off the table for the time being. It is understood that Kate’s return to official duties will depend on medical advice nearer the time.
Queen Camilla will continue with a full programme of public duties following the shock health announcement. Camilla has had a busy week, carrying out various royal engagements while her husband recovered at home after leaving the London Clinic. She has previously been described as the King’s ‘rock’ by her sister, Annabel Elliot, who gave her view of their marriage for a BBC documentary – Charles III: The Coronation Year. She accompanied Charles to The London Clinic in central London on January 26, where he underwent treatment. The Queen visited her husband every day over his three-night stay in the private hospital, before appearing at his side again on January 29 as he left having been discharged. She also stepped out nearly every day last week to cover while Charles underwent surgery.
The late Queen’s only daughter is the hardest working royal in terms of annual engagements. The Princess Royal, 73, has in the past been dubbed the King’s ‘right-hand woman’ thanks to her reputation for having a busy work schedule. She was the first royal to return to work after Christmas and soon embarked on a three-day tour to Sri Lanka. During Charles’s hospital visit for prostate surgery and with the Princess of Wales out of action, Anne was the one to lead the way in terms of royal engagements. Last week Anne visited a prison in Norfolk and opened a new sailing centre. She also stood in for her elder brother at an investiture ceremony at Windsor. She visited an equestrian centre for disabled riders to mark the official opening of its Platinum Jubilee stables.
The younger of King Charles’s two brothers, 59-year-old Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, are the final major royals who could take charge. Edward last week spent four days on the remote British overseas territory of Saint Helena, where he inaugurated a new international airport, planted a tree and met 191-year-old Jonathan, the volcanic tropical island’s resident giant tortoise. His wife Sophie stayed in Windsor and undertook several engagements. After the double royal health scare last month, royal experts revealed it was the perfect time for Prince Edward and Sophie to step up their engagements.
![Speaking on the Mail+'s weekly talk show, the Daily Mail's diary editor Richard Eden noted that 'three out of four of the most senior members of the royal family [are] out of action' at the moment. So it is a great chance for, you know, the more junior members like Edward and Sophie to shine,' he continued, 'and hopefully this programme will feature their work over the next few months. And I think it has been great the way that they have taken on some of the less fashionable causes. Sophie has been very much involved in women as a victim of war and sexual crime. And obviously, Prince Edwards inherited the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme from his father, which is fantastic. So it'd be great if the general public gets to hear more about their good work.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/06/09/80890427-0-image-a-24_1707211508894.jpg)
Speaking on the Mail+’s weekly talk show, the Daily Mail’s diary editor Richard Eden noted that ‘three out of four of the most senior members of the royal family [are] out of action’ at the moment. So it is a great chance for, you know, the more junior members like Edward and Sophie to shine,’ he continued, ‘and hopefully this programme will feature their work over the next few months. And I think it has been great the way that they have taken on some of the less fashionable causes. Sophie has been very much involved in women as a victim of war and sexual crime. And obviously, Prince Edwards inherited the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme from his father, which is fantastic. So it’d be great if the general public gets to hear more about their good work.’
The late Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, now 79, and his wife, Birgitte, 77, are full-time working members of the royal family. Richard of Gloucester met his Danish future wife, Birgitte van Deurs, who was studying at the Bell School of Languages, at Cambridge University in 1965. He was working as an architect but cut his career short when his older brother Prince William of Gloucester tragically died in a plane crash seven weeks after their marriage – instead devoting himself to a life of royal duty. For decades, they worked tirelessly to represent the late Queen, and now they are doing the same for her eldest son. The Duke is associated with over 150 charities and organisations.
The Duke of Kent, 88, the cousin of the late Queen, has been forced to scale back his public engagements in recent years. In November the Duke of Kent missed the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph due to ‘episodic mobility issues’. Coming just days after his 88th birthday, it sparked fresh concerns over his welfare. The Duke had a glittering career in his prime as an Army veteran, dare-devil driver and tennis enthusiast.
Although she and the Duke Of Kent are both officially still working royals, Princess Alexandra drastically reduced her workload last year. The 87-year-old is also the late Queen’s cousin and was a bridesmaid at her wedding in 1947. She has quietly attended hundreds of engagements for more than six decades. Lady Ogilvy was not only the late Queen’s cousin, but also one of her closest friends and was once referred to as the ‘unsung heroine’ of the Royal Family. One biographer also described her as ‘the most efficient working princess in the world’. Throughout her adult life, Lady Ogilvy continued to be a hard-working and active royal, attending around 120 public engagements a year. This included missions to Japan in 1961, helping to restore diplomatic relations following the war.
In recent years, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice – the daughters of the Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson – have stepped back from royal duties due to their jobs and young children. In 2019, Eugenie joined the late Queen at the Royal Maundy service at Windsor Castle ‘s St George’s Chapel, and both the York sisters attended the King’s Coronation last year. In December 2013, the two princesses made an official visit to Germany to promote the UK abroad, most notable for the suggestion they drove through a red light at the Brandenburg Gate in their Union Jack emblazoned Mini Cooper.
The trip was taken at the request of Number 10, and their travel expenses were paid for by Prince Andrew. But with the Duke of York exiled from public duties, and both Princesses busy with their young families and jobs – Beatrice at Afiniti and Eugenie at the art gallery Hauser and Wirth – it’s unlikely there will be a repeat. Eugenie too spends a lot of time abroad for her husband’s work in Portugal. Despite calls for Charles to bring the siblings further into the fold this year, their father Prince Andrew’s scandals would no doubt give Charles pause, even with news of his diagnosis.
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