The king’s support, the missing favorite and the scandalous wife: royal experts assessed the British monarchy

In 2024, there was a sudden shortage of Windsor members. The British royal family devotes a lot of time to public work. Now that King Charles III is undergoing outpatient treatment for cancer and has only a few personal meetings with the Prime Minister and a limited number of officials and diplomats, all attention is paid to Queen Camilla and Crown Prince William, who in turn has to fulfill duties not only his own, but also his own. but also father and wife. The fact is that Princess Kate underwent abdominal surgery in January and will not appear at official events until Easter.

Queen Camilla: strength and support

Queen Camilla is the “strength and support” of her husband King Charles III, as Prince Philip was for the late Queen Elizabeth II.

A source told PEOPLE that the Queen will support the head of state throughout his cancer treatment.

“She is his strength. She’ll be great. She will support him. She is great. She helps him do the work he needs to do,” a royal source said.

In her first public appearance since his diagnosis was announced, Camilla said the king, who had completed his first round of treatment, was “doing extremely well under the circumstances.”

Queen Camilla was the center of attention for nearly thirty years when her and Charles’s love story was known, but she received even more attention after their wedding, and is now being watched more closely by the public after her husband, King Charles III, took over. throne in 2023.

Having married then-Crown Prince Charles in 2005, the Queen Consort is more than familiar with royal life within the walls of Buckingham Palace, but her own family’s royal blood and connection to the historical landmark may come as a surprise to some.

Since Queen Victoria’s reign began in 1837, Buckingham Palace has served as the official home of the monarch, and today it is the administrative headquarters of the king and several members of his family.

Although the palace remained virtually unchanged for several years, one renovation was carried out after Queen Victoria’s wedding in 1840, which provides a special link between the history of the famous building and Queen Camilla.

The Queen’s mother Rosalind Maud Cubitt was also the great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Cubitt, who came from a modest family in Norfolk and was the son of a carpenter. However, Cubitt became a skilled master builder who made his fortune traveling to India and Australia as a carpenter in the late 1700s.

Camilla’s royal connection to Buckingham Palace comes after perhaps Thomas Cubitt’s most impressive achievement – his work on the landmark itself. He built the east façade of the palace in 1847, including the famous balcony where the royal family greets the British during significant events.

Queen Camilla will become the first royal consort to present gifts on Maundy Thursday when she replaces King Charles III at the annual service on March 28, 2024. She will give ceremonial coins to 75 men and 75 women, according to Easter tradition, in recognition of their public service. The number of male and female recipients is equivalent to the age of the monarch, chosen by clergy of all faiths for their support of the church and local communities.

This will be the most significant royal event the king has been absent from to date.

The monarch is also likely to miss next Monday’s annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, when the monarch usually addresses the family of nations.

The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, who as Lord High Almoner will accompany the Queen as she presents the money to charity, said: “I am honored to have the opportunity to welcome Her Majesty the Queen to Worcester. This is an extremely special service and I know it will mean the world to those chosen to receive the coins, who will all give years of service to their local communities.”

Princess Kate of Wales: disappeared from the radar

Everyone’s favorite Princess Kate disappeared from all events after announcing that she was having planned surgery. Many immediately began to come up with conspiracy theories about what happened to the princess and why she would not be seen in public for so long. But ahead of the holiday, royal watchers shared their joy after the Princess of Wales was seen in public for the first time since her operation. Kate was spotted in a car with her mother Caroline near Windsor.

Delighted by her first public appearance (albeit indirectly), one royal fan wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter): “What a pleasure to see her.”

Another noted: “It’s nice to see her outdoors. I hope she takes this calmly. Her health comes first.”

A third added: “And her lovely mum too.” The photos were published by US website TMZ, showing the princess wearing sunglasses in the passenger seat of the Audi her mother Carole Middleton was driving near Windsor Castle. The photos were taken shortly before 9am, suggesting the mother and daughter were returning from school. Kensington Palace did not comment, but sources stressed that the pictures were paparazzi shots that were not sanctioned by the palace and that Prince William is “focused on his work, not social media.”

The spokesperson said it was Kate’s personal desire to keep her personal medical information private and noted that she would only provide an update if there was “significant new information to share.”

Some of it was farcical, such as online rumors that she was recovering from a “Brazilian butt lift” or was in a coma, a theory put forward by a Spanish television journalist. Others point out that she had a bad haircut and is hiding until her hair grows back. Conspiracy theorists used her absence to spread fake opinions.

The Princess of Wales is currently under the close supervision of royal doctors and receives post-operative care at a London clinic, which features specialist physiotherapists with a personalized plan and offers home video work with a specialist nurse.

Discussing rumors surrounding his niece’s health, her uncle Gary Goldsmith assured the public: “I’ve talked to her mom, she’s getting the best care in the world.”

NHS guidelines for recovery from abdominal surgery state that after major surgery with a large incision it takes two to three months to be able to move around comfortably.

Interest in the health of the Princess of Wales was fueled by the statements of the royal correspondent and biographer Robert Jobson that he spoke with people close to her, and in his opinion “she is recovering successfully, but not one hundred percent, she has returned to a routine, but she does not want to rush things and spend all your time with the children.”

In addition, the UK Ministry of Defense further complicated matters by publishing – and then removing – planned details for the awards ceremony in June, saying that the Princess of Wales would attend a pre-event on June 8th. The British Army website has put tickets on sale for two Trooping the Color events – one featuring the Princess of Wales and one featuring King Charles. However, British publications reported that the Ministry of Defense did not seek approval from Kensington Palace before publishing the statement, which no longer appears on the website.

Meghan Markle: scandal after scandal

The scandalous wife of the no less controversial Prince Garia, Meghan Markle, has been in the spotlight every year since her royal appearance in 2020 on one very important occasion: International Women’s Day (IWD). This year, rumors that she’s planning something big were confirmed: The Duchess of Sussex will take part in a South by Southwest (SXSW) panel discussion entitled “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Are Leading on Screen and Off” in the US.

“We are honored to host this distinguished panel on International Women’s Day for an important discussion about the importance of representation in media and entertainment,” said SXSW Co-Chair Hugh Forrest. (SXSW is a series of festivals and conferences taking place in Austin, Texas from March 8 to March 16, 2024). Meghan is expected to attend the conference alone after a recent trip to Canada with husband Prince Harry.

The news that the Duchess was planning to attend such a high-profile IWD event did not come as a surprise to longtime fans of the royal family.

But Meghan, 42, was an advocate for women and girls long before anyone knew her name. Her activism began at age 11 when she campaigned to change sexist dishwashing soap advertisements on television and was successful.

“I don’t think it’s right for kids to grow up thinking about things like mommy does everything,” she said in an interview at the time.

In the decades since, Meghan has spoken at the 2015 UN women’s conference, served as a global ambassador for World Vision and an advocate for UN Women, and in 2017 wrote an essay condemning the “stigma surrounding menstrual health.”

“What’s amazing is that research shows that at the current rate, eliminating gender inequality will not be possible until 2095. This will happen in another eighty years. And when it comes to women’s political participation and leadership, the percentage of female parliamentarians worldwide has increased by just 11 percent since 1995. Eleven percent in 20 years? This must change. Women make up more than half the world’s population and potential, so it is unfair and impractical for their voices, our voices, to remain unheard at the highest levels of decision-making,” she said at a 2015 speech.