Windsor will witness a very different Easter this year. Last time we saw a full Royal Family attendance in the spring sunshine at St George’s Chapel. The main concern then was the countdown to the Coronation.
This year it will be a much smaller affair. We are likely to see the King and Queen, but his health, of necessity, requires a very small crowd around him.
The Princess of Wales and her family are not expected at all. They want to make the most of the Easter holidays and maximize their three desires: time, space and privacy.
Therefore, the contrasting images of Easter Sunday 2023 versus 2024 will paint a pretty grim picture.
Listening to some of the comments this weekend, one might imagine that Buckingham Palace staff are in a bunker pondering an existential crisis.
The princess’s cancer diagnosis has served to bring the king closer to his eldest son and even closer to Catherine, writes Robert Hardman
Royalists may well wonder if things have ever seemed so bleak for dear old Crown. To which the answer is: yes, and remember the nineties.
Inside the Palace there reigns a determined and proactive atmosphere.
Of course, there are the natural fears and anxieties that come with any cancer diagnosis. That two elderly family members have to endure this in parallel has left everyone stunned.
It is also not overlooked that the king’s nieces, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, both very close to their cousins, are supporting their mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, while she also receives cancer treatment.
However, both the King and Princess of Wales have made it very clear that they are not just coping. Rather, they look to the future with purpose and a resilient mindset.
“I’m fine and I feel stronger every day,” the Princess told us on Friday.
In the King’s household, the recurring concern is how to reduce a workload that he himself is not willing to reduce. Because in the midst of the sadness, he has been greatly encouraged by a number of factors, as well as the bags full of “Get Well” cards from around the world.
What is now abundantly clear is the depth and strength of Britain’s affection for its monarchy. It is also a reminder of the Royal Family’s immense contribution to what politicians call the nation’s “soft power”.
The global response to last week’s Princess of Wales news stunned even the most seasoned royal watchers. For America’s CBS to pause its coverage of a key basketball game, for the White House to issue immediate personal statements, for the Princess to begin logging billions of Internet hits, are mere reminders that the monarchy is much more than a celebrity with crowns.
On a personal level (and these are two deeply personal royal crises), the princess’s diagnosis has also served to bring the king closer to his eldest son and even closer to Catherine.
He has long admired the way she endured the blows of royal life, soothed her son and heir, raised her grandchildren and developed an extensive portfolio of charitable work.
This weekend, it was reported that he had ‘travelled’ to his part of the London Clinic when their hospital stays overlapped earlier this year.
In fact, I realize that this was no simple “toddle.” He came to see her at least twice, also accompanied by the Queen.
There is no one better placed to advise on how to make a major broadcast to the nation (right down to the dangers of filming in Windsor, beneath Heathrow air traffic).
The Princess of Wales announced she was receiving “preventive” chemotherapy after being found to have cancer following major abdominal surgery in January.
Both Kate and William had initially been strongly in favor of maintaining a news blackout following Kate’s initial statement about abdominal surgery in January.
The day after the recording, he also invited Catherine to lunch at the castle, no doubt to reassure her.
As I understand it, it was the way the king handled his own diagnosis that played a key role in the princess’s decision to broadcast it to the nation. Both she and Prince William had initially been strongly in favor of maintaining a news blackout following their initial statement about abdominal surgery in January.
Over time, he realized that the King’s example of judicious and moderate candor is ultimately preferable to letting online lunatics take over the haven of public discourse.
There were other factors too.
The previous statement on the princess’s health said she was unlikely to resume public duties until “after Easter.” Once the subsequent discovery of cancer led to preventive chemotherapy treatment beginning in late February, that schedule proved unsustainable.
The Prince and Princess’ residence at Kensington Palace was also undergoing substantial staff changes.
Add to the mix the dispute over the edited Mothering Sunday photo plus the news of an investigation into a possible data breach of her medical records (a completely distressing thought for anyone) and you get layer upon layer of additional stress on possibly the most stressful moment in history. The life of her.
And that’s not including the festering toxicity of social media trolls who stoke debates in the wake of one unfounded rumor after another.
Once the poison reached the school gates (and it did), the children became the priority. The Prince and Princess decided that the last day of the semester would be the appropriate time to clear things up.
There was similar royal thinking in 1976, when Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon planned to announce their separation (leading to the first high-ranking royal divorce since Henry VIII).
Ron Allison, then the Queen’s press secretary, once told me that, although rumors were rife, the Palace had delayed the official announcement until March 19, 1976. That was also the Friday on which the Queen’s young children couple separated for Easter Vacation.
There are other reasons for the relative calm that reigns in the Palace. Before and immediately after the king’s accession to the throne, there were two main concerns.
One was the fluidity of the transition from monarch to monarch. Not unrelated was the prospect of concerted republican attempts to undermine the institution at a time of greatest vulnerability.
In fact, Charles III led from the beginning with a confidence that has confounded his staunchest critics. Republicanism remains largely a minority sport, good for a campus debate but of trivial interest to the vast majority.
Amid much political and global turmoil, the King has achieved the all-important continuity that the monarchy is supposed to represent.
Less than a year after his Coronation, it seems as if he has been on the Throne for years. However, there has been a quiet but steady tonal shift towards a more transparent and identifiable reigning style.
This has been exemplified in his approach to his medical problems. No one ever imagined the day when a Palace bulletin would contain the words “enlarged prostate.”
And when that led to a cancer diagnosis, there was no attempt to obfuscate it. The King was going to change the way he performed his duties more than the duties themselves. Not a single fundamental constitutional function has been affected.
The public can still see the King driving between residences or medical appointments. He likes to go slow and there are no tinted windows. Say hello and he will wave back.
We have not been given precise details about his cancer for reasons of privacy and precedence (what is done cannot be undone). However, we can look at the direction of travel and draw some conclusions.
Immediately after his diagnosis, he retired to Sandringham. He now moves between residences including Highgrove and Windsor Castle.
He is holding more in-person hearings, not only with the Prime Minister but also with ambassadors. Plans are afoot for what Palace staff call “a gentle ramp-up” as we approach the busiest period in the royal calendar.
Even garden parties or Royal Ascot, prospects unthinkable just a few weeks ago, are being reconfigured with sensible medical precautions. Final decisions won’t be made until much closer to the moment, but the aspiration is there.
The two main targets are in early June: the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the King’s Birthday Parade.
Meanwhile, the Queen’s core back-up team, the Prince of Wales (the Princess permitting), the Princess Royal and the Edinburghs, plus the Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, will press on.
Sometimes people ask why the king does not recruit new recruits, such as the daughters of the Duke of York. The reason is simple. Having established what some call “the Sandringham protocol” following the Sussexes’ departure, there can be no going back on one clear principle: you cannot be a half-in/half-out member of the working family.
In wider royal circles, the Princess’s broadcast provoked a certain sense of déjà vu, not least because of the daffodils.
Next week will mark four years since the previous holder of the dubious honor of the title of “most famous woman in the world” sat down in Windsor to deliver a historic speech to a gaping nation. That broadcast also ended with daffodils.
Of course, the circumstances and content were completely different, but the underlying feeling was very similar: we’re going to get through this.
That was at the lowest point of the Covid pandemic in 2020. The late Queen, incidentally, had received some criticism for her lack of visibility in the days leading up to her broadcast. “If ever there was a time for the Queen to reassure her subjects, this is it,” thundered a Times editorial.
For the Princess of Wales, all of this was terribly personal and painful, not constitutional. However, both women had the quiet satisfaction of observing a seismic response and universal approval. Both messages had the same central elements: simplicity, scarcity and authenticity.
The princess’s words did not need to be deciphered. The fact that they were so unexpected gave them a deep resonance.
And even the most sulfurous online troglodyte couldn’t argue with the veracity of this footage. It was filmed by BBC Studios Events, a completely separate unit from current affairs operations, with a global reputation for its state events.
As it happens, the same crew was also invited to film the Queen’s Covid speech (albeit with a cameraman in a “hazardous materials” suit).
This Thursday begins Holy Week with the traditional Royal Maundy service. Although the King cannot be at Worcester Cathedral, he has recorded a lesson and Queen Camilla will be handing out Holy Coins to deserving locals. The show goes on because she always does.
In the end, the Queen will receive daffodils.