The Royal Family will emerge stronger from the King and Princess of Wales’s shocking double cancer diagnosis, experts insisted last night.
Sources said “things may look different for a while” but senior royals are coming together to ensure the monarchy’s “smooth sailing” continues while two of its biggest stars receive treatment.
And while the country will likely have to get used to a “new normal” when it comes to the institution, insiders say it will be no less effective.
Today it can be revealed that Charles is “so optimistic” about his treatment that he has already expressed his hope of attending Royal Ascot this summer, as well as some of the Buckingham Palace garden parties honoring military heroes and community.
He also intends to lead a small family gathering at Windsor church on Easter Sunday, although the princess and her family will miss it.
Sources say the King and Princess of Wales have grown closer thanks to their shared diagnosis.
The King is so “optimistic” about his treatment that he has expressed hope to attend events this summer, including garden parties at Buckingham Palace.
In a televised address Friday, Catherine told the nation that she began “preventive chemotherapy” treatment in late February.
A source said Catherine’s diagnosis was “a shock to her”.
The princess said she had assured her three children, George, ten, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five: “That I’m going to be fine.”
The Princes of Wales spend Easter privately with their children
Sources say the king, 75, and his daughter-in-law, 42, have grown even closer over their shared diagnosis.
They had lunch in Windsor on Thursday, a day after Kate recorded a moving video message revealing that tests after major abdominal surgery in January showed the presence of cancer.
He began a course of “preventive chemotherapy” at the end of February, he told the nation, adding that he had assured his three children, George, ten, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five: “That I will be good”.
Charles was already aware of the princess’s diagnosis, but it is clear that, given his own treatment for an unspecified form of cancer, the couple would have had a lot to discuss.
They have become increasingly close over the years and the King greatly admires his daughter-in-law, with whom he shares a love of the arts and music, for bringing so much happiness to his son and for her “brilliance” as a mother. his grandchildren.
They were both in hospital in January after the King was admitted to the London Clinic for surgery for an enlarged prostate and are known to have visited Kate’s bedside several times.
A source also told the Mail yesterday that both the Prince and Princess of Wales had been very “encouraged” by the public messages of support they had received since the news was announced on Friday. They spend Easter privately with their three children.
The source said: ‘They are human beings. Each person faces it (cancer) in a totally different way. There is no fast forward button.
‘In the case of the princess, as she said, it was a shock to her. She had to process the news, then she had to help her husband process the news…and then they had to get her three young children to a place where they could accept it.
And then he had to share it with the whole world. This is never a message you want to share, but it was right that you did so when she was ready.
The Princess of Wales (pictured in November 2023) revealed that she felt it was her duty to tell the public about her cancer diagnosis.
The Welsh at last year’s traditional Easter service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor
It has been confirmed that the family will not attend the Easter service in Windsor next Sunday.
It is understood William plans to return to work in a “significant” way after his children return to school following the Easter holidays.
The source added that it was only right that Catherine had shared her news with the world when she was ready.
‘For her to come out and say that I need time, space and privacy to recover is really key and important. And I hope they get it during Holy Week. “They are human and this is a very human situation.”
Another source said that while it had been a “difficult” start to the year, the whole family had been touched by the public reaction.
“What has been surprising in all of this is that, far from what republicans want you to believe, which is that people don’t really care about the Royal Family, is that the whole world really does care a lot,” they said. . The important thing, experts say, is that predictions of a crisis in the ranks may be very premature.
“It’s a temporary period where two of their star players are out of action and if anything, this will only make them stronger,” said one. “The atmosphere in the palace is optimistic given the circumstances, it really is.”
It is understood William plans to return to work in a “significant” way after his children return to school after Easter. “He will continue to balance supporting his wife and children in addition to his public duties as he has done in recent months,” a source explained.
Queen Camilla, as well as Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, will continue to make a series of public engagements. And the King himself will continue to perform his own duties, away from the public eye.
He is understood to have a “full programme” of private and state engagements next week and plans to “step up” his agenda over the coming weeks.
“Although it’s too early to confirm things (and of course it’s relatively early in Her Majesty’s treatment cycle), the patient is positive, the doctors are optimistic and the treatments are incredibly sophisticated,” a source said.
‘You can see for yourself that it hasn’t limited his ability, it hasn’t affected his appearance and it certainly hasn’t diminished his appetite for work.
“The attitude of both the King and his team is commitment, with the controls in place.”
However, what the palace will continue to take into account is the “risk threshold” of associating with large numbers of people, something like in Covid times.
Queen Camilla will continue to make a series of public engagements as her husband, the king, plans to “step up” his schedule of events out of the public eye in the coming weeks.
The Prince of Wales will continue to balance supporting his wife and children with his public duties as he has done in recent months.
The Palace will take into account the “risk threshold” of the King associating with large numbers of people, meaning he will likely attend events such as Royal Ascot while remaining in the royal box.
This means that while Charles hopes to attend Royal Ascot, a major annual in the royal calendar, he is unlikely to mingle with thousands of people, but will perhaps remain in the royal box where he can still be seen by the public.
The King’s former communications secretary Paddy Harverson said yesterday the public must accept the “new reality” that there are fewer working royals.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, he also denied that the institution was “fragile”.
He said: “We just have to accept the new reality: there is less.” And so everyone needs to understand that they’re going to stay busy and they’re going to get through this. I am very confident that the King, who I know well, is incredibly strong, very resilient and a great spiritual person, so I know he will get through this.
“And the same with Kate, I think once they get over this rough patch, I think we’ll get back to normal.”