With the news of King Charles’ cancer diagnosis and Princess Catherine’s surgery, The Telegraph reports that it’s the royal women who will be stepping up.
Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Duchess Sophie will be holding down the royal fort.
While King Charles undergoes treatment for cancer, he will be unable to proceed with public duties. In the meantime, his ‘counsellors of state’ will be appointed to stand in.
According to the royal family’s website, “in the event that The King cannot undertake his official duties as Sovereign on a temporary basis due to illness or absence abroad, two or more Counsellors of State are appointed by Letters Patent to act in His Majesty’s place.”
His Majesty’s current counsellors of state include Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice.
However, as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Andrew, Duke of York are currently not working royals, other senior royals will also be partaking in even more royal duties than usual.
It’s unsurprising that Princess Anne is expected to be one of the senior royals stepping up at the moment, as she has been dubbed the hardest working royal for multiple years in a row.
Every year, the hardest working royal is decided based on the amount of royal engagements members of the royal family attend. According to The Telegraph, the Princess Royal attended more royal engagements than any other royal in 2023, conducting 457 total.
Since the announcement of King Charles’ ill health, Princess Anne has unsurprisingly partaken in more engagements.
Queen Camilla has also stepped up in terms of royal engagements, attending numerous events solo as His Majesty has postponed public-facing duties, as per advice from his doctors.
Since the announcement of the King’s health concerns, the Queen has hosted authors and illustrators of the new Modern-Day Miniature Library, opened a cancer support centre at the Royal Free Hospital, celebrated the 850th anniversary of St John’s Foundation in Bath, visited the new Meadows Community centre in Cambridge, among many other engagements.
Additionally, Prince Edward has also stepped up in terms of the amount of royal engagements he is attending.
The Duke of Edinburgh did take a short break from royal duties between 23 January and 20 February 2024, following trips to South Africa and St Helena, but he has since returned in full force, attending almost as many engagements as his sister Princess Anne.
Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, continued to attend engagements solo while Edward took a short break, including visiting the volunteer team at The Lighthouse in Woking.
Since then, the royal couple have continued attending many events together again.
