William, Anne and Edward to rescue as Camilla jets off for sunshine break
PRINCE William and Royal stalwart Princess Anne will step up this week while the Queen takes a well-deserved break.
They are lined up to undertake public engagements along with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester – who will all fill the void in the absence of more senior royals.
It comes after it was revealed Camilla will enjoy time off having held the fort since the King’s cancer diagnosis was announced. Her
‘Scheduled private time’
Majesty, 76, has completed 13 official engagements since the nation learned about Charles’s condition last month. She has also been ploughing on with her own diary and attending events solo.
Last week she led the royals at the memorial service for King Constantine of Greece in Windsor, hosted a reception for a children’s creative writing contest and met Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, at Clarence House.
It is understood the Queen will travel abroad before resuming engagements on March 11, when she will lead the royals for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. Insiders deny Camilla is ‘exhausted’, adding her break was in ‘no way related’ to being tired herself, or to the King’s health. A royal source said the Queen was ‘ having some scheduled private time as she always does at this time of year’.
This week the Prince of Wales, Princess Royal, and Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are the most senior members on duty. Charles has withdrawn from public duties as he undergoes treatment but is working in private.
The Princess of Wales, 42, who has not been seen since Christmas Day, is recovering in Windsor from abdominal surgery and is due to resume public duties after Easter. On Tuesday, her husband pulled out of King Constantine’s service at short notice, citing a ‘personal matter’. William, 41, resumed engagements on Thursday, visiting a London synagogue, and going to Wales on Friday.
In the King’s absence, the sight of the disgraced Duke of York leading the royals into King Constantine’s service, before Camilla’s arrival in accordance with protocol, also raised eyebrows.
Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties in 2019 over his friendship with late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Princess Royal, 73, has a packed diary which this week includes opening First Garden Cities Homes’ Sheltered Housing Scheme at Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, and visiting a young offenders’ institute in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
The King, 75, is still planning to visit Australia later this year.