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Jubilee celebrates queen, but highlights absences
Charles takes reins in her stead, with focus on young royals
LONDON — After appearing Thursday on the balcony at Buckingham Palace and lighting a beacon to celebrate 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II skipped a thanksgiving service Friday at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The palace cited her “discomfort” and problems with mobility, which have forced her largely out of the public eye.
Prince Charles, in what has become a familiar sight, played the understudy. He took his mother’s seat at the front of the cathedral, smiling slightly when the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said of the queen, “We are so glad you are still in the saddle. And we are all glad that there is still more to come.”
How much more is a mystery.
That lingering uncertainty poses an acute challenge to Charles, who at 73 is already the longest-serving heir in British history. His unspoken transition into the sovereign’s role amounts to a kind of soft launch, royal experts said, allowing Britons to get used to the idea of him as king. But with Buckingham Palace averse to designating him a regent, the delineation of his duties can become constitutionally tricky.
“Prince Charles is now the de facto, front-of-house head of state,” said Peter Hunt, a former royal correspondent for the BBC. “A frail queen will mostly be a virtual presence in our lives. What’s yet to be resolved is what happens if she can no longer carry out her core duties, such as her weekly discussions with the prime minister.”
The four-day jubilee, which concludes Sunday, has been a vivid reminder that the queen remains the most popular member of the royal family. She has a 75% approval rating, according to a recent poll by market research firm YouGov. Her grandson Prince William is the next most favored, with a 66% approval rating, while Charles is at 50%, a number that has ticked up slightly over the past year.
For those who lined the
Mall in front of Buckingham Palace on Thursday, including admirers from the United States and other countries, the queen was clearly the main attraction. Her initial, surprise appearance on the balcony to inspect the troops drew a thunderous cheer. And her absence at St. Paul’s, while not a surprise given the forbidding logistics, was a letdown.
On Saturday morning, police briefly evacuated Trafalgar Square after finding a suspicious vehicle, an unnerving reminder of the terrorist attacks that have struck London over the years. Police said this incident was not related to terrorism, and the square was reopened by midday.
The queen also missed the Epsom Derby horse race later in the day and a star-studded concert in her honor Saturday night.
Friday’s religious service, with a New Testament reading by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was meant to honor the queen’s role as head of state. Five former prime ministers whom she met with over the decades were on hand: John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown,
David Cameron and Theresa May.
“The queen has been a constant through everything,” said Sharon Kent, who traveled from Devon in southern England to take part in the festivities. “Whether you’re patriotic or not, she’s always been there.”
With the queen missing, the spotlight inevitably swung to the younger generation of royals. But just as inevitably, it resurfaced intergenerational tensions that have spilled out from behind the palace walls.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, made the splashiest entrance at St. Paul’s on
Friday, emerging from their Range Rover to a welling of cheers — interrupted by a few boos — from the crowd. Once they were inside, every head turned as the couple walked, holding hands, through the cathedral’s soaring nave to their seats.
It was the couple’s first official royal event since they left Britain in a bitter falling-out with the family, particularly with Charles, Harry’s father, and Harry’s elder brother, William.
Andrew, too, was a noshow, because the palace said he had tested positive for the coronavirus. This was to have been his only public participation in the jubilee, given that he has been largely banished from public life because of his association with Jeffrey Epstein, t he deceased financier and convicted sex offender.
Wi th f e we r wo r king royals, the burden of hundreds of public appearances a year falls on Charles. He performs investitures, in which the palace confers knighthoods, on behalf of his mother. Last month, he presided over the state opening of Parliament, reading the Queen’s Speech, which lays out legislative priorities.