King will use car to attend church service
KING Charles is expected to arrive at church by car today for the royals’ traditional Easter service.
Last year, His Majesty led a procession of senior family members on foot to St George’s Chapel in Windsor for the Easter Matins.
But in his first public duty since starting treatment for cancer, the King and Queen Camilla are set to use the royal car – a maroon Bentley State limousine featuring its specially commissioned Welsh dragon mascot – for the quartermile journey.
Royal insiders say his appearance at the service is the start of a “gentle” return to official duties and a sign things are headed “in the right direction”.
Charles and Camilla will arrive last at the chapel and will enter through the Gilebertus Door, a 13th century side entrance providing closer access to the royal pews.
Once inside, they will sit separately from other members of the family attending, per doctor’s orders. The King will not attend a post-service reception or host a private family lunch to shield from any possible infection. Instead,
after the service, the King and Queen will take an Easter break.
Although Prince Edward has been endorsed as the family’s “leading man” during Charles’s recovery, according to royal protocol, it will be Prince Andrew heading the mini-procession of remaining royals.
This will include Prince Edward, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and their children.
Royal expert Michael Cole said: “In the absence of Prince William, his brother Prince Harry, and their children, Andrew has precedence as eighth in line to the throne, despite the dark clouds that gather over his head as a result of his ill-judged friendship with the late, unlamented serial child abuser Jeffrey Epstein.”
It is thought that Andrew will be joined by former wife Sarah, Duchess of York, who was herself diagnosed with breast and skin cancer in the last 12 months.
The Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence will be in attendance, as will Anne’s daughter Zara and her husband Mike Tindall.
Mr Cole, a former BBC royal correspondent, said: “The King is a man of faith and Easter has always been of great importance to him.
“He was determined to attend St George’s Chapel, leading the Royal Family in the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, the most significant date in the Christian calendar.
“Royal ranks may have been thinned out by recent events and circumstances but he will muster as many members of his family as possible.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales, and their children, George, Charlotte and Louis, are having a family break as Kate is also undergoing treatment for cancer.