‘Slimmed-down monarchy’ theory rumbled

William’s cousins rally to the cause as 8,000 guests treated to small-talk and laughter at garden party

ALMOST all of the 8,000 guests at this week’s Buckingham Palace garden party received their invitations in the post, on thick, cream-coloured cards with embossed letters fit for royalty.

Five of them got a WhatsApp – from their cousin, the Prince of Wales, who thought it might be nice to include them. Peter Phillips, Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie duly rallied, gathering for a catch-up with Prince William inside the Palace before stepping out under umbrellas to bring small-talk and laughter to the rainsoaked crowds.

Their arrival lifted what could have been a rather different occasion for the Prince, hosting the party on behalf of his father and without his wife.

Standing for God Save the King alone, with the working Duke and Duchess of Gloucester standing a little behind him, the Prince could have cut rather a lonely figure without the Princess, who is at home recovering from illness.

Instead, afterwards, with the rugby-playing cousin-in-law to hand, William led the younger royals in a cheery, photo-friendly tour-de-force through the gardens.

The “slimmed-down monarchy” this was not. Here, subtly, was a glimpse of the instincts of the future King – more visibly in line with his late grandmother who relied on supportive cousins, as well as loyal children and grandchildren, to join her at public events. The reaction from the public was encouraging. One source said: “I think people liked seeing them being there together and supporting each other.” Eugenie said on Instagram afterwards: “I was delighted to support my family to meet some special individuals at the party who have gone above and beyond to support their local communities and the country.”

Palace sources have been swift to downplay suggestions that any of the younger generation will be making an imminent return to official working duties. The “no half in, half out” rule still applies.

Some, however, have detected an appetite for more casual but visible public appearances from the late Queen’s “non-working” grandchildren. The Prince of Wales, The Daily

Telegraph understands, would be keen to extend similar invitations again, in the spirit of including the wider family as his grandmother once did.

The King too has seemed visibly buoyed by the company of his nieces and nephews, rarely looking happier than he did clasping Zara in a hug at the Royal Windsor Horse Show this month on his way back from cancer treatment.

He must now decide what to do for this year’s Trooping the Colour, in which the state of the Royal family will be captured in that all-important “balcony moment” displaying who is in and who is out.

Rumbling for years, the “slimmeddown” policy has long been attributed to a Prince Charles who was conscious of the cost of what seemed at the time to be an ever-expanding Royal family.

As the transition to his own reign began, the future was very clearly intended to be the direct line of succession: William and his nuclear family, with self-proclaimed “spare” Harry and family included.

The departure of the Sussexes, as is well known, changed everything.

Since the King and Princess of Wales have taken time away for cancer treatment and chemotherapy, so the concerns over the “slimmed-down monarchy” theory have rumbled. Insiders reject the idea that it has ever been an official policy, or that there is any plan to reverse it. Often, one says, the Royal family acts as any other family, inviting relatives along without any grand theory behind it.

“They’re very willing to step up and do more at this current time, to help,” said one royal source, of the younger generation. “They’re very fond of their cousin and their uncle, and they want to do all they can to support them.”

Peter Phillips, and Zara and Mike Tindall are doing so on an ad hoc basis, when asked, and are sure to continue the tradition of Royal Ascot shortly.

Beatrice and Eugenie, who have full-time jobs, are regularly rumoured to be on the cusp of being elevated back into royal centre stage.

The charity work of Beatrice, in particular, is becoming more prominent. This week she conducted her first ever live interview from New York for an Outward Bound Trust event, broadcast on ITV, and went to a primary school to read with her patronage Oscar’s Book Club.

“I don’t think it means there’s a plan to be full-time working members of the Royal family and I’m not sure they’d want that,” said a source, of the York sisters. “They have careers and families and they’re very protective of that.”

But, they added: “The rest of the family respects their charity work. They haven’t ever really put a foot wrong.”

With the double illnesses of this year, rarely has the course of the Royal family seemed so much in flux.

The Palace has been adamant that the King can and will continue his duties, ably assisted by the Queen.

The Prince of Wales has decades of public service ahead, and an instinct to spare his wife any pressure as she recovers from illness.

His willingness to include his cousins is one to watch.