Cover Story Kate and William: Under pressure
It’s crunch time for the Cambridges, says royal biographer Duncan Larcombe
The Queen will hold crunch talks with Princes Charles and William to discuss how the senior Royal Family emerges from lockdown. High on the agenda will be how they balance the return of normal royal duties with the seismic shifts that have happened within the family since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
They will discuss how the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and the continued absence of the Duke of York will impact their workload.
Even if Her Majesty refuses to scale back on her duties, current demands on the Court diary are greater than ever and there is a clear void left by Harry and Meghan.
‘CHARLES FACES A DILEMMA’
More work for the Cambridges
According to my palace source, the Prince of Wales is particularly concerned about ‘seriously overburdening’ the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge while their family is still young.
He is reluctant to allow William and Kate to take up too much of the slack, spread themselves thin and become overexposed. He worries that they may come under a huge amount of pressure if they take up all of the duties that may be expected of them now there are fewer people to mop up the work. William and Kate are the great hope for the future and putting pressure on them could impact all aspects of their life and that’s not something anyone is willing to risk.
My source tells me, ‘Prince Charles faces a difficult dilemma over what should be added to William and Kate’s growing list of official duties. Just because the couple are willing to step up to the plate, doesn’t mean they should take on everything.’ The Prince of Wales is keen to scale back the Royal Family when he becomes king, but before then he has raised concerns about simply expecting the Cambridges to pick up the slack. William and Kate have a young family and while they have so far been willing to step into the breach, Charles is concerned they could quickly become seriously overburdened.
The COVID pandemic has given the royals breathing space but as restrictions are lifted it is feared Harry and Meghan’s departure in particular will start to have an impact on the workload of others.
One option would be to begin the process of scaling back the number and breadth of royal engagements, but the source would not be drawn on how the Queen may feel about such a move, telling me, ‘Ultimately it will be for Her Majesty to decide what, if any, changes need to be made to the royal diary. The Duke of Edinburgh’s mantra of ‘all hands on deck’ doesn’t take into account what happens when there are fewer hands.’
End in sight?
News that the three most senior royals will sit down to discuss the future of the firm comes as some critics suggest the
institution is now entering the ‘endgame’.
Wolf Hall and Booker-prize winning author Dame Hilary Mantel hit the headlines after she predicted this is a sign the family is entering its ‘last big era’.
This argument underestimates one of the most important strands of the House of Windsor – their instinct to survive. The royals remain incredibly popular for an unelected family that sits at the pinnacle of British society as it has for 1,000 years.
The Queen knows William has an enormous amount of public support, an excellent sign for the future of the institution.
However, she too will be concerned not to place too much pressure on the Cambridges and risk burn out long before it is William’s turn to take the reins of power from his father.
‘THE ROYALS REMAIN POPULAR’