Comment
TOM BOWER
You know Royals are fragile when Andrew plonks himself at front of royal entourage… he thinks Britons have forgotten
The sad truth right now is that quite clearly no one in Buckingham Palace is in charge
THE uncertain health of both King Charles and Kate, the Princess of Wales, has plunged the Royal Family into a serious crisis.
Despite Buckingham Palace’s optimistic pronouncements that both royals are “doing well”, the uncertainty of their health has spread alarm across Britain.
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Insiders admit that the King and Kate face serious health challenges.
Both, say the Palace, should hopefully emerge cured of their illness.
But beyond saying that the King is fighting cancer and Kate has “abdominal problems”, officials refuse to confirm even the most informed diagnosis.
Added to that mystery, last Tuesday’s sudden absence of Prince William from a memorial service in Windsor has fuelled doom-laden conspiracy theories across social media.
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His last-minute excuse of a “personal matter” to explain his absence exposed a troublesome vacuum.
The Royal Family, it suddenly seemed, has been stricken down and suddenly, worst of all, become nearly invisible. Even the BBC has questioned the whereabouts of the “missing royals”.
The great reassurance spread during last May’s glorious Coronation of a robust monarchy embodying the best of British values until the end of the century had all but evaporated in front of our eyes.
Without the King, Kate and William, the group of European royals entering Windsor’s St George’s Chapel on Tuesday for a memorial service for the life of King Constantine of Greece looked discomfitingly bedraggled.
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Familiar infirmities
Only last May, the world had been impressed by those wonderful images beamed from Buckingham Palace’s balcony of the newly crowned King and Queen.
Nearby, stood smiling William and Kate. The new Princess of Wales was cheered as the anchor of the monarchy’s future.
Peeping above the Palace’s balustrade, their three charming children confirmed the succession for the next two generations.
But this week that glorious memory was shattered. Instead, Britain was confronted with suspense and sensational speculation.
Gone are the regular pictures of Kate playing games with children, cooing at babies and visiting hospitals.
The inspiring images of the young, committed and virtuous future Queen filled every monarchist with confidence that regardless of the mess created by the politicians, Kate represented protection of the best of British values.
Watching his nauseating self-importance as he glad-handed the clergyman outside the chapel, one had to wonder if Andrew recalled his disgrace
Tom Bower
Some suggest that Kate and William’s children should be seen on an outing with their father.
Keeping their cheerful faces out of view has damagingly isolated Kate and the monarchy from the public.
But this week, instead of seeing sporty Kate joyfully taking her children to school, we saw a group of aging royals shuffle into a chapel.
The Queen, Princess Anne, and the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent, are in their 70s and 80s.
Suddenly, the monarchy looked fragile.
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Aggravating the crisis was the crass behaviour of Prince Andrew.
Plonking himself right at the front of the royal entourage at Windsor, Andrew clearly assumed that Britons had forgiven — and even forgotten — his outrageous friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Watching his nauseating self- importance as he glad-handed the clergyman outside the chapel, one had to wonder if Andrew recalled his disgrace.
Uniquely, he was stripped of his most senior titles by his own mother.
Supposedly, he had been banned to live in the shadows.
Instead, Andrew took advantage of King Charles’s absence to bask in what he clearly believed was his triumphant return.
And where was the Queen amid that group of royals walking towards St George’s Chapel?
Unfortunately, she was at the back of the group.
Britons were left with the perplexing sight on TV that night of Andrew’s smiling ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, as the family’s lead woman.
What is happening to the Royal Family, many asked, if Princess Anne has to walk behind toe-sucking Fergie?
Had Andrew and Fergie barged their way to the front or was there a conspiracy among the certain royals to fill the gap with the Duke and Duchess of York?
The sad truth is that quite clearly no one in Buckingham Palace is in charge.
None of those wise, grey-suited courtiers who served the late Queen Elizabeth so well have survived.
Gone are the days of the sensible Christopher Geidt, the late Queen’s thoughtful private secretary.
Instead, the new breed of officials proved themselves to be ill-equipped to anticipate and prevent the disturbing images at Windsor.
Of course, managing royal illnesses and the sudden cancellations of long- anticipated engagements is a challenge.
Scrabbling to choreograph events to reassure the country that the Royal Family is not in crisis requires special skills.
Only those with experience and wisdom could have suppressed the scandal-mongering which ran riot across the internet.
But for senior Palace officials to believe that publishing an anodyne statement that Kate “continued to be doing well” would suffice sadly confirms that King Charles has not gathered around him serious players to deliver sage advice.
Proof of the courtiers’ questionable abilities is their inability to end the ceaseless campaign by Meghan and Harry against the Royal Family.
The scrounging Sussexes in Montecito never miss an opportunity to belittle Britain and Harry’s family, especially Kate and the Queen.
This week, Harry lost his latest court battle contesting a decision to downgrade his security status when he stopped being a working royal.
But he is now set to appeal. Having spewed so much poison against his family from California, it’s hard to believe that Harry ever wants to return to Britain.
But without a blush, Harry had told the judge that he regarded Britain as his home, and even more outrageously that his two children looked at Britain as their home!
What planet does the self-exiled Harry live on?
Even more alarming was his public offer of reconciliation and his availability to fill in until the King completes his treatment for cancer.
The prospect of Harry and Meghan waltzing around Britain spewing out their pretentious pomp is enough to drive even a sane monarchist into the arms of republicans.
All the recent turbulence provokes the question, what should be done to steady the ship?
How much more truth about the health of Charles and Kate should the Palace be encouraged to reveal?
Many argue that because the royals are public figures, funded by taxpayers, they are not entitled to total privacy.
Gruesome speculation
The advocates of openness say that what happens to them cannot be kept private.
In America and France, details of the head of state’s health are always disclosed to the public.
Others disagree. The public, those well-wishers believe, does not need to know the details of the royals’ illnesses.
It is not helpful to the recovery of Charles and Kate for the media to excruciatingly explore their illnesses and their chances of returning to good health. They need to be left in peace.
I support the privacy argument. Although the Palace’s spokesman said this week that the two royals would resume their duties after Easter, some informed insiders believe that both the King and Kate might need longer to recover than was originally anticipated.
If the details of their illnesses were published, the media would engage in gruesome speculation.
Not only would that be unedifying and diminish the monarchy, but it would also fuel a feeding frenzy. Voyeurs and the malicious would demand to know more.
That cannot be in the monarchy’s or Britain’s interest. Of greater importance is how the monarchy is presented over the next weeks.
Most of the burden will fall on the Queen, Anne and William.
Having done sterling work over the past weeks, the Queen is now taking a holiday.
At 76, she tires easily, which limits her availability.
Princess Anne has never shied from her duties and her service is much appreciated.
But understandably, the spotlight is on William, the heir apparent.
No one should under-estimate his commitment to his children.
Determined to avoid reliance on any staff, in Kate’s absence he wants to be a full-time parent. His children’s needs are paramount.
Thanks partly to Kate, William shares her popularity. Without her presence, his performance has been critically scrutinised.
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Known to be headstrong to establish a different monarchy, he publicly struck out in favour of an end to the fighting in Gaza.
Regardless of his motives, William was mistaken to plunge the impartial monarchy into that hyper- political quagmire.
To redeem himself, he wisely visited a synagogue and condemned the rise in anti-Semitism.
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William and the monarchy’s future depends on the royals’ advisors steering their employers away from controversy and unfortunate public appearances.
All monarchists now wait to see whether “lessons have been learned”.
We wish the royals a full recovery. In the meantime, everyone should take care to send the right messages.
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How Charles bravely revealed diagnosis to help others
KING Charles has bravely broken with royal protocol by sharing his cancer diagnosis.
Senior royals have in the past been tight-lipped about their health battles.
The last top royal diagnosed with cancer was Charles's grandfather George VI.
Heavy smoker George had his left lung removed for "structural abnormalities" in September 1951, months before he died.
The "abnormalities" were actually a life-threatening carcinoma, but the public never learned about George's cancer ordeal.
Buckingham Palace said Charles wanted to share his cancer diagnosis to boost "public understanding" for cancer patients worldwide.
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