The merry royal wives of Windsor step up as the King and Princess of Wales recover
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With the King temporarily out of action and the Princess of Wales laid up recovering from surgery, there was only one thing for it. The women of Windsor, as ever, have stepped up to the plate.
The Queen, Princess Royal and Duchess of Edinburgh are to hold the fort for the coming week as the only senior members of the Royal family on public engagements.
The Queen will be out and about every day on visits, the details of which will be kept under wraps until her arrival for security reasons.
Princess Anne, whose reputation as the hardest-working member of the Royal family precedes her, is doing two or three engagements on most days, travelling from London to Moray in Scotland, to Cardiff in Wales and then Wiltshire, Nottingham and back again.
Close to her home in Windsor, the Duchess of Edinburgh will do one engagement in Surrey.
The unexpected royal matriarchy will end only on Feb 7, according to plans, when the 79-year-old Duke of Gloucester enters the fray, followed by the Duke of Edinburgh on the 8th.
Prince Edward is taking a short break from public duties after his trips overseas in January to South Africa and St Helena.
The King was notable for his absence at the launch of the Big Help Out on Tuesday evening, where a speech he had written was read out by Tobyn Andreae, his communications secretary, at the Royal Geographical Society.
In a message signed Charles R, the King called on the nation to come together in times of hardship.
In his first statement since spending three nights in the London Clinic, he described the volunteering as an opportunity to build “kinder, closer communities”.
He said: “I have long believed that one of the greatest strengths of our nation is our ability to come together and help each other through times of hardship.
“Throughout my life, I have been encouraged and inspired by those selfless volunteers who dedicate their time and talents to helping others, across all communities and across the full breadth of our country.”
He added it was “wonderful” to hear of the millions who took part last time, describing it as a “source of great pride to my whole family” that the coronation celebrated kindness and “service to others”.
The King, who is ordinarily vying with his sister for the most engagements in a year, is expected to be out of the public eye for around a month, in line with medical advice following treatment for an enlarged prostate.
Having walked out of hospital on Monday after a three-night stay, the King will be able to work from home on day-to-day tasks including his red boxes. He is also expected to host some audiences.
The Princess of Wales was also discharged on Monday and is now at home in Windsor and reunited with her three children. She is not expected in public until Easter, with a long period of recuperation from abdominal surgery.
She will be able to complete some of her work at home, closely following her Early Years project, but will not be making any in-person visits until at least April in a major change to the Royal calendar.
The Prince of Wales is due to return to his own public engagements after taking time off to be by his wife’s bedside, but only once when she is settled at home.
The Duke of Sussex and Duke of York, who years ago would also have been undertaking royal duties and would have stepped in to fill the gaps left by the King and Princess, are no longer working members of the family.
In 2023, the King undertook 516 engagements at home, while the Princess Royal had 410 and the Duke of Edinburgh 259.
The Queen carried out 218 engagements, the Duchess of Edinburgh 179, and the Prince and Princess of Wales 175 and 134 respectively.
The Princess Royal recently offered warm words about how her sister-in-law Queen Camilla had fitted into the Royal family.
“I’ve known her a long time off and on,” she said, in a documentary about the Coronation.
“Her understanding of her role and how much difference it makes to the King has been absolutely outstanding.
“This role is not something she would have been a natural for but she does it really well. And she provides that change of speed and tone which is equally important.”
