Elderly and sick king revealed as powerless
Cancer-struck King Charles looked an isolated monarch Sunday as he attended a pivotal veterans’ memorial event in London without his wife, Queen Camilla, who is fighting a chest infection, after a series of casual humiliations inflicted by his brother, Prince Prince Andrew, and his son, Prince William.
William, in an intervention that would have been unthinkable before the king‘s cancer diagnosis, set out plans for a dramatic change of tone in his reign, implicitly criticizing Charles, in an astonishing blow to the authority of the cancer-struck monarch.
ADVERTISEMENT
The contrast between William’s and his father’s fortunes was made all the clearer by the triumphant presence of Kate Middleton.
Charles was already smarting from his brother, Andrew, comprehensively winning the so-called “Siege of Royal Lodge” this weekend. Andrew, who was kicked out of the royal family over sex assault allegations, has successfully defied his brother’s attempts to eject him from his palatial home, Royal Lodge Charles threw in the towel this weekend after a two-year whispering campaign, the existence and ultimate failure of which has inevitably served to make him look weak, politically obtuse, and powerless.
Charles cut a lonely figure Sunday as he led Remembrance events in London. The impression of vulnerability was starkly exaggerated by the absence of Camilla by his side.
Palace sources have insisted there is no cause for alarm and said she will be back on duty next week. However, the diagnosis has done little to project an image of monarchical strength, especially given an emotional reaction Camilla had when they were on tour in Samoa, after Charles said he hoped “to survive” long enough to visit the region again. Palace sources have said she was laughing because of a technical snafu, but pictures suggested a different story.
Now, in an astonishingly explicit reminder of the collapse of discipline and the pre-succession era which the monarchy has entered since Charles announced he had cancer, William, 42, fresh off the triumph of his Earthshot Awards in South Africa, openly discussed his vision for changing the monarchy with the Sunday Times royal correspondent, Roya Nikkhah, saying he was going to “do it differently, for my generation.”
He added: “I’m doing it with maybe a smaller ‘r’ in the royal, if you like. So it’s more about impact, philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people.”
He said: “I’m also going to throw empathy in there as well because I really care about what I do. It helps impact people’s lives and I think we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world. So that’s what I’m trying to bring, that’s what Catherine is trying to bring as well.”
Charles laid a wreath of poppies at the Cenotaph in London at 11 a.m. Sunday, local time, in memory of those killed and injured in war.
Princess Kate attended the ceremony, as well as attending a Poppy Day event Saturday night. It was just her fourth public appearance of the year, after recovering from cancer. William said he hoped she would return to a fuller program of engagements next year.
The war is lost, now the recriminations begin
The reaction from both sides keeps rolling in after Andrew’s stunning victory (as mentioned above) over his brother in the matter of his living arrangements at Royal Lodge. While the palace is refusing to comment officially, some of Charles’ friends are furious, saying that he has been badly advised—and calling for heads to roll.
The story has sucked up a remarkable amount of royal time and energy since reports Charles wanted Andrew to leave first began appearing in U.K. papers in early 2023, just after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had been booted out of Frogmore Cottage in a kingly fit of pique over Harry’s depiction f the family in his memoir Spare.
Now, 18 months later, the king’s camp have been forced to admit what Andrew’s side have told The Daily Beast and others from day one; they don’t have a legal leg to stand on and Andrew and his heirs are entitled to stay at the fabulous, ten-bedroomed, crenelated mansion on 90 acres until his lease expires in…2078!
One friend of Charles and Camilla’s said: “Whoever advised the king to set off on this road and keep going down this road has very serious questions to answer. Charles loathes incompetence above all else. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some people quietly clear off at Christmas never to be seen again.”
Another friend of the family said: “I’m afraid it’s another reflection of the family’s fundamental dysfunction. Normal families don’t have these kinds of arguments. The king’s aides were foolish to wash the family’s dirty linen in public in this way.”
Charles’ camp have consistently briefed the U.K. media in pompous terms about how Andrew would be forced to leave the property. As recently as September this year, one told the Times Andrew was “taking longer than desirable to recognize the reality of the situation, even though it is clearly the most sensible course of action.”
They added: “It can be done tidily or untidily. It can be done with grace and dignity or it can be forced upon him. It’s all rather sad. But as things stand, life at Royal Lodge is set to become increasingly cold and uncomfortable for the duke. The only question now is when he will realize that he has become a prisoner of his own pride.”
The answer to the question seems to be: never, brother!
Friends of Andrew told The Daily Beast this weekend they were happy for the disgraced duke.
One said: “We are thrilled for Andrew. Andrew has a cast iron lease on the property so god knows why Charles chose to pick this battle. He has been comprehensively humiliated. It’s hard to imagine anyone would have any interest in where Andrew is living if Charles’ aides had not spent the past year banging on about it. He was never going to just walk away from the property; the lease is a valuable asset he intends to leave to his children, and maybe William will be glad of having Eugenie or Beatrice there in years to come.
“It’s a great result for Andrew and Sarah. It’s absurd that Charles wasn’t dissuaded from launching this campaign against them in the first place, but then to continue it this year, when the king has been so ill, was, frankly, nuts.”
Royal round-up
Also happening in the royal firmament this week, as reported in The Daily Beast and further afield: William revealed his daughter Charlotte started crying when she first saw his beard. William also said 2024 was the hardest year of his life dealing with the double cancer battle in his family. President-elect Trump praised King Charles as “beautiful” in his Tucker Carlson film.
Plans are already underway in the U.K. to try use Trump’s reverence for the monarchy and love of state visits to the U.K. to leverage a better deal for Britain in the coming global tariff wars. Also, Prince Harry may live to regret boasting about his drug use in his memoir if it gets him deported by the Trump administration.
This week in royal history
Happy birthday King Charles, who turns 76 on Nov. 14. On the same day in 1973, Princess Anne married first husband Captain Mark Phillips.
Unanswered questions
Will anyone be obliged to carry the can for the bitter failure of attempts to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge, or will Charles decide the fault is his and spare his staff?
