Exclusive:
King Charles, along with Queen Camilla, is planning to join several other members of the Royal Family to attend the annual Easter Sunday church service tomorrow – and one expert has outlined why he is so keen to make an appearance
King Charles has several key reasons why he is keen to be seen leading the Royal Family over Easter weekend, according to a royal expert.
The monarch is set to make his most significant public appearance since he was diagnosed with cancer when he attends church tomorrow on Easter Sunday. Charles, 75, will join Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family at the annual Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
It has been a worrying time for the Firm amid Charles’ treatment and his daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales also sharing her cancer news with the nation. As he undergoes his treatment, Charles has been continuing with his business of state and holding some small audiences behind palace walls.
According to royal biographer and editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward, the King has been “desperate to get back into his public arena”. She added: “According to friends he has been working as hard as ever behind the scenes. Only the calming presence of Queen Camilla has stopped him from going out and about. She has made sure he confines his meetings to small or single groups and conducts them from the security of Buckingham Palace.
“This Easter weekend King Charles intends to head up the royal family gathering for the traditional Easter Sunday service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The King might agree to be driven from the Castle to the Galilee Porch door of the Chapel but will still make sure he is visible.
“The rest of the invited royal family who have rallied around in a show of unity will walk, weather permitting. Even without the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, Charles understands that the public still needs to see the family. As Defender of the Faith, he knows his presence is especially important during this holy weekend.
“The late Queen and Prince Philip would be proud of the way their son has managed everything over the past months. His own illness: his ‘beloved’ daughter-in-law’s shock announcement of cancer and the ongoing impossible situation surrounding his younger sibling, Prince Andrew to say nothing of his son, Prince Harry.
“Compared to Easter’s past when the royal family and all the children descended on Windsor Castle this year will be pared back. It will still have the essential elements of a traditional Easter weekend but will definitely be a little quieter.”
It comes as Charles reaffirmed his coronation pledge “not to be served, but to serve” with “my whole heart” in a personal message ahead of Easter. Charles’s audio address was broadcast to a congregation at Worcester Cathedral where Thursday’s Royal Maundy Service was held in his absence, due to the monarch’s continuing cancer treatment.
It did not directly refer to the King and the Princess of Wales’ treatment for undisclosed types of cancer, but highlighted those who “extend the hand of friendship” – likely to be interpreted as the nation’s response to the monarchy’s double health scare.
The major event in the royal calendar sees Maundy money – newly minted coins – distributed to community stalwarts by the head of state in recognition of their service, with Queen Camilla deputising for the King in the ceremony, a first for a Queen Consort.
Ingrid Seward is the author of My Mother & I, the inside story of the relationship between King Charles and the late Queen.
