King Charles, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, smiled and waved at crowds as he arrived for the annual Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle
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King Charles greets wellwishers after Easter Sunday service
The King’s public appearance on Easter Sunday is a “form of reassurance” for people, says a monarchy expert.
Charles, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment, was seen smiling and waving to the crowd as he arrived for the annual Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on Sunday morning.
Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine, believes this “hugely encouraging” event will shift attention away from the Princess of Wales, who revealed just over a week ago that she had started preventative chemotherapy.
Kate, the Prince of Wales, and their children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – were not present at the Easter service. The family are spending the holiday together as they adjust to her diagnosis.
Speaking to the Press Association news agency, Mr Little said: “There’s been lots of reports that [the Royal Family] has been going through a crisis, a period of instability, which I always thought was overdoing it, but I think it will be a form of reassurance to people today that all is well. Clearly, there is still some progress to be made but the fact that what happened today actually happened at all is hugely encouraging.”
After the service, the King greeted a long line of well-wishers as he left the church. Mr Little said: “I’m sure it meant a great deal to the King as well. It’s the first time that he’s been able to meet the public in such a way for several months, the first opportunity to do a walkabout this year, so it’s a very welcome milestone on the road to recovery.”
The expert also said that Sunday’s events were good news for the Royal family’s future. He added: “The King having been diagnosed with cancer always puts a big question mark as to what he can do and when he can do it, so the feeling is now that we will see more of him in the coming months in a public role.”
“The King doing what he did this morning would clearly not have happened if the doctors hadn’t wanted him to do that,” Mr Little went on. “And he obviously felt well enough to do it so that in itself is a very positive sign.”
When asked if the events will help shift the attention away from Kate, Mr Little said: “You would certainly hope so.” He believed the focus had already moved away from her “to a certain extent” this week.
“I think people accept and understand that the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family are on Easter holiday now and that they need their privacy… (to) just get on with being a family. I think whatever the King has done today wouldn’t have been with that specifically in mind, but it certainly helps,” the royal expert added.
