King Charles III has cancer: This is what happens to the Windsors

This is the current status

“During the recent procedure that the King underwent for benign prostate enlargement, a tissue change was detected that gave rise to concern. Further investigations showed that it was a form of cancer. His Majesty has started appropriate therapy during “On the advice of his doctors, he will not attend any official appointments abroad. However, he will continue to take care of state business and process official documents.” This was said in a press release from Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.

What’s next for the Windsors?

Despite all the horror and concern felt by many people for the king, the question arises: What happens now that the 75-year-old may not be able to fully carry out his duties as head of state for much longer than expected due to the serious diagnosis?

Until now, it was generally assumed that Charles would work part-time from one of his residences for a few weeks straight after the procedure and would get back to full-time with his official duties by March at the latest.

In any case, one thing will not happen, as the last sentence from the press statement quoted above shows: There will now be no reign by the Prince of Wales, Prince William, or other members of the royal family.

No Charles-Representation by Scandal Princes

The Council of State regulation, according to which two members from a fixed circle of authorized representatives of King Charles can sign state documents for him and also otherwise act for him where necessary, will not come into force. This means that once again the case feared by many will not occur that the Dukes of York and Sussex – i.e. Princes Andrew and Harry – will be called upon to act on behalf of the King. Because of their position in the line of succession, they would theoretically be the next authorized representatives after Queen Camilla and Prince William, who is currently not fully operational due to his wife Kate’s convalescent break. The palace tried to head off any speculation in this direction by emphasizing that the king would continue to hold his Wednesday audiences with the prime minister as usual.

William becomes active again early

Good news was announced earlier on Monday in connection with the Prince of Wales: William will surprisingly resume some of his representative duties from next Wednesday, although wife Kate still has to take it easy at home in Adelaide Cottage. Starting with an investiture at Windsor Castle, where he will award medals or ennoble deserving Britons on behalf of his royal father, he will travel on the same day to nearby London to take part in a festive charity dinner in honor of the London Air Ambulance . This event will be particularly close to his heart as he himself served as a rescue helicopter pilot years ago.

It is not yet publicly known what the replacement arrangements for the appointments already planned for King Charles could look like in the near future. As we hear, all those most affected in the royal family, i.e. Charles’ sons and siblings, only found out about the new diagnosis from him at very short notice. In general, due to the cancer treatment that has already started, which was mentioned in the palace’s press release, one can assume that the king will do everything he wants to do “from home”, i.e. not in public and without great physical exertion can do it yourself.

However, he leaves external appointments, travel or strenuous swinging of swords while knighting to heir to the throne William, sister Anne or brother Edward and his wife Sophie. Since the Queen’s death, these have been his closest allies in the fight to keep the Windsor family company running. The Princess of Wales may also recover from her abdominal operation faster than expected, despite being on sick leave by Easter. Then Kate could soon step in for her father-in-law.

Slogan: Carry on!

For the moment, despite the bad news, the royal watchword remains “Let’s get on with it!”, as the late Prince Consort Philip often said.

The fact that Charles’ “prodigal son” Prince Harry is reportedly already on the plane from Los Angeles to London should, as we learned from circles close to the court, be understood less as a desperate attempt to see his father alive again. But rather as a desire to support him in this challenging health situation, as should be normal among close relatives. It could also be a bit of a tentative approach, an attempt to lay a small foundation for a bridge that father and son could perhaps build in the future to find each other again.

“Operation Menai Bridge”, the plans for a future state funeral of the former long-time Prince of Wales and current King Charles, which have of course been in place for years and are named after a bridge between England and Wales, will hopefully continue to gather dust in the palace’s filing cabinets for a long time to come .