This Saturday marks King Charles’ official birthday. The celebration of it, the dramatic military parade known as Trooping the Colour, will be as magnificent and spectacular as ever, replete with flashing scarlet and gold uniforms, to the sound of trumpeting brass bands and clip-clopping hooves.
But when the king steps out onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace to receive the cheers of the gathered plebs, the moment risks being instead an all too graphic illustration of the parlous and threadbare state into which the monarchy has declined on his watch.
In the days of Queen Elizabeth II, the balcony groaned with family members; literally dozens of distant aunts, eccentric uncles, dotty cousins and rosy-cheeked nephews and nieces received the call-up to wave for queen and country.
Officially they were being thanked for supporting Her Majesty. Some of the support they offered was decidedly tangential, but Queen Elizabeth thought the bursting balcony telegraphed the all-important messages of fecundity and unity honed by her heroine, Queen Victoria, the de facto inventor of the modern monarchy.
This year things will be very different.
Buckingham Palace declined to tell The Daily Beast who will or will not be by the king’s side, but we already know of several omissions which will be notable.
There will, of course, be no Prince Harry, no Meghan Markle, no Archie and no Lilibet. That the Sussexes have been ruthlessly cut out of the royal family since their decision to give up their official roles is no secret. But given that there have been stories circulating in some outlets saying Charles is keen to rebuild his relationship with his son, particularly because he is saddened at the lack of in-real-life contact he has with his Sussex grandchildren, inviting the California residents to Trooping the Colour might not have been an unimaginable olive branch, especially as they were invited to the event by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2022 (although they didn’t appear on the balcony).
However, a royal source told The Daily Beast: “Charles loves both his sons and of course he would like, in an ideal world, to have a relationship with his grandchildren. The reality is, however, that he can’t, because the last thing anyone wants is Harry and Meghan back in the U.K. on a regular basis. Their presence always distracts from the work of the monarchy. As king, Charles has to put the crown first. That’s what duty means.”
There will be no Yorks, as they are not working royals, which appears to be the criterion for being on the balcony these days. Andrew, disgraced over his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, remains locked in an exhausting battle of wills with his brother, who has never much liked him anyway, over his ongoing occupation of Royal Lodge. Charles wants him out of the 30-room mansion; Andrew has no intention of leaving. Indeed, The Daily Beast understands he is already making plans to leave the remainder of his lease, which runs to 2078, to his kids when he dies.
The king has been clear that he does not see a role for Beatrice and Eugenie in the future of the royal family, so they presumably won’t be there either.
There have been rumors that Princess Kate will appear, but these have been dismissed as unsubstantiated speculation by Palace sources to The Daily Beast. One source told The Daily Beast it would be “bizarre” for Kate to appear on the balcony having cancelled her own appearance with her regiment, the Irish Guards. Remarks made in a letter by Kate last weekend that she hoped to be back representing the regiment again “very soon” have, however, caused confusion by appearing to explicitly open up the possibility she could be back on duty, well, “very soon,” whatever that means. (Kate’s office declined to clarify to The Daily Beast what she meant by the comment.)
So, the public face the royal family will present to the public this weekend looks like being as follows: a cancer-stricken king, 75, who will have been brought to the ceremony, emasculatingly, by coach instead of on rippling horseflesh. He will be accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla, who still, for many (including his son Harry) is a long way from being loved. Then there is the relentlessly uncharismatic Prince Edward, who should hope that some glamor bounces onto him from his lovely wife, Sophie. Also expect Princess Anne and her husband, the almost incognito Sir Tim Laurence.
With Kate also absent, being treated for cancer, Prince William (and perhaps Louis, if he pulls a funny face) will be one of the only people, other than the king, that much of the global audience will recognize.
King Charles famously said he wanted to slim down the royal family. Perhaps he would have been more careful what he wished for had he known that by 2024 the family was going to end up looking like it was on starvation rations.
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