Most years, the royal family’s attendance at the Easter Mattins service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor is nothing more than a well-received piece of pageantry, an opportunity for well-wishers to wave and cheer and for commentators to observe whatever couture the royals are wearing. Not this year. The absence of the Princess of Wales was inevitable as soon as she revealed her treatment for cancer, and therefore there is no Prince William, nor their children. It goes without saying, of course, that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not decided to end the estrangement that exists between them and the rest of the family. Even had they wished to attend, it is doubtful that Harry’s well-documented battles with the government over his security issues would have allowed it to happen.
Many will have been deeply reassured to see him looking, if far from well, committed and defiant
So instead, all attention lies on the King, making his first public appearance of sorts since his announcement that he, too, has cancer. Charles has not entirely withdrawn from the spotlight, which is an encouraging sign that his course of treatment has not affected his sense of duty, one firmly drilled into him by his parents over several decades. And so it has proved today.
Although the King looks noticeably older and frailer than he did at the start of the year, and it has already been briefed that he and the Queen will be sitting apart from the other royals at the service and taking an extended break from duties after today, he was still able to smile and wave at the loyal public who had gathered to wish him well. As he walked into church, he shouted ‘And to you!’ to someone who wished him a happy Easter.
Many will have been deeply reassured to see him looking, if far from well, committed and defiant. There was a gleam in his eye, captured by photographers, that speaks volumes about his determination to fight his illness and return to work.
Unfortunately, there was also a gleam in the eye of the Duke of York, who seems to be relishing the current turnaround in his fortunes after the past couple of years. After the various scandals around Jeffrey Epstein and his ill-fated Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew was initially consigned to reputational Siberia, stripped of his responsibilities and exiled to private life. Yet as Charles’s vision of a slimmed-down monarchy has come to pass in unfortunate ways that he could surely never have imagined, his younger brother has been pressed into service at public events once again, and obviously relishes the opportunity to be seen at the head of his family once more.
The reputation of the public relations departments at Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace has deservedly taken something of a battering this year. The sense remains that rapidly moving events have left them on the back foot, and that the age-old maxim of ‘never complain, never explain’ has had to be ditched in favour of something more relevant. Today’s gathering of the royals, therefore, is a success. Charles’s brief appearance in public will reassure millions that some of the wilder rumours circulating about the severity of his condition seem unfounded.
Yet the presence of Prince Andrew in such a prominent public role will give many pause. By this time next week, his Newsnight humiliation will appear in dramatic form in Netflix’s Scoop, with none other than Rufus Sewell donning heavy prosthetics to play the hapless duke. Few would bet against this reopening old wounds and the whole miserable, reputation-shredding saga being brought to light all over again. Today, perhaps, marks the highpoint of how things are likely to be for him. Next week, normal service – and national ridicule – will resume.
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