The two years since the coronation of King Charles have been largely disappointing ones for the royal family. A great deal of this was due to factors that none of its senior members could have had any control over – Harry; the Duke of York; cancer. But, in these pages, I have also expressed doubts that the King has been fully in control of the public aspects of the role. Compared to his mother, he has often seemed a tentative, slightly querulous presence on the throne: a figure who had longed to rise to the highest level of responsibility for all his adult life, and was found wanting when he finally became attained it.
But in a week in which the King has been very much on display during the country’s VE Day celebrations, he has been magnificent in two separate regards. He has coped manfully with the often onerous workload that he has inevitably faced – the sheer number of events, addresses and greetings that he has had to contend with would be tiring for anyone, let alone a 76-year old man who is still undergoing treatment for cancer.
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