Inside the year that shook the royals

TWELVE months on from the death of the Queen, royal expert Emily Andrews reveals how King Charles has proven a more ruthless monarch than his mother.

And here’s why the future of the Firm is in safe hands with William and Kate.

The death of our longest-serving sovereign was not just the loss of a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

It was the passing of an era, and the beginning of a tumultuous year – for both the royal family and the whole country.

Queen Elizabeth, at age 96, had been the grandmother of the nation, but she was also the thread of continuity and service during the huge societal, political and cultural changes of the past 70 years.

Her life experiences – serving as an Army mechanic during World War II and, as a citizen of the 21st century, owning an iPad – meant she personified the last 100 years in ways very few others could have.

She had survived much turbulence in the royals’ popularity, particularly in the ’90s when the marriages of her children crumbled very publicly and Princess Diana was tragically killed, to reach the sunny uplands of the royals’ resurgence in the forms of William, Kate and Harry.

So the transition from one monarch to the next was always going to be tricky, and to compound the potential for instability, the country was already in turmoil.

Boris Johnson had just been ousted as Prime Minister, Liz Truss then plunged the economy into chaos, and energy prices soared – causing misery for millions – after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

King Charles had waited his entire life to become sovereign – the longest-serving Prince of Wales was just four years old when his mother was crowned – and he inherited a monarchical system beset with challenges.

How would the new King achieve his vision of a “slimmed-down monarchy”, yet still keep the pomp, circumstance and traditions that make the British royal family unique?

What to do – or not to do – with the twin problems of the Windsor Spares?

Princes Andrew and Harry, for different reasons, had hugely damaged the institution’s reputation.

Both were protected by the late Queen – would Charles take a different tack?

Then there was the perennial issue of money – both the cost of the Crown and who should be supported… 

Against the UK’s chaotic political backdrop, it was imperative that at least one part of Britain had a calm and orderly transition.

To say the King had quite the to-do list when the moment came is perhaps an understatement; when it did, it was much sooner than her family had feared. 

Although the late Queen had been suffering from a form of myeloma – bone marrow cancer – and she knew her remaining time was limited, she was determined to carry on as normal.

That included opening a hospice in Maidenhead just weeks before she died, and a comprehensive list of audiences at Windsor Castle before she flew to Balmoral for her summer holidays in July.

There she was visited by all her family – save Harry and Meghan – including Prince William, Princess Catherine, Princess Anne, Zara and Mike Tindall, Peter Phillips and all her great-grandchildren, except Archie and Lilibet.

It was, by all accounts, a jolly time with the “frail, but happy” Queen Elizabeth on good form, hosting shoot lunches and dinner parties at her favourite Highland home.

When the then-Prince Charles rushed to Balmoral on September 8 due to the deterioration of his mother’s health, at first there seemed no immediate cause for alarm.

As the Queen’s condition suddenly worsened, he was at her bedside, along with Princess Anne who was still in Scotland, when she died at 3.10pm.

Despite decades of planning for the Queen’s death, sources say it actually happened so quickly that courtiers and royals were, inevitably, caught on the hop.

The result was that the monarchy had to “build the plane while flying it”, cancelling long-planned foreign visits and domestic commitments.

“It’s been exhausting,” a royal insider says.

“But we’ve come through it. We had planned a complete run-through of London Bridge (the codename for the Queen’s death) for October of last year, including a whole section for the Scottish element as the late Queen was planning to spend much more time up at Balmoral.

“And then, of course, it just happened. That morning was a real shock.

“Everyone was working up to 20-hour days, and there have been tricky moments since.

“But on the whole, the transition has been pretty seamless.”

Our longest-serving Queen was always going to be a tough act to follow, but Charles has already shown that he can blend modernity with tradition, preserving the majesty of royalty – his was not a scaled-down Coronation by any means – yet allowing more popular access and highlighting his passion projects, like the environment while staying resolutely apolitical. 

While the late Queen’s magnificent state funeral was a celebration of her as both a woman and monarch, the Coronation ceremony drew a line under the past and put to bed Britain’s second Elizabethan Age.

It blended pageantry with modernity and was a much shorter affair and attended by far fewer guests.

The King wanted the Coronation to be inclusive and diverse, with multiple faith leaders, prominent roles for black and Asian Britons and the first woman Lord President of the Council – AKA Penny Mordaunt, who magnificently carried that sword.

Jonathan Dimbleby, a friend and biographer of the King, said Charles would be a “monarch for our times”.

“He sees his role as doing his best to achieve a sense of overarching harmony in a very diverse and often rather troubled, often divided United Kingdom,” he explained. 

However, the King has already shown, as monarch, he can be even more ruthless than his mother.

Harry and Meghan have been sent packing from Frogmore Cottage and Andrew has his marching orders from Windsor’s Royal Lodge, as Charles is not prepared to financially indulge his brother in the same way their mother did.

According to reports, while Sarah, the Duchess of York, recovers from her breast cancer and mastectomy, the Yorks can stay, but long-term, it’s intended they will go to Frogmore Cottage while the Waleses may move to the larger Royal Lodge from their current four-bedroom home at Adelaide Cottage. 

Titles have been ironed out – Edward has taken over his father’s mantle as Duke of Edinburgh, William and Kate have stepped up as Prince and Princess of Wales, and Princess Anne continues as the royal workhorse.

Military appointments have been reassigned, with Prince Andrew and Prince Harry losing theirs.

As an olive branch, Archie and Lilibet have been allowed to use their “birthright” titles of Prince and Princess, but Charles has made clear they are growing up as Americans, and are royals only in the familial sense.

The late Queen never stopped hoping for a reconciliation with Harry and Meghan (she left the door open in the so-called Megxit deal, giving them 12 months to change their mind and return to the royal fold), but Charles has been more decisive – after their eviction from Frogmore, their HRH titles have been erased from the British monarchy’s website and their entries downgraded on the official pecking order.

Their online biographies now appear below those of Princess Alexandra and the Duke of Kent, even though Harry is still much closer to the throne, as fifth in line, than his elderly cousins.

There is no denying that the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey on how they were forced to flee the UK, as well as Harry’s memoir Spare, have damaged the monarchy, painting it as inequitable, out-of-date, privileged and racist.

It certainly upset those within the family and in the institution.

One royal insider says: “The King is a decent man; emotional, yes, but his heart is in the right place. He loves his sons. Perhaps he hasn’t always done the right thing, but what parent has?

“He has been devastated by the fallout in the relationship with Harry, and indeed with the two boys not now on speaking terms.”

Lately, though, the Crown’s policy of “never complain, never explain” has proven that it is the time-old solution for riding out the storm – in public at least.

During December and January, when Harry and Meghan were on the media offensive, it felt as though their accusations and complaints could bring the royal family to its knees. In one TV interview he did to promote his book, Harry demanded an apology from his family before his attendance at the Coronation.

It didn’t happen, Harry attended the Coronation, and their approval ratings have fallen hugely on both sides of the Pond.

Accusations of racism remain damaging for the Firm – a firestorm last December was only averted after the late Queen’s lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey resigned from her position of Lady of the Household after asking Ngozi Fulani, a black British charity boss, where she was “really” from, despite Ngozi explaining that she was born in the UK.

A spokesperson for Prince William said “racism has no place in our society”.

And polls show that Republican fervour is on the rise, while accusations of racism and white privilege are hugely damaging at a time when many Caribbean and African countries are demanding reparations and accountability for slavery and colonisation.

The monarch is head of state of 15 realms, which includes Caribbean countries such as the Bahamas and St Lucia, Oceanian countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and Canada.

It will be a challenge for Charles to “keep” these realms, with Jamaica already announcing it hopes to be a republic by 2025, while a referendum may be on the cards for Australia, with many Aussies feeling “unloved” by their new King. 

The answer to this may be to send over William and Kate, plus George, Charlotte and Louis.

Their original 2020 trip was cancelled due to Covid, and any attempts at rescheduling have yet to be made public.

As for the King and new Queen, who famously hates flying, their royal tours are likely to be shorter and less frequent.

Although the issue of “Queen Camilla” was neatly solved by the late Queen’s announcement last year of her “sincere wish” that she should be styled as such, there is some residual antipathy about it, particularly from those who still venerate Princess Diana.

Camilla is acutely aware of the hostility, but in time, her own loyal service has neutered that discontent.

Her title as Queen was always a non-negotiable for Charles, and having been alongside them on many tours, I can confirm what a great partnership they are, and how much he relies on her good humour and lightness of touch. 

Charles must also justify the Crown’s expense to the British taxpayer, particularly in a cost of living crisis, and will continue to promote a slimmed-down monarchy, focusing on the sovereign, consort, and the Waleses.

Yet despite these challenges, the future of the Firm looks secured.

The past year has seen confident public appearances from Prince George, 10, and Princess Charlotte, eight, while Prince Louis, five, continues to delight with every photo opportunity.

William and Kate fiercely guard the privacy of their children, while acknowledging the public roles that will one day be theirs. 

As the Waleses prepare for their own time on the throne, they look to the late Queen as the model for how to rule.

A close friend reveals: “The Prince and Princess have an unwavering commitment to duty and service, as individuals and as a couple.

“That role in public life, they take very, very seriously.

“For them, it’s supporting communities up and down the country, meeting a huge number of people, and helping in whatever way they can. Their number-one priority is serving the British people.

“There’s been a tonne of stuff to distract them over the past months and they haven’t let it. They have quietly got on with the job.”

They are the future of the monarchy – and in their safe hands, it is assured.