What next for the Princess of Wales and the royal family?

With two senior members of the royal family undergoing cancer treatment, others will be expected to step up. Picture: AFP

The news of the Princess of Wales’s cancer is a devastating personal blow to her and the rest of the royal family.

Moreover, the shock of Kate’s diagnosis at the age of 42 will reverberate through the organisation as a whole.

The King, 75, is also undergoing treatment for cancer and is away from public duties while he continues his recovery.

Kate will require a much longer period away from official duties than the timescale initially thought likely for her to recuperate from abdominal surgery.

Undergoing chemotherapy, Kate will also require more support than ever before from her husband, the Prince of Wales.

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

A Kensington Palace spokesman said that Prince William would return to duties after the Easter holidays, but his focus, rightly and inevitably, will remain on his wife and their three young children. The Queen soldiers on, as was seen this week with solo visits to the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, which were both initially intended as joint trips alongside the King.

However, at the age of 76, there is surely only so much that can be expected of Camilla who, like William, is also trying to support her partner through a health crisis. Across the Atlantic, the Duke of Sussex has intimated to friends that he would be happy to undertake some royal duties if required. However, there are many courtiers, and indeed family members themselves, who say that this would only make matters worse.

It is not known how much information Prince Harry was privy to before the public announcement of Kate’s cancer diagnosis. Picture: Getty

For the past four years, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex appear to have been shaking the foundations of the institution they left behind with various attacks aimed primarily at the Duke’s older brother and his wife.

What information, if any, was shared with the Sussexes about Kate’s condition in advance is not known.

But it seems unlikely that William would have given them much warning, if any, given that they are no longer on speaking terms.

At the Diana Awards this month the warring brothers appeared separately: William in person and Harry later on via video link.

Yet their loss as working royals is now much more noticeable.

With Kate, the future Queen, out of action, “the firm” as Prince Philip was so fond of calling it, is not only “slimmed down” but positively threadbare.

Prince Andrew, too, was forced to quit after the disastrous Newsnight interview in which he failed to win the public over as he was questioned about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile.

Prince Andrew. Picture: Getty

BPrincess Anne. Picture: AFP

All is not lost, though, for there are stalwarts who remain.

Apart from the Queen, there is the Princess Royal. A sprightly 73, she remains at the top of the table in terms of the number of engagements she carries out every year.

Yet even Anne has admitted that having so few senior working members of the family is not an ideal situation.

In a documentary last year, she said: “I think “slimmed down” was said in a day when there were a few more people around. It doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing, I would say. I’m not quite sure what else we can do.”

Other members of the family are now increasingly in play.

The Duchess of Gloucester has proved to be a great companion for the Queen on recent engagements and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh bring a much-needed sense of normality and informality to their roles.

Yet with two of the most important members of the family away from duties for the foreseeable future, there are questions as to how the royal family will adapt to cope with the changing times.