Under the pouring rain, Prince William, without King Charles III, held his first major event at Buckingham Palace.
The heir to the throne hosted a grand and lavish garden party with the support of many familiar faces of the Royal Family. Because King Charles and Kate Middleton are both battling cancer — they remained out of the public to continue their recovery process.
Queen Camilla, who is overworked, appeared to have taken a little break. Prince William was not alone — his army of cousins forming a support system stepped in as backup.
Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, and her husband, Mike Tindall, all elegantly dressed, joined Prince William in greeting and entertaining the many attendees of the fancy gathering.
The event gave a glimpse of what could be — King Charles’s skeleton monarchy getting some new life injected into it with the presence of other royals, such as Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.
Since the announcement of Princess Kate and King Charles’s health issues, royal watchers have been urging the institution to reconsider the “half-in and half-out” rule, which allows royals to balance their public and private lives. This would enable Prince William to receive the necessary support.
However, according to a royal expert who has inside contact in the palaces, that will never be possible because of the agreement signed between The Firm, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
According to The Daily Mail‘s royal expert, Rebecca English, King Charles cannot reverse his stance on not having part-time royals because it would open the door for the Sussexes to attack him and The Firm for being hypocrites.
She wrote: “The unfortunate truth, however, is that none of [the cousins] will be asked to support the working royals on a more permanent basis, however badly they are needed. For that, they must thank the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Those in the know tell me there is deep concern at Buckingham Palace that changing direction in this way would play into Harry and Meghan’s hands.”
The royal commentator added: “The Sussexes had been told very firmly by the late Queen Elizabeth that their preferred option of being ‘half-in, half-out’ royals while pursuing lucrative commercial careers was simply unacceptable. This ruling was partly down to the Queen’s personal sense of service. But it also owed something to her quiet belief that Harry and Meghan’s allegiance to the almighty Dollar might supersede anything they promised to Queen and Country.”
Prince Harry and Markle pleaded with the monarchy for a collaboration — they would work and be financially independent while representing the monarchy.
The Sovereign saw it as an insult. The commentator stated: “At the height of the ‘Megxit’ controversy, as it became clear Harry and Meghan would relocate to North America, I was told that Her Majesty was riled by the couple’s insistence they would continue to ‘collaborate’ with her in the future. ‘No one collaborates with the Queen. This is not one of those ‘Kate Moss X Top Shop’ tie-ups!’ raged one well-placed source at the time.”
King Charles is in a complicated situation; he needs all hands on deck but he cannot add new working royals because Prince Harry and Markle would call him out.
She concluded by saying: “Seeking commercial deals while acting on behalf of, or representing, the British head of state would also have been a clear conflict of interest, and Her Majesty knew that all too well. Harry and Meghan could never accept it, of course, and here is the consequence: there can be no relaxation of the rules for any of the younger royals. It is full time or nothing.”
Some observers say that the staus quo will stay in place for a while.
