As King Charles undergoes cancer treatment, Prince William takes center stage in the British royal family’s public activities

During her time, Queen Elizabeth II said that people had to see her to believe in her. The presence of the monarch, as well as the most important members of the Windsor family, at hundreds of public events throughout the United Kingdom is essential for keeping the sentimental link between the institution and its citizens alive. In recent days, it has fallen to Buckingham Palace to reiterate that Charles III’s diagnosis of cancer and his treatment, which began this Monday, do not require the activation of any constitutional substitution mechanism. But the king’s doctors have recommended that he avoid attending events in the coming months, which has put Prince William, the heir to the throne, at the forefront of royal activities.

This Wednesday he participated in an award ceremony at Windsor Castle and will end the day by attending the annual London Air Ambulance gala, which fundraises for the organization. The British media expects William to use this event to address his father’s diagnosis and to express the royal family’s gratitude to all those who have sent messages of encouragement and well wishes for King Charles III’s speedy recovery.

In mid-January, Prince William had announced his willingness to withdraw from his public commitments in order to care for his children and his wife, Kate Middleton, who is still recovering from an abdominal surgery that kept her hospitalized for two weeks and will keep her away from her duties as a member of the royal family until Easter at least.

The shocking turn in the monarch’s health, however, has once again imposed the obligations expected of Prince William as the heir to the crown. And the anticipated increase in his public presence will remind many of his father’s own presence during the months following the pandemic, when Queen Elizabeth II began to have “mobility problems.” They are completely different situations to begin with. Charles III’s cancer (Buckingham Palace declined to specify what type it is) was detected “at a very early stage,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the BBC. The monarch is keeping a “positive attitude” about his treatment, and he will continue to conduct his usual affairs of state (reading daily reports, weekly meetings with Sunak).

In any case, the new situation has had an unexpected effect. In his 18 months as king, Charles III had been determined to be a very active monarch, pursuing an agenda full of events and direct contact with the people, but his cancer treatment has slowed him down. And it will also allow William to begin to show what his future monarchy’s forms, attitudes and priorities will be like, earlier than Charles did when he was Prince of Wales and heir to the throne.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Charles III has given his son (and heir) permission to continue focusing on his three children and his wife, although William has had to reappear in public to attend the planned events. The Prince of Wales’ most important causes are defending the environment and protecting and aiding the homeless, for which he has his own foundations. In addition, William’s primary function is to assist the monarch in whatever he needs. The new reality has made this second obligation take precedence over the previous ones.

Harry’s brief visit

As soon as his father told him over the phone about his cancer diagnosis, Prince Harry took a private plane to fly from Los Angeles to London immediately. Charles III’s second son has almost irreparably distanced himself from his family after he decided to leave public office and retire to live in California with his wife, Meghan Markle. His memoir, Spare, sold more than three million copies worldwide, and it had a lot to do with settling scores with his father and his brother William.

King Charles III was able to see his recently arrived son for 30 minutes in London, before he retired to rest at his Sandringham residence. There has been much speculation in the British tabloids about a reunion prompted by illness (in many cases, a reason for families to make peace). But given the brevity of the meeting, and the fact that Harry immediately returned to the United States without exchanging a word with his brother William, all signs indicate that the soothing effect of the King’s illness—which has occasioned so many good wishes in the United Kingdom and around the world—is not enough to reconcile the two brothers, who are now estranged and are pursuing their own destinies.

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