Both King Charles and Prince William just completely reconfigured their schedules for the short-term future — and with nearly no notice whatsoever.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a surprise general election that will be held in the country on July 4. With just about six weeks between now and then, everybody in the political world of Great Britain is scurrying around. And the royals are, too. Per People, the 75-year-old King and his son, the 41-year-old Prince of Wales, have both cleared their schedules for the rest of the week and beyond.
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Of course, the King is bravely battling cancer right now after being diagnosed months ago. Prince William is battling it in his own way, too — not only by supporting his father, but also in helping his beloved wife, Princess Catherine, via their family’s rally around her in this time of need. And yet even knowing all that, surprisingly, these last-minute cancellations are not actually related to the royal fam’s multiple cancer diagnoses. Instead, it all comes down to PM Sunak’s general election call.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening, the royal family will henceforth temporarily postpone all official engagements “which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign.” That means a King Charles outing planned for Thursday was scrapped, as well as two more he had been intending to do on Friday. An outing set for tomorrow by Prince William was wiped from the schedule, as well. Poof!
Per People, the palace has indicated that they hope to make up all the outings at some point in the future. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace noted:
“Their Majesties send their sincere apologies to any of those who may be affected as a result.”
While these sudden cancellations in light of an election call may seem abrupt or even overdramatic to us Americans, the royal family stepping back during elections has long been an important custom across the pond. Historically, members of the royal family not only aim to purposely avoid getting involved in politics, but they also tend to shut down their public-facing schedules during elections. In that way, the palace does their part to ensure that the public’s attention remains focused on election issues rather than royal events.
It remains to be seen when and how King Charles and Prince William may return to the public eye. The next couple weeks could go swimmingly with the new low-key, private plan — especially with Charles receiving cancer treatment and William no doubt keen to dote on his wife amid her cancer battle. But what’ll happen in June? That’s when Trooping the Colour pops up on the royal calendar, and that’s a massive and much-anticipated event every time it comes around.
Time will tell on that, though. For now, the royal family has stepped out of the spotlight while the British people must begin to decide how they feel about the political issues facing their country ahead of July’s general election.
[Image via MEGA/WENN.]