RICHARD PALMER: As Kate’s absence leaves a gaping hole in the monarchy… what Harry and Meghan could learn from the quiet royals who are keeping The Firm going

The announcement by the Palace last week that the Princess of Wales will not be present for the traditional rehearsal of Trooping the Colour was not a particular surprise. 

As much as I am sure she treasures her role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Irish Guards and would have loved to be present for the formal review of ‘her’ troops on June 8, Kate will be keen to focus on her recovery as she continues cancer treatment.

Her absence will again leave a gaping hole at the heart of the Royal Family. It remains unclear whether or not she will lift everyone’s spirits by joining her family for the actual event on June 15.

We will have King Charles, who is continuing his own cancer treatment, waving from the Buckingham Palace balcony – but he will not appear on horseback as he has in previous years. That too is no surprise. In the past few months, as His Majesty’s reign has been blown off course by illness, it has been the quieter royals who have kept the firm going.

Harry and Meghan with Charles for Trooping the Colour in 2018

It is years since Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh – Edward and Sophie – and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have found themselves the centre of so much attention. Queen Camilla, once reviled by a large section of the public, now takes centre stage and even non-working relatives on the fringe of the Royal Family – such as Princess Beatrice – are garnering attention.

Last month, William, now back at work on a limited basis while his wife continues her treatment, invited Beatrice and some of his other royal cousins – Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall and her husband Mike – to help him host a Buckingham Palace garden party. It was a timely demonstration of how the ‘other’ royals can play their part. None of the cousins is likely ever to be a taxpayer-funded working royal, but they proved that they can step in every now and again to support the institution. 

If they hadn’t walked away from the monarchy in 2020, Harry and Meghan would have been key figures in this troubled period – and others who are now front and centre might not even have a role.

In fact, their attitude could certainly teach the Sussexes – ensconced in their California mansion – a thing or two. It also contrasts with the Prince and Princess of Wales, who for years have been advocating a style that involves fewer public outings but a great deal of social media exposure.

Kate will be keen to focus on her recovery as she continues cancer treatment

Nothing illustrates the dramatic change in fortunes for some in the Firm more than the prominent part now played by Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh. As Colonel of the Scots Guards, he will ride proudly in all his finery on to Horse Guards Parade at Trooping the Colour. He has even been rehearsing with his disgraced brother for the starring role. 

Andrew, who remains banished from public life following the fallout from his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, has been imparting experience from his two appearances at Trooping – in 2018 and 2019 – in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle.

A decade ago, senior royal aides were telling me that the view inside the Palace was that neither Edward, his wife Sophie, nor Andrew would have a role to play when Charles became King. But Edward, 60, who famously quit the Royal Marines in 1987 a third of the way through the 12-month commando training course, has seen his star rise dramatically – as Andrew’s has plummeted. 

When Edward took over from the Duke of Kent (another stoic hard worker) as Colonel of the Scots Guards in April, a defence source described him as effectively the King’s number two in William’s absence. They said: ‘He has been very well received in the military. He pays a lot of attention to the job and is liked. I think people are starting to see the work he does supporting the King’. 

Wife Sophie, 59, recently became the first member of the Royal Family to visit war-torn Ukraine and regularly attends engagements both with and without her husband. She is another quiet asset doing her bit.

In a new reign when so much focus is on making the monarchy more muscular through the King’s efforts to encourage action on climate change or food waste, and on William and Kate’s campaigns to end homelessness or give children a better start in life, the other royals represent a continuing faith in more traditional royal duties.

Sophie, 59, recently became the first member of the Royal Family to visit war-torn Ukraine. Pictured with President Zelensky

Perhaps the best advocate of this is Princess Anne, who has helped keep the show on the road by undertaking a third of the family’s official engagements in the first four months of the year. After returning from a three-day visit to Norway last month, she did not stop to put her feet up. Less than 24 hours later, Anne attended a Buckingham Palace garden party on the same day she visited a sailing club in Gosport. 

The latter engagement did not receive any attention from seasoned royal correspondents such as me. But Anne doesn’t care about plaudits and praise. She can easily skip through five or six events in a day, shaking hands, listening to how volunteers keep a community service going, saying ‘well done, keep it up’, and moving briskly on to the next visit.

Princess Anne meets guests during the Sovereign’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution garden party at Buckingham Palace in May

In an interview with Vanity Fair to mark her 70th birthday three years ago, Princess Anne made the case for what some might deride as her ‘ribbon-cutting style’ of turning up to visit charity shops, hospitals and community swimming pools, celebrating the ordinary people who keep this country going. 

She suggested that the younger generation of royals might be in too much of a hurry to change the Firm’s tried and tested approach and described herself as ‘the boring old fuddy-duddy at the back saying “don’t forget the basics”. Nowadays, they’re much more looking for, “Oh let’s do it a new way.” And I’m already at the stage, “Please do not reinvent that particular wheel,”… We’ve been there, done that. Some of these things don’t work. You may need to go back to basics.’

William and Kate’s more selective approach to royal duties and their passionate campaigning may well be something that will appeal to younger people and make the monarchy more relevant. It is something that should be supported.

But it seems clear that the Firm is going to need royals like Anne, Edward, Sophie and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in future to cover the hard yards. Under a future King William V in, say, 20 years’ time, it’s not easy to see who that might be. By then, the working Royal Family might be down to William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis. Many more charities and other organisations will have to forgo royal support unless there is someone prepared to do the heavy lifting.