Prince William and Kate Middleton have a lot on their plates with raising three children while dealing with her cancer battle.
That should be enough to conquer, but adding King Charles III’s own health crisis into the mix is reportedly creating another layer of pressure that is edging them to the brink – and they are struggling to face the reality of what lies ahead.
“The almost simultaneous news of Charles’s cancer has put William and Catherine in frightening proximity to ascending the throne just when they had hoped for a span of years to parent their children out of the public eye,” royal journalist Tina Brown explained in a March 25 New York Times essay.
She described it as a “tidal wave of premature responsibility” after the royal family has been hit with one controversy after another – and William and Kate have to prepare for the idea that their reign may begin sooner versus later.
“Frozen, unready, and with Catherine now seriously unwell, the Prince and Princess of Wales await the awesome burden of the crown,” Brown wrote. The burden is even greater for Kate because “Catherine is the most popular member of the royal family after William” and there is the belief that “the future of the monarchy hangs by a thread, and that thread is her.” Brown claimed that it’s causing “intense anxiety” and “unmanageable pressure” in a situation that was already weighed down by Prince Andrew’s Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the ongoing family feud with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
It’s hard to know how this story ends because even the British tabloids are pushing back against the monarchy with more critical coverage – and that would have never happened during Queen Elizabeth II’s era. King Charles has yet to find his footing as monarch, and his health concerns, of course, are his top priority. William has kept a limited royal appearance schedule to be there for Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, but it leaves the palace rather exposed. There are only so many engagements that Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh can attend.
The anonymous reporter, who spoke with New York magazine recently, spelled out exactly what the issue is. “To be frank with you, I think Edward and Sophie are lovely, and Princess Anne is very popular and is admired for just doing that old-fashioned work: opening the hospitals, going to charity shops, whatever,” they said. “But it’s really just the king and queen and William and Kate who are the box office.” The royal family is struggling, and the cracks are beginning to show.
