King Charles’ illness and his advanced age has meant that succession plans have moved along more quickly than they would have otherwise. It has also meant that people have already started thinking about what Prince William would like if he were in charge, and what type of changes he would make to the monarchy. This is particularly true considering William has been pretty open about his desire to modernize the institution before.
Now there are reports that Princess Anne, widely regarded as perhaps the hardest-working royal, is not so happy with her nephew. According to The Sunday Times, the Princess Royal is reportedly “annoyed” that William has not taken on more investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. This is despite the fact that Prince William lives nearby, at Adelaide Cottage.
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A source close to Princess Anne reportedly said, “She’s still doing most of the investitures [at Windsor] even though William lives there. It annoys her.”
Last year, Princess Anne outnumbered every working royal when it came to royal engagements. She undertook 474 engagements. Meanwhile, King Charles had 372 engagements, and Prince Edward carried out 293 visits.
Despite this annoyance, reports indicate Princess Anne is overall very fond of William and supportive of him. She is also said to admire his commitment to modernizing the monarchy. And William and Kate reportedly have a lot of affection for her back. Recently, after she returned to her duties after an accident, William and Kate shared a message for her: “Super trooper! So great to see you back so soon! W & C x”.
This all comes as reports indicate William will “overhaul” the monarchy once he becomes King. According to the Times, he will make the coronation service “much simpler.” This has to do with William being “mindful of how much the monarchy costs” and how the optics of those costs reflect on the royal family in general. “He wants to make sure the whole thing has even more impact and remains relevant,” a friend told the outlet, and not giving an impression of overspending is very important to those plans.
“He has been thinking about the future for years, and he knows that what his grandmother did and what his father does is an evolution,” Jason Knauf, CEO of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, explained. “There are traditions and things that won’t change, but this thinking about the next [role] is how is this going to be reflective of him?”
Whatever happens next for William and the monarchy, it’s likely Princess Anne will continue to be heavily involved. She said in an interview with the Press Association, “I don’t think there’s a retirement program on this particular life. It really isn’t written in, no. It isn’t really an option, no, I don’t think so.”
All these conversations are being had now because of King Charles’ illness. British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital. “King Charles is living with cancer, which makes his family situation very sad,” Chard said about his feud with his son, Harry. “I’m sure he is thinking about his mortality and reevaluating his life.”
Whether that pushes the royal family closer to reconciliation or not remains to be seen. But changes are coming one way or another; that much seems clear.