The King’s determination to maintain ‘business as usual’ was not without the very occasional ‘wobble’.
One such was in March this year when an unexpected adverse reaction to his cancer treatment led to the precautionary cancellation of a day’s engagements in Birmingham.
This ‘bump in the road’ (as the Palace described it) also served to highlight the pace of royal events when people started examining the King’s routine in detail.
When welcoming new ambassadors, for example, the late Queen would undertake two of these ceremonies back-to-back, whereas the King now does three.
Most striking, perhaps, were all the royal receptions.
Two had been on the same evening, just the night before that latest ‘wobble’.
A frequent question now started to be asked more widely: ‘Are people asking too much of the King?’
If anything was going to be curtailed in the royal diary, it would have to be his private travels.
The King had been contemplating a return to the Swiss ski slopes in Klosters in early 2025.
The King’s determination to maintain ‘business as usual’ was not without the very occasional ‘wobble’ – and if anything was going to be curtailed, it would be his private travel plans
King Charles III is known to be one of the hardest working royals, but those closest to him are beginning to ask if too much is being asked of him
As with riding a horse at the Birthday Parade, even if nothing happened, some might call such a move foolhardy. Pictured: King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Trooping the Colour in June
Beforehand, he decided it might be an idea to test himself with some cross-country skiing on the upper slopes of Balmoral, with mixed results.
Aberdeenshire is not the Alps, of course, but it was enough to convince him, reluctantly, that venturing out onto proper downhill pistes in public overseas would, on balance, be unwise for a 76-year-old monarch.
As with riding a horse at the Birthday Parade, even if nothing happened, some might call it foolhardy.
The tiniest ‘wobble’ would be amplified into a great drama. Similarly, a private trip to Romania to visit his farmhouse at Viscri was also shelved.
Should there be a further ‘wobble’ in Transylvania, commentators might ask what on earth he was doing there in the first place.
Overseas travel on official business, however, would continue regardless.
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It’s snow-ver: Why King Charles reluctantly decided to hang up his skis for good