{"id":844329,"date":"2026-03-23T06:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T06:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/844329\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T06:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T06:15:21","slug":"royal-editor-reacts-the-royals-school-us-in-how-they-stay-relevant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/844329\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Editor reacts: The royals school us in how they stay relevant"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m starting to wonder whether I can get a loyalty card for covering state visits \u2013 or at least a free coffee after the fifth one. In the past eight months, we\u2019ve had four incoming and one outgoing, with a second due next month, if the government signs off plans for the King<\/a> and Queen<\/a> to travel to the United States. It\u2019s a lot. Even by royal standards.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the big moments of pomp and pageantry that define royal soft diplomacy, it\u2019s the quieter, regular flow of meetings behind the scenes. Over the past week alone, the King has welcomed a steady stream of global figures: Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada, President of Finland Alexander Stubb and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine \u2013 now something of a regular visitor, having been hosted for audiences at least six times in the past few years.<\/p>\n

On the same day he met the latter two, the King also held audiences with the High Commissioners of Australia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Canada.<\/p>\n

\"President\u00a9 POOL\/AFP via Getty ImagesWith President Zelenskyy, who has been a regular visitor to the UK in recent years<\/p>\n

That was after a full day of engagements in Manchester on Monday, including a memorable moment mixing music on the decks (you can see the joyful footage in the video below)<\/strong>, and a day before he hosted President Tinubu of Nigeria for a full day and night at Windsor Castle.<\/p>\n

WATCH: The King hits the decks<\/p>\n

If that sounds busy, it was. One of the standout moments during that visit came when the King charmed his guests with a toast<\/a> which began in Yoruba and ended in Pidgin, weaving in references to Nigeria\u2019s influence on the UK \u2013 from Afrobeats and Premier League footballers to Jollof Rice.<\/p>\n

As usual, no detail had been overlooked. And this being the first visit by a Muslim head of state during Ramadan since 1928, there were special adaptations to make the incoming delegation as welcome as possible.<\/p>\n

A prayer room was set up inside the castle and for the first time in living memory, canap\u00e9s were served at the pre-dinner reception, allowing guests to break their fast.<\/p>\n

\"PrincessPresident Tinubu of Nigeria \u2013 with a non-alcoholic toast \u2013 and the Princess of Wales at Wednesday\u2019s State Banquet<\/p>\n

And there was no slowing down. As soon as he had waved off his distinguished guest the next morning, he headed for the South Downs national park to\u00a0inaugurate the King Charles III coastal path<\/a>, taking a 2km walk along the clifftops to unveil a plaque to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n

For a 76 year old monarch still undergoing cancer treatment, the pace \u2013 and stamina \u2013 have been remarkable.<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just him. The royals were very much out in force. The Princess of Wales attended the always uplifting St Patrick\u2019s Day Parade<\/a> at Mons Barracks, while Princess Anne quietly clocked up seven engagements over the week.<\/p>\n

\n

After a month dominated by headlines about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, this week has felt, whisper it, like a return to business as usual.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There was even a strongly-worded statement<\/a> defending the Duke and Duchess of Sussex against claims made by author Tom Bower in his latest book, and the magazine Variety, which offered a notably unflattering take in the wake of Netflix\u2019s split from Meghan\u2019s As ever brand and the couple\u2019s reduced production output.<\/p>\n

After a month dominated by headlines about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a>, this week has felt, whisper it, like a return to business as usual.<\/p>\n

No wonder the King looked so delighted to be out enjoying some fresh air after a packed schedule of diplomatic meetings.<\/p>\n

For unsuspecting ramblers testing out the newly opened route, it was quite the surprise to come across the monarch, walking stick in hand, as he sampled it for himself.<\/p>\n

\"King\u00a9 Getty ImagesWalking stick in hand, the King was in his element on the South Downs on Thursday
\nMy seaside sojourn<\/p>\n

My own week has felt almost as busy, even if I didn\u2019t cover quite as many miles as His Majesty.<\/p>\n

After a 12-hour stint covering events at Windsor on Wednesday \u2013 from the ceremonial welcome in the castle\u2019s quadrangle, via the display of items from the Royal Collection, to the glittering state banquet in the evening, I got an early train to Bournemouth the next morning.<\/p>\n

Prince William was in the south coast city to help showcase the pioneering work of his Homewards programme, which is tackling youth homelessness in the area.<\/p>\n

A very worthy cause, which I wrote about for HELLO!\u2019s website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Royals keeping it real<\/p>\n

But what struck me most was how, like his father on his countryside walk, he turned up without fanfare and surprised passers by out walking their dogs or enjoying a day at the seaside.<\/p>\n

After weeks of reading about the high-handed behaviour of the former Prince Andrew, it\u2019s more important than ever for the royal family to show that they don\u2019t all operate like that.<\/p>\n

My favourite moment came when William spotted a young family who had boldly asked him for a selfie as he walked down Bournemouth Pier to meet international youth homelessness experts from Canada, Australia, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands<\/p>\n

William promised he would stop on his way back \u2013 and 45 minutes later, he did.<\/p>\n

Lily Childs, 12, brother William, eight, and five-year-old cousin Eva, could not have looked happier as he granted their wish. (Their grandmother Jan kindly allowed me to share the resulting image.)<\/p>\n

\"PrinceStopping for a selfie with Lily Childs and family<\/p>\n

It was a small moment, but it mattered a great deal to them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this blend of normality and approachability that will keep the royal family relevant and connecting with people in a fast-changing world.<\/p>\n

Read this week\u2019s full magazine, plus every issue of HELLO!, HELLO! Fashion and our special editions in your HELLO! VIP member area<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m starting to wonder whether I can get a loyalty card for covering state visits \u2013 or at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[238103,1760,532,5105,7710,519,448,7796],"class_list":{"0":"post-844329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-hello-vip","9":"tag-king-charles","10":"tag-prince-william","11":"tag-royal","12":"tag-royal-families","13":"tag-royal-family","14":"tag-royals","15":"tag-royalty"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116277027089378694","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}