King Charles’ Current Slimmed-Down Monarchy Is so Not the One He Envisioned
King Charles III’s slimmed-down monarchy has caused a “huge void” in the British royal family’s “lineup,” according to a royal author. What was supposed to include the “strongest” members of the Windsor family now is a “limp” showing. Ahead, the “crisis” the royal family’s been dealing with since before the king and Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnoses. Plus, who is on the list of working royals.
The slimmed-down monarchy has left a ‘huge void’ in the ‘lineup’ of British royals
According to Omid Scobie, a royal commentator and author, King Charles’s slimmed-down monarchy isn’t the one he originally intended. In fact, far from it.
Instead of a “strong” showing, what’s left is a “huge void in the royal lineup,” he told ABC News Studio’s IMPACT x Nightline: The Crown in Crisis (via UsWeekly).
“This is not the slimmed-down monarchy that King Charles dreamed of,” Scobie said. “He imagined a lineup of his strongest royals in the family, including Prince Harry.”
The king’s youngest son and wife, Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, left royal life in 2020. They live in Montecito, California, with their children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
“And now we have a really limp lineup at times,” Scobie continued. “And, you know, the Queen [Elizabeth II] said it best herself: ‘To be seen is to be believed.’ If we’re not seeing the others and what they’re doing, what are we believing in?”
Royal historian Gareth Russell echoed Scobie’s comments, telling UsWeekly the so-called “underweight” royal family is “just holding it together.”
The royal family already had a ‘crisis’ before the slimmed-down monarchy
Scobie continued, saying the royal family has, in his opinion, been embroiled in a “crisis” for years. One that became the subject of his 2023 book, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival.
“I would argue that the royal family, prior to any of this happening,” he said in reference to King Charles and the Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses, “was already facing a crisis.”
About what exactly? “Their future when it came to their popularity, when it came to apathy toward the royals in the U.K., particularly when it came to younger generations,” he said in the documentary. “This health crisis in the middle of it has given them their biggest challenge in all the years.”
There are 12 working royals in King Charles’ slimmed-down monarchy
After Kate and the king were diagnosed with cancer came an uptick in talk of working royals and questions such as, “Who are they?” and “Does the royal family need more?”
Currently, the official number of working British royals is 12. It’s important to note that includes King Charles, Kate, and Prince William, who have lightened up or paused official work.
Kate’s getting preventative chemotherapy, although she may attend some events this summer. Meanwhile, her father-in-law is also undergoing treatment as he limits public-facing duties.
So, apart from those three, nine are free to carry out duties on behalf of the royal family. Queen Camilla, King Charles’s wife, has done many engagements solo since the monarch’s cancer diagnosis in early February 2024.
Also on the list of working royals are two of the king’s three siblings; Prince Edward, 60, and his wife, Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, as well as Princess Anne, 73.
As for Prince Andrew, 64, he lost his working royal status following his 2019 Newsnight interview, which is now the subject of a Netflix movie, Scoop.
The remaining working royals include extended members of the royal family, primarily cousins to the late Queen Elizabeth. They are as follows: Prince Richard and his wife, Birgitte, along with Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and his sister, Princess Alexandra of Kent.
