King Charles’ Reported 4-Word Reason Why He Hasn’t Asked Beatrice and Eugenie to Step up as Royals Are Spread Even Thinner
Princess Anne’s hospitalization due to a head injury means the British royal family’s number of working royals has, once again, taken a hit. So, why isn’t King Charles III putting Princess Beatrice, 35, and Princess Eugenie, 34, in the game as working royals? It reportedly stems from what the monarch “doesn’t like” to do.
Princess Anne’s head injury means 3 full-time working royals ‘unaffected by illness’ are left
According to The Daily Beast, Anne’s hospitalization and subsequent pause on royal duties “is the last thing the royal family needs.” The reason is that the number of working royals was already low, given the king’s slimmed-down monarchy.
The numbers declined when the king and Kate Middleton were diagnosed with undisclosed types of cancer in February and March 2024, respectively. As a result, Prince William scaled back his own duties to support the Princess of Wales and their children.
Now, “Anne’s absence means that just three individuals remain as full-time working royals unaffected by illness,” per the publication. They include Queen Camilla, who “does not particularly enjoy the public appearance side of things,” along with Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
Anne, who is often referred to as the hardest-working royal, typically carries out 500 engagements annually. Taking a break from duties, if only for a short time, means she’s no longer participating in a trip to Canada or the royal family’s Japan state visit.
Beatrice and Eugenie aren’t doing more because King Charles ‘doesn’t like admitting mistakes’
A royal insider explained why Beatrice and Eugenie haven’t been promoted to working royals—even temporarily—by their uncle, claiming it has to do with “admitting mistakes.”
“Charles should have brought Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie back,” they said. “They have both made it very clear they would be willing to help, but he doesn’t like admitting mistakes.”
“Plenty of people, including Anne, have been saying the royals have been spread too thinly,” the insider said. “This is not a new thing. Prince Andrew did his Newsnight interview in 2019. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left their senior royal duties in 2020.”
Indeed, commentators have discussed the addition of more working royals for years. Meanwhile, Andrew’s widely panned interview is now the subject of not only a Netflix movie but also a forthcoming Amazon original series while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue their lives in Montecito, California.
“Of course, no one could have expected Kate to get so sick,” they continued. “But you hardly had to be a fortune teller back then to see that Charles, Camilla, and Anne were all getting older and, therefore, going to have to do less.” (The king and queen are 75 and 76, respectively. Anne is 73.)
A friend of the king’s disagreed. They claimed the monarch downsized “because he could see that the days of having dozens of minor relatives living off the family are over.”
Anne’s head injury could make King Charles reconsider Beatrice, Eugenie, and a slimmed-down monarchy
According to commentator Lady Colin Campell, Anne being off work might be enough to change the king’s mind.
“Now we have three royals out of action—and Anne is the busiest of them all,” she said. “Of course, an accident like this is unforeseeable. But hopefully, it will make Charles realize they really need to rope in Beatrice and Eugenie and get Edward and Sophie’s children, Louise and James, to come forward.”
Meanwhile, royal biographer Christopher Andersen said “more health challenges” are bound to happen due to advancing age.
“As the senior royals get older, there will inevitably be more health challenges,” he said. “But it does seem odd that we’re witnessing one medical problem after another being heaped on the new sovereign in rapid succession.”
“One gets the sense that the royal family is on the ropes,” he continued. “I think we were all spoiled somewhat by the late Queen Mother, by Queen Elizabeth II, and by Prince Philip. All three of whom avoided serious illness well into their nineties.” (They all lived to be well into their 90s, with the Queen Mother living to 101.)
The number of working royals is expected to remain small with the Prince of Wales on the throne. “Unfortunately, William seems to be taking the same view as Charles. That they should keep the numbers of working royals small,” Campell said.
In turn, King Charles could worry. About what? That, per Andersen, “once he is no longer in the picture,” William “will take his plans for modernization several steps too far.”
