If there was ever an example of the quintessential “Keep calm and carry on” attitude of the royal family, it’s their lack of reaction to the latest Sussex drama over the weekend. They just plugged along with their own duties, including the King and Queen at the opening of the Scottish Parliament, and then the Princess of Wales revealing that she’d spent much of the weekend on an exhausting hike.
On Sunday, the Princess of Wales revealed she’d completed the Three Peaks Challenge – climbing the highest peaks in England, Scotland, and Wales – in 24 hours. It’s a gruelling hike that also involves travelling at least 10 hours by vehicle between the mountains.
Here is my piece on her achievement and why she did it:
A day later, video comes out of Kate doing the challenge from others hiking up and down those same peaks. She encourages others in their own journeys, while many have no clue who she is. One, Jack Leung, had a short conversation with her, as she “power-walked up with very strong spirit.” As he noted on Instagram: “I believed that not many people recognized Her Royal Highness as she made her way up to the top of Ben Nevis. My friends did not notice her passing by at all.”
On Saturday, the royals marked Armed Forces Day by releasing a video of the Princess of Wales escorting her eldest, George, to see vintage military aircraft that flew in the Battle of Britain at RAF Coningsby (Kate is an honorary air commodore of the base).
Prince George has long been fascinated by military history aircraft, and has taken some flying lessons. If he does become a pilot, he’ll be the fifth generation of Windsors to earn his wings after his father William and Uncle Harry, grandfather Charles, great-grandfather Philip, and great-great-grandfather King George VI).
Prince William isn’t a coffee person. At all.
In a new video posted on the Queen Elizabeth Memorial project site, Prince William explained why he prefers tea, and the memories he has of his grandparents during his time at Eton College.
On Saturday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were in Edinburgh for the opening of the Scottish Parliament. It marks the start of their Holyrood week, where they carry out days of engagements in Scotland from their base at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It’s an annual tradition for the monarch and includes a big garden party at the palace.
On Thursday, the King revealed what he paid around CAD$23 million in personal taxes last year, which is the first time a sovereign has made that information public. At the same time, Prince William revealed that he paid around CAD$14 million last year from his income derived from the profits of the Duchy of Cornwall, the ancient estate that funds the activities of the heir to the throne.
The King also revealed that he and Queen Camilla will not move into Buckingham Palace after its renovation is done next year. They will stay in Clarence House, which has been his London home since 2003.
My analysis is here:
A new YouGov public opinion poll shows that the people are fine with the monarch’s decision: 66 percent approve of the King’s decision not to move into Buckingham Palace with just 10 percent unhappy.
Earlier in June, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they were coming to the U.K. and bringing their children. It promised to be the next step in the thaw in the strained relations between Harry and his family, though the Sussexes were thought only to be meeting his father, the King, who hadn’t seen his grandchildren since their last family visit in 2022.
Or not.
Call it a twisting tale of 24 hours as a bewildering amount of spin evolved into familiar melodrama, with some late additions on Sunday. So much happened that it’s worth looking at it day-by-day.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source writeroyalty.substack.com ’
