Last year, the Royal Family appeared radiant and as a strong unit at the traditional Easter service. Everything will be a little different on Easter Sunday 2024. This is how King Charles III. (75) and Queen Camilla (76) are probably sitting away from their relatives in order to reduce the risks for the sick monarch. And heir to the throne Prince William (41) and his family will be missing after Princess Kate (42) started chemotherapy.
One of the most important occasions in the British royal family’s social calendar is the Easter service in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The late Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) is said to have particularly loved it. Afterwards, the royals usually meet for lunch. But that will now be canceled. The Easter celebrations will be kept “smaller than usual,” as “Daily Mail” summarized. The royal couple will take part in the hour-long service and Charles reportedly wants to lead his family on the walk to church, even though he is also currently undergoing cancer treatment. As a security measure, however, he will then sit with Camilla separately from the other members of the Royal Family.
Buckingham Palace has not announced who exactly will be there this year. There was only talk of “other members of the family”. British media such as the “Daily Mail” assume that there will be fewer royals than usual this year in consideration of Charles. The permanent squad usually includes Charles’ sister Princess Anne (73) and her children Peter Phillips (46) and Zara Tindall (42).
The Duke and Duke of Edinburgh are also likely to take part. Charles’ youngest brother Prince Edward (60) and his wife Sophie (59) have taken on many appointments for the King, Prince William and Princess Kate in recent weeks. “The Telegraph” has already described Edward as the current “leading man” of the royals.
In 2023, the disgraced Prince Andrew (64) and his daughters Eugenie (34) and Beatrice (35) accompanied the family to the Easter service. At the memorial service for King Constantine of Greece (1940-2023) in Windsor on February 27, the king’s brother caused a stir as he led the family in laughter. His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson (64) was not at the Easter celebration last year – however, the Duchess of York has once again come into the spotlight alongside her ex-husband in recent months. She attended the Christmas service in Sandringham and also accompanied Prince Andrew to the memorial service for King Constantine. It remains to be seen whether the Yorks will attend Sunday’s Easter service.
There is definitely a gap caused by the absence of Kate and William. Last year they were still beaming as they walked to the church service – for the first time with all three children. But on March 22, the princess revealed that after undergoing abdominal surgery in mid-January, she had been diagnosed with cancer and had started chemotherapy. The family wants to spend the Easter holidays together in peace. On April 17, Prince George (10), Princess Charlotte (8) and Prince Louis (5) will return to Lambrook School, and Prince William will then resume his royal duties.
