William’s back and means business
The Prince of Wales has had a busy week
From the red carpet, to homeless projects and diplomatic attempts, it’s all been about Prince William, this week.
The Prince of Wales began his week at the Baftas – an event he usually attends with Catherine, of course, but, according to the heir, decided to go solo to the ceremony on Sunday, at the last minute. He admitted he hadn’t seen many of the movies this year, saying he’d watched “the fewest I’ve ever done before, annoyingly,” as “I’ve had other things on my mind.” But he cut quite the figure in his navy velvet tux.
Next, he announced the Duchy of Cornwall’s project to help the homeless – 24 homes in Nansledan, Newquay, with wrap-around support for local people experiencing homelessness. Construction will begin in September.
Then on Tuesday, the Prince of Wales entered into the political domain, visiting the British Red Cross HQ in London, to hear about humanitarian efforts in Gaza. “The Prince and Princess were profoundly concerned by the events that unfolded in late 2023 and continue to hold all the victims, their family and friends in their hearts and minds,” Kensington Palace said.
It caused debate in the press as to whether the Prince’s intervention was misguided, or inspired? But while the monarch can’t get involved in politics, the Prince of Wales’ office has always had more freedom and can often play a useful diplomatic role, politicians can’t achieve.
Next, William had his own Game of Thrones moment, when he awarded Emilia Clarke and mum Jennifer honours at Windsor Castle, for their charity work. You can tell he was excited, as his team posted on Instagram, “From Westeros to Windsor, a real pleasure presenting Emilia Clarke and her mum Jennifer with their honours today for their charity work with SameYou supporting brain injury recovery care.”
Charles is reduced to tears by public support
Kerry was excited to have an on-the-spot sighting of the King on Monday. She saw him driving past Westminster Abbey en-route home. And a robust-looking Charles remained in London this week. He held a meeting with the Privy Council and an audience with the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
During the meeting at Buckingham Palace, Charles told Rishi Sunak, “I’ve had so many messages and cards, you can’t believe it. They’ve reduced me to tears, most of them.” When the PM said it was “wonderful to see you looking so well”, Charles replied, jokingly, it was “all done by mirrors”.
On Saturday the King became the second royal this week to make a statement on pressing foreign affairs. Praising the “true valour” of Ukrainians on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion, he commended the nation’s “determination and strength”. Read his heartfelt statement of support here.
Meanwhile, if you fancy driving the King’s car, his first electric Jag is set to fetch up to £70,000 at auction. The 2018 Jaguar I-Pace in bespoke Loire Blue, is the only one of its kind in the colour and the King called it “silent but deadly.” It was returned to Jaguar in 2021, on lease and has now come up for auction, by Historics Auctioneers. The sale takes place on March 2 at Ascot.
Camilla’s detector doggies
It was a pawfect day for Her Majesty at Clarence House this week, as she played hostess to Medical Detection Dogs, a charity celebrating its 15th anniversary. The charity trains dogs to save lives using their sense of smell.
Camilla, patron of MDD since 2014, met people who depend on these amazing life-saving skills of Medical Alert Assistance Dogs and Bio Detection Dogs, both of which are trained to detect the tiniest trace of the smell caused by a medical condition. Medical Alert Assistance Dogs help prevent people living with complex conditions, such as diabetes and severe allergies, from experiencing a life-threatening incident, and Bio Detection Dogs can sniff out diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s and COVID-19.
After a demonstration, Camilla said: “People thought how on earth can these dogs sniff out all these diseases but as you have seen today, seeing is believing.”
Sophie’s fashion trip
The Duchess of Edinburgh, as patron of the London College of Fashion, visited their new home in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park known as East Bank on Monday.
Wearing an Emilia Wickstead dress with Manolo Blahnik heels and carrying a Sophie Habsburg clutch, the Duchess looked delighted to look over the Postgraduate Class of 2024 exhibition, known throughout the industry as a glimpse into the future of fashion.
New banknotes coming soon
Take note, because June 5th is the date banknotes carrying a portrait of the King will be issued. The Bank of England has announced the King will appear on all four UK banknotes - the £5, £10, £20 and £50. Those featuring Queen Elizabeth II will remain legal tender, and will co-circulate alongside the new ones.
Read more from The Royal List writers
From the UK to Australia, Kerry and Maria love researching and writing royal features for top-selling brands, which is why we are thrilled to have several articles in the latest issue of WOMAN Royal Special. On sale now in all good UK supermarkets and newsagents, or order a copy here.