Various royal reporters are publishing their “annual review/insider story of 2024” pieces, and all of them are just as sugary as you can imagine. Rebecca English at the Daily Mail had this one: “Full inside story of the royals’ worst year revealed by REBECCA ENGLISH: How Charles’ cancer led to ‘Operation Delphinium’, the truth about his health and just why he’s so wary of talking to Harry.” Because if there’s no mention of Prince Harry or Meghan, people will just tune it out, I think. What’s curious about English’s piece is that it completely centers King Charles and Camilla, and none of it is about how Prince William feels about yadda yadda. The point of the piece is that Charles is so brave and strong and he has managed his cancer brilliantly. I imagine the year-in reviews commissioned by Kensington Palace will have a much different narrative. Some highlights:
When Charles was diagnosed with cancer: ‘In truth, no one really knew what the coming days would bring. It was a very uncertain time,’ a source admits. As the news quickly made its way down from Scotland, inside Buckingham Palace a tiny group of ashen-faced courtiers gathered with an air of concerned purpose. Their role was to devise a plan to support the King, and reassure an anxious nation. The project, I can reveal, was codenamed ‘Operation Delphinium’ – the King’s favourite flower. ‘I’m not sure even His Majesty knows [that’s what it was called],’ says one insider with knowledge of the ‘circle of trust’.
The Windsors’ dignity!! ‘I don’t think anyone sitting there in January, wondering how on earth they were going to steer the good ship with wave after wave crashing over the bow, would have imagined such an optimistic outcome. And yet here we all are,’ another insider says. ‘It’s frankly staggering the family has come through so much, with such tremendous dignity and resilience.’
Planned tours in 2025: While no assumptions can be made, the future is certainly looking encouraging enough for both the King and William – and possibly even Catherine – to be planning foreign tours next year. Indeed, it will be a very full programme in His Majesty’s case, with trips to Italy and the site of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz pencilled in this spring, as well as early talks of a visit to Brazil for the COP climate summit in the autumn, plus several shorter visits for William. There are no immediate plans for a state visit by the incoming American President (nor will the King travel there next month, not least because, by convention, foreign heads of state do not attend presidential inaugurations). An official meeting either here or there is more likely to happen, I understand, in 2026 – which sees events to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.
Camilla is a tower of strength: Queen Camilla has, naturally, been a tower of strength, but I am told she was ‘a little frightened’ at the start. ‘He’s the love of her life, her partner, her husband of almost 20 years. Of course she was scared,’ a friend tells me. ‘Frankly it’s a lonely enough job when there’s two of you. So you can imagine what it’s like when there’s just one of you out on the road. But she was determined to do her bit for his sake, to pick up the elements of the programme she was able to, while balancing her most significant role as spouse, support and chief cheerleader for him.’ Unusually, and picking up on her husband’s cues, Camilla, 77, made a point of visiting him in hospital almost daily when he had to stay there, usually for meal times to ‘keep his spirits up’. ‘She makes him laugh like no one else,’ they add.
Anne’s health issues: The King is also incredibly close to his sister, Princess Anne, and was ‘deeply worried’ when she was hospitalised in June with severe concussion after being found unconscious at her Gatcombe Park home, having apparently being kicked by a horse. Although the princess was stoically back at work within two weeks, I am told that the incident was ‘really very significant – to put it mildly’ and she still has absolutely no recollection of what happened. ‘No one was ever able to get to the bottom of it – it’s a total mystery. It was a worrying time,’ a source says.
Still estranged from Prince Harry: As for his younger son, Harry, little has changed. Aside from his deeply upsetting attacks on his family over the years, I am told the issue of Harry’s legal action against the Home Office over the withdrawal of his security, which is still dragging through the UK courts, is a major ‘roadblock’ to any reconciliation between the two. ‘It was particularly upsetting for the King to see it briefed in various quarters that Harry believed his father could click his fingers and change everything. That’s a wilful misunderstanding of how things work, particularly when it comes to His Majesty’s own government,’ a source says. Sad to say, the King genuinely fears any conversation with the prince could be used against him in this, or any one of his multiple ongoing court cases. Trust between father and son is going to be very hard to rebuild, meaning there is still no imminent prospect, sadly, of Charles being able to develop any meaningful relationship with his two other grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet.
“Tremendous dignity and resilience” – are you f–king joking? Jesus, I guess some people really buy it. Anyway, I’ve lost count of how many excuses Charles has used for why he refuses to communicate with Harry or why he doesn’t give a sh-t about his Sussex grandchildren. The excuse of “Harry’s lawsuit about security” is the one Charles has settled on in the past six months or so. The excuse is based on a lie as well – Charles actually could influence and change Harry’s security situation, and Harry knows that. The sad truth is that if Charles wanted a relationship with Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili, Charles is perfectly capable of clearing those roadblocks and figuring out a way to make it happen. It speaks volumes that Charles continues to be a dogsh-t father and dogsh-t grandfather. Not only that, but Charles still briefs against the Sussexes constantly.
I also feel like it’s sort of been shrugged off that Anne had a major health crisis this year. She was hospitalized for a week, and it’s bonkers that no one has figured out exactly how she got such a significant head injury. She must have had a really serious concussion too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
