King Charles & Camilla announced a two-day tour of the Channel Islands in July

Britain’s general election is still scheduled for the Fourth of July. The Windsors are still trying to say that they’re not doing anything which could be construed as “political” until then. Many of us theorized that the election cycle would give the Windsors the perfect excuse to do f–k all ahead of the election, then skip off to Scotland in July for a three-month summer holiday. While I’m sure a version of that will happen, make no mistake – King Charles still wants to be out and about. Charles and Camilla have just added something new to their schedule next month: a tour of the Channel Islands.

The King and Queen will undertake a summer tour to the Channel Islands, visiting Jersey and Guernsey for the first time during their reign after doctors signed off on travel. The King, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, will fit in a whistlestop two-day trip to the islands, where he is known as the Duke of Normandy.

The visit will feature one significant break with tradition – they will not accept the traditional gift of two dead ducks on arrival, it is understood. When the late Queen Elizabeth II visited Jersey in 2001, she was presented with two mallards on a silver tray – part of an ancient tradition dating back to the Middle Ages when six seigneurs, or lords of the manor, would pay homage to the sovereign as the Duke of Normandy. The King and Queen will not be given the same gift, The Telegraph can confirm.

They will travel to Jersey on July 15 and then to Guernsey the next day for the short trip, the States of Jersey and Guernsey announced. It is the couple’s first visit to the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey – the two Crown Dependencies off the north-west coast of France – since the King acceded to the throne.

The King’s title of Duke of Normandy dates from when William the Conqueror’s son, Henry I, seized the Duchy of Normandy, including the islands, in 1106.

[From The Telegraph]

So… it’s kind of crazy that the British monarch is still sort of in charge of the Channel Islands? Is there just zero appetite for France to “claim” these islands off their coast? I’m reading the Wiki page and technically, the Channel Islands aren’t even “part” of the UK, nor do they have a commonwealth designation. They have somewhat independent governments but they still “recognize” Charles as “the Duke of Normandy”?? What in the world??? Anyway, it’s interesting that Charles and Cam are making plans to work in July. You know Charles’s heir is going to be in the wind by the end of June.

I missed posting these photos earlier – on June 8th, Camilla attended the Queen’s reading room literary festival at Hampton Court Palace. She wore a zippered jumpsuit and sat with her son, Tom Parker Bowles.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.