Queen Camilla ‘has struggled with the newfound pace’ of being queen

King Charles skipped church on Sunday. So did Queen Camilla. They were staying at Sandringham over the weekend, and well-wishers expected to see them walk to church, but instead the gates were closed. It was believed that Charles was just taking it easy ahead of his prostate procedure and I totally understand why he wasn’t in the mood to walk a half-mile to church with his enlarged prostate.

I’ve been waiting to talk about this weird little thing for several days – in the wake of the dual medical announcements for the king and Princess of Wales, Camilla Tominey at the Telegraph wrote a piece which just repeated the same old talking points, as in: the slimmed-down monarchy is too slim, the dual health crises are bad news for Charles’s reign, why couldn’t the Sussexes stick around and be abused forever. Tominey actually wrote that “It couldn’t come at a worse time for a family yearning for an annus mirabilis after the horrors of Megxit.” THE HORRORS! But that’s not what I wanted to talk about! This was included in Tominey’s piece:

Aides have been careful to ensure that the King and the Queen, at 75 and 76 respectively, are not overloaded as they adjust to life on the throne. One palace insider suggested that the Queen has struggled with the newfound pace, while the transition has left the King feeling “anxious”, according to another source.

The Queen undertook 233 public duties last year, behind Princess Anne on 457, the King on 425 and the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Edward) on 297.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have also faced criticism for only carrying out a few more engagements than the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who are both in their seventies. They have made no secret of their desire to be hands-on parents to Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, which goes some way to explaining why the Prince has chosen to put his immediate family ahead of his commitments to the family “Firm”.

The Princess’s prolonged absence from public life will arguably be felt most keenly. As the wife and the mother of future kings, she has been playing a pivotal role. She is not just one of the most popular royals, but like her late mother-in-law Diana, has enough star quality to keep the institution on the front pages.

[From The Telegraph]

It’s almost a tossed-off aside, that Charles is beset with anxiety and Camilla is absolutely overwhelmed. Charles and Camilla thought being king and queen would be all jewelry and parties and doing whatever they wanted. But people expect them to work and be seen and walk around and go to church and on and on. What’s even funnier (to me) is that Overwhelmed Camilla is the only senior royal we’ll likely see for the next month. Oh well, they did it to themselves.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.