King Charles Faces Double Cancer Blow, Kate Departure Leaves UK Royal Family Depleted

King Charles Faces Double Cancer Blow: On Sunday, King Charles will make his first public appearance since being diagnosed with cancer, but his absence will highlight how depleted the monarchy has become.

A flood of goodwill has been expressed after the Princess of Wales revealed that she has cancer, and the royal family is now facing two serious health problems. During the princess' absence from public view, social media frenzy has swirled, but it should now subside.

In addition to the king's cancer treatment, Prince William took time off to help care for Kate and their children over the Easter break, depleting the ranks of working royals and threatening the monarchy's future.

As a result of her abdominal surgery in January, the Princess of Wales started preventative chemotherapy for cancer last week, so William, Kate, and their children George, 10, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5, will not be able to attend.

The 75-year-old monarch will attend the traditional Easter Sunday church service at Windsor Castle with his wife Queen Camilla, one of the senior royals' annual engagements.

"King Charles really wanted to have a slimmed-down monarchy when he took on the throne but he never could have anticipated slimming down to where it is now," said Erin Hill, People magazine's senior royal editor. "This is going to definitely be a complicated time for the royal family."

To counter accusations of bloating, Charles wanted a 'slimmed-down' institution to avoid taxpayer-funded handouts to distant relatives.

“This is a smaller and frailer royal family than Britain is used to,” veteran journalist Andrew Marr wrote in the New Statesman magazine. “It scarcely seems believable that only a decade ago, people were complaining about there being far too many members of it.”

As a result, there are gaps in his immediate circle - namely, Prince Harry is in California and estranged from brother William, and Prince Andrew is in disgrace due to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Many of the remaining working royals - those who open new buildings, give honors, and meet foreign dignitaries - come from Queen Elizabeth's generation.

As a result, Camilla and a few others have become the public face of a monarchy with increased public sympathy, but reduced visibility.

"It's remarkable that two senior figures should be out of action so early in the king's reign," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. "The pressure is on a much smaller team."

Her cousin and long-term friend Princess Alexandra, 87, is rarely seen in public nowadays, while Elizabeth's other cousins Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, are both 88 and 79.

While Princess Anne is ranked as the most hard-working royal, her son Peter Phillips said this week she is probably working harder than she anticipated.

In her 70s, she still does overseas trips and turns around in 24 hours, which is pretty hard for most people, he told Sky News in Australia.

As well as ceremonial colonels in chief of military regiments and dispensers of medals for valor and public achievement, the king and his children patronize numerous charities, professional bodies, and sporting organizations.

The most visible royal in recent days has been Camilla, who has kept working while her husband is undergoing cancer treatment. She has stood in for Charles on visits to the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland in recent days.

As a patron of Save the Children, Princess Anne, the king's sister, has attended awards ceremonies, receptions, and visits. With a royal duty spanning across the 56 former colonies of Britain, Prince Edward, the king's youngest brother, has been in Uganda for the past few weeks.

It was the maxim of the late Queen Elizabeth II that the royal family must be seen to be believed that led to the royal engagements.

"This is a monarchy that thrives on interacting with people," royal historian Robert Hardman told Sky News. "It has to be visible."

William and Kate are the youngest royals, followed by Edward, who turned 60 this month, and Sophie, who will turn 60 next year.

The children of William and Kate will not join the ranks for at least a decade.

According to Tina Brown, the monarchy is looking very lean indeed, putting "unmanageable pressure" on William and Kate.

"Catherine is the most popular member of the royal family after William, and her future hangs by a thread." she wrote in the New York Times this week.

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