27 February 2024 , 14:29
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Sarah Hewson, the Royal Editor for talkTV, has shared her thoughts on Prince William's last-minute decision to pull out of a family event due to personal reasons - despite his name being listed on the order of service for the memorial he was due to attend.
She believes that the Royal Family would not have wanted this news to be public but had no choice. While chatting with Kevin O'Sullivan and Alex Phillips on CrossTalk, Hewson said about the Royals: "They don't like to let people down at the last minute, and they certainly wouldn't have wanted that public announcement that he'd had to pull out, either because of the questions it stands to raise"
Prince William was supposed to attend a memorial service at Windsor Castle for his godfather, the late King Constantine of Greece. However, he cancelled his appearance one hour before the service was set to begin. Hewson explained: ["His name was already there, printed in the order of service. He had called the Greek Royal Family this morning to tell them that he wasn't able to attend, and to apologise for that.
Kensington Palace has stated that he is not attending due to a personal matter, but did not provide further details. With the recent health issues of the King and Kate, any changes in the Royal Family's public appearances are bound to attract attention.
Prince William is next in line for the throne (Samir Hussein/WireImage)A spokesperson from Kensington Palace has said that the mum-of-three is doing well at home, and there's no need to worry. "There's been some reassurance from Kensington Palace that Kate continues to do well at home, and I think the general mood music is this is not a cause for alarm or panic. But obviously when you see a member of the Royal Family pulling out of a big event like this, you do start to question why."
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Talking about King Charles and the rest of the Royals, Hewson noted: "The King was at Windsor Castle before this event, but he left. He's now returned to Clarence House. He wasn't expected to attend a big event like this, given the treatment that he's undergoing for his cancer at the moment.
"But we see the Queen, Camilla, leading the Royal Family to St George's Chapel for this ceremony. Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson also walking down the hill into St George's Chapel, because it's not an official state event, it is a private family event. He, we understand, was invited as a member of the British Royal Family by the Greek Royal Family.
"When Prince William pulls out - and this was his godfather, the second cousin of the King, a close friend of the King, first cousin once removed of Prince Phillip. He was his sailing partner. There are very good close ties between these two families, and members of the Royal Family don't like to pull out. They don't like to let people down at the last minute, and they certainly wouldn't have wanted that public announcement that he'd had to pull out, either because of the questions it stands to raise.["
When asked if Prince Andrew's attendance at the service hinted at his return to Royal duties, Hewson said: "It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. I think he has maintained that he wants to make a comeback and be a working member of the Royal Family, but it's just not going to happen. It's certainly not going to happen with King Charles on the throne, and it's definitely not going to happen on Prince William's watch as well. They know that the damage has been too great and he's still a member of the family, and that's the line that they draw. He's a member of the family, he's involved in the family events, but we are not going to see him representing the Royals on official business."
The comments were made on TalkTV today (TALK TV)Regarding Kensington Palace's "PR nightmare" over the event, Hewson explained: "We wouldn't have paid any attention to this under normal circumstances. Of course, there's a huge amount of attention in the latter years of the late Queen's life when she had to pull out of events because everyone was very mindful about what might this mean. With the King and with Kate's illness, now we get this greater scrutiny and it's a PR nightmare, isn't it, for Kensington Palace.
"On the one hand, they're being told by their principles that they want to maintain their privacy and on the other hand, we're all on the phone every day. What's going on? What's going on? But they don't want to go into any details about it. They've said it's a personal matter. That's all they're going to say about it. But of course, that doesn't put an end to the speculation.["
When asked if the King's absence from the service was a cause for concern, Hewson replied: "]No, I don't think that's anything to be concerned about at all. He was at Windsor Castle. He was there last week as well, last weekend and into the beginning of the week, and then he returned to Clarence House and then Sandringham. He's not going to these big events. We did see him last week meeting Rishi Sunak, at Buckingham Palace.
"But in terms of those big events, with a lot of people - given the treatment he's undergoing, he has been advised to avoid those events, so I don't think a big ceremony, a big service of thanksgiving in Saint George's Chapel in Windsor wouldn't have been on the cards. We did know that he wasn't going to be attending, that Queen Camilla would be leading the family."