Exactly a year ago, ‘God Save the King’ echoed through Westminster Abbey for the first time in a long time. But due to his illness, King Charles, who suffers from cancer, has hardly been seen in public. What will the coming year bring? “We’ve been seeing him again since last week.”
Royalty reporter from AD Jeroen Schmale compared the coronation, a year ago today, with ‘a mix of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones’. “Now that I see the images, I get that feeling again. When you see him with all those attributes, then it really is Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones“, says Schmale in Goedemorgen Nederland on NPO 1.
Although the British did everything they could to celebrate the coronation in style, a year later only a few people think about it. Schmale: “Last weekend I was in London, during a bank holiday. The British filled themselves with alcohol. When I asked ‘does this have to do with the coronation?’, I got very glassy looks everywhere.”
Visit Prince Harry
The British tabloids also barely pay attention to one year of King Charles. “They do write about the Windsors, but especially about the fact that Prince Harry, Charles’ youngest son, is coming to London,” says Schmale. “He is there for a meeting of the Invictus Games, the games for wounded soldiers, which he founded ten years ago.”
King Charles is also in London. “The big question is: will they meet? There is a lot of speculation about that.” Schmale thinks so. The last time father and son saw each other was in February, just after it became known that Charles had cancer. “Harry then flew from California to London and visited his father for 45 minutes.”
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“It is expected that the visit will now last a little longer,” says the royalty reporter. “The Sun has calculated that they will both finish their duties around six o’clock. The king then had a reception at Buckingham Palace. He lives nearby, in Clarence House. How long will it take Harry to get there? Can they eat together? It should be possible.”
Charles ‘touchable’
Charles’ first year as king was marked by his illness. Schmale: “But since last week we have been seeing him in public again. He and Camilla visited cancer patients and their practitioners. They chose that well.”
According to Schmale, Charles is closer to the people than his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth. “It’s more accessible. His mother was of course superior to everything. Because Charles has a disease that can unfortunately affect us all and that we will all have to deal with, he is much more touchable. That is exactly what the British people needed after so many years of Elizabeth. By the way, he shouldn’t become too approachable. That is the balance monarchs must always find.”
We will see more of King Charles in his second year, Schmale thinks. “If his health allows it, he also goes on a trip. And Japanese Emperor Naruhito comes to Britain. It’s about the two greatest monarchs in the world meeting each other.”
Also read:
‘The British monarchy has been disrupted,’ says royal expert about sick King Charles
By: Peter Visser
