The King and Queen have led the Royal Family at the annual Easter Sunday church service – with the Prince and Princess of Wales skipping the event. Charles and Camilla were joined by the likes of Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh as they made their way to St George’s Chapel in Windsor for the traditional ceremony.
Also joining were Prince Andrew and Ferige, who missed the royals’ Christmas celebrations at Sandringham after the disgraced Duke of York stepped away following his involvement in a recent scandal involving an alleged Chinese spy. The decision was reportedly made to avoid causing further embarrassment for the King and the monarchy.
He and his ex-wife arrived at the chapel by car with Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence with Andrew heading straight inside the church. However, he came back out after several minutes to greet the King and Queen when they arrived.
Also there were his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank., as well as Prince Edward and Sophie’s son James, the Earl of Wessex and the King’s cousin Lady Sarah Chatto. The royals lined up as the King and Queen arrived and bowed and curtsied to them as they made their way into the chapel.
Meanwhile, William and Kate were instead spending the Easter weekend with their children at their country home in Norfolk. The Mirror revealed last week that the Prince of Wales told the King of his intention to miss the annual gathering to “enjoy some extended time as a family over Easter”, a source said.
“They are choosing to spend time together as a family before the children go back to school”, the source added. The Waleses did not attend the service last year as it was only weeks after the princess was diagnosed with cancer.
William and Kate recently returned from a skiing holiday with their three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine and Prince Louis, six. The family enjoyed a week in the French Alps with pictures of their family break appearing in a French magazine, prompting the wrath of Kensington Palace.
The family in February enjoyed a half term break on the exclusive island of Mustique in the Caribbean, while William and Kate also separately jetted off on a skiing holiday at the end of December, again in France, with Kate’s brother James and his wife, Alizée. It has been an extraordinary year for the monarchy after both the King and his daughter-in-law Kate were diagnosed with cancer within days of each other.
The future queen underwent six months of preventative chemotherapy, later speaking in September of her relief on finishing her course of treatment. In an emotional video, featuring husband William, their three children and her parents, Kate, 43, said the year had been “incredibly tough” and “that life as you know it can change in an instant”.
Meanwhile, last week, the Queen paid tribute to the King’s sense of duty saying he “loves his work” and wants to do “more and more and more” as he gets better. Camilla said Charles, 76, who is receiving ongoing treatment for cancer, was ‘driven’ by helping others and indicated his cancer journey was one of ‘recovery’.
Last month, the King experienced temporary side effects following treatment at the London Clinic, which required a short period of hospital observation that day. Charles’s Easter Sunday appearance last year was his first major public one following his cancer diagnosis. He was applauded by the crowds as he greeted well-wishers who urged him to ‘keep going strong’.
At the start of the Easter weekend, the King thanked a wellwisher who told him he looked in good health, joking: “You are very kind, it’s all mirrors.” It came as Charles was joined by the Queen for the traditional Maundy Thursday service at Durham Cathedral, a key date in the royal calendar. He gave Maundy money to 76 men and 76 women – one for every year of his age – in thanks for their Christian service to their communities.
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