Prince William and Kate ‘will lead tributes to the late Queen on first anniversary of her death – as King Charles marks his mother’s passing ‘quietly and privately’ at Balmoral’
- The first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing will be on September 8
The Prince and Princess of Wales will lead the tributes to Queen Elizabeth II on the anniversary of her death next month, according to reports.
William and Kate will deliver a message to the British people about honouring the legacy of the late monarch and cast their gaze ‘forward’ to the future, a source told the Mirror.
The final details for the address are still being worked out, with decisions set to be made on whether it will made in person, on television or via social media, it is understood.
A royal source said: ‘Her Majesty’s passing was an event that truly signified the end of an era. The Royal Family has been in transition since then and following the Coronation and conclusion of the summer holidays, there will be an expectation to see what is next.’
King Charles is reportedly set to take a step back for the commemoration and will be spending his time ‘quietly and privately’ at Balmoral in Scotland, where the Queen passed away on September 8 last year at the age of 96.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are set to lead the tributes to Queen Elizabeth on the first anniversary of her death, according to reports. Pictured: William and Kate with Her Majesty at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019
King Charles is set to mark the anniversary ‘quietly and privately’ royal sources have claimed. Pictured: The King with his late mother at Buckingham Palace in June 2022
Charles began his summer break at Balmoral earlier this month, having overseen the period of national mourning after Her Majesty’s death and his coronation, as well as his first Christmas Day message to the nation in the last year.
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His decision to mark the occasion in private mirrors how his mother spent the first anniversary of her own father’s death. She stayed at Sandringham from Christmas until after February 6, the anniversary of King George VI’s passing.
It comes ahead of what is expected to be a busy few months for His Majesty as his long-awaited trip to France, which was postponed at the last-minute amid riots in the country, is set to go ahead.
The King and Queen could also visit Kenya in the autumn as the Royal Family tries to make sure ties with the Commonwealth remain strong amid rising calls in some member nations to ditch the monarchy.
Sources claim there are no plans for a large-scale public event or family get-together to mark the occasion, although members of the Royal Family are set to go to Balmoral this year for their summer holidays in the usual way.
This includes the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with George, Charlotte and Louis, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and their teenage children, Louise and James; and Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, along with her son Peter Phillips and daughter Zara Tindall, both with their broods.
The beleaguered Duke of York will also be spending time up there with his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, and their young families.
The King could also have an audience with the Prime Minister, with reports Rishi Sunak and his family are set to stay at the estate.
Charles will stay at Balmoral (pictured) for the anniversary of his mother’s death, it is being reported. The Scottish estate is where Her Majesty passed away last year at the age of 96
It is believed there are no plans for a large-scale public event to mark the occasion. Pictured: The Queen’s funeral cortege on the journey from Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle on September 19, last year
But there are practical difficulties to admitting the public to Balmoral, which is a fairly ‘fragile’ building despite its solid appearance, with little in the way of public conveniences and it needs updating.
As one source previously said: ‘You can’t just throw open the doors and say, “Come in chaps”.
‘Quite a lot of things have stayed the way they are because Her late Majesty was in the last years of her life and it was entirely right that she had peace, quiet, comfort and familiarity.
‘Between that and Covid, a lot of building projects have been put off. Ways are being looked at of increasing [public] access but those are still being sketched out.
‘People like the fact that the castle is an authentic royal residence that the family still use.’
Despite decades of planning for the late Queen’s death, sources say it actually happened ‘so quickly’ that courtiers and royals were, inevitably, caught on the hop.
‘It really did,’ they insist. Only a day or two earlier, after all, we had that extraordinary and moving final photograph of Queen Elizabeth greeting then prime minister Liz Truss in her private apartments.
The result was that the monarchy had to ‘build the plane while flying it’, to borrow a palace colloquialism, ripping up existing diaries, long-planned foreign visits and domestic commitments, as well as merging two large, well-established households.
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