The royal family are pressing pause on their public engagements, for now.
“Following the Prime Minister’s statement this afternoon calling a General Election, The Royal Family will — in accordance with normal procedure — postpone engagements that may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign,” Buckingham Palace shared in a statement on Wednesday, May 22, per Tatler. “Their Majesties send their sincere apologies to any of those who may be affected as a result.”
The statement came just after U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that a snap general election would be held on Thursday, July 4.
Tatler reported on Thursday that stopping some royal engagements leading up to the election is considered standard protocol, so that senior royals don’t put themselves at risk for “perceived political biases.” However, the bigger public outings are still on the table, the outlet noted.
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King Charles III took a step back from his public-facing duties earlier this year after it was announced in February that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. Charles, 75, made his first big outing late last month at a cancer treatment center, offering a brief health update.
Multiple U.K. outlets reported that the king told royal watchers his diagnosis was “bit of a shock” at first. One patient asked how Charles was doing, and he responded, “Not too bad,” at the time.
Charles is also set to attend the Trooping the Colour on Saturday, June 15, which is an annual celebration in the U.K. to celebrate the reigning monarch’s birthday.
Senior royals, including Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton, generally attend the celebration as well. However, Kate’s attendance is still up in the air due to her health battle. The Princess of Wales, 42, revealed on March 22 that she was also undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer.
“This is going to be interesting, isn’t it?” royal expert Christopher Andersen speculated about Kate’s attendance at the event during an interview with Us Weekly earlier this month. “She may appear on the balcony; that’s not too much of a strain on her, I wouldn’t think. But [if] she doesn’t, it’s just going to look sad and odd and send the message [that] things are perhaps a little worse than we thought and so we’ll have to wait and see.”
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A spokesperson for the Princess of Wales told the Daily Mail on Monday, May 20 that she “needs the space and the privacy to recover right now” and has no plans to return to work until getting “the green light from doctors.”
The statement coincided with Kate’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood releasing the “Prioritizing Early Childhood for a Happier, Healthier Society” report on Tuesday, May 21. While the work of her projects is “always on,” Kate isn’t making a full public return just yet.
“This is another crucial moment for Her Royal Highness’s early childhood work,” Christian Guy, executive director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, told People on Monday. “Its impact, and the work of her Centre for Early Childhood, is rolling on as she recovers.”
