THE King and his family face an Easter shadowed not only by serious illness within its ranks, but also by the spectre of anniversaries of loss.
As His Majesty continues his cancer treatment, thankfully he has declared himself robust enough to attend the sacred service, and will lead the royals in prayer at Windsor.
Amid all the recent trials faced by the Firm, he will be signalling a significant message of leadership in what some commentators see as among the most poignant royal gatherings for years.
The number of senior royals in the procession on foot to St George’s Chapel for the service will be depleted compared to past years.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, notably are not expected to attend in the wake of Kate’s shock cancer diagnosis announcement.
The estrangement of Prince Harry and Meghan adds another layer of complexity amid all the unresolved tensions within the family.
All eyes therefore will be on the King and how he copes with this public outing as he faces his own cancer diagnosis with courage and conviction.
A deeply spiritual man, his heartfelt Easter message to the nation spoke of Jesus setting an example of how we should all “serve and care for each other”.
He spoke too of how as a country we benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us, especially in a time of need.
Serious challenges
For the King, now 75, these Easter anniversaries are a time of personal sadness and reflection, too.
His late father Prince Philip, and his beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother, will hang heavy over the day, the ghosts of Easters past.
We are nearing the third anniversary of Prince Philip’s death, and 22 years ago today the Queen Mother passed away, just weeks after Margot, her daughter Princess Margaret, aged 71, on February 9.
There is, too, the lingering absence of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s beloved mother, who died aged 96 in September 2022, and always held Easter so close to her heart.
This year then, Easter for Charles and the Royal Family will not merely be a religious observance but a profound moment of reflection, commemorating those no longer with us.
His Majesty and the Royal Family face the serious challenges, both short term and long term, that lie within and ahead of them.
The biggest being convincing the younger generation they are relevant.
Prince Philip’s final days were spent at Windsor, in the rooms Charles occupies at the castle, after the longest hospital stay he had ever endured during his remarkable and long life.
Philip died aged 99 on April 9, 2021, and his funeral, held at the same chapel the royals will attend on Sunday, on April 17 was a tableau of mourning under the shadow of the pandemic.
In the solitude of loss, the King will pay a silent homage to his father, mother and grandmother who are all at rest in St George’s Chapel
Robert Jobson
Who can forget the image of the late Queen, masked and dressed in black, a solitary figure of grief, separated from loved ones due to government social-distancing regulations?
How Charles would love to seek his blunt but pragmatic advice now he is King, or that of his canny and beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother, a beacon of magic during the King’s childhood.
She of course succumbed to the weariness of “extreme old age” after months of battling a persistent cold.
Her death certificate, a testament to a life that stretched over 101 years and 238 days, marked her as the longest-lived member of the British Royal Family.
In the solitude of loss, the King will pay a silent homage to his father, mother and grandmother who are all at rest in St George’s Chapel, when he worships tomorrow.
His armour worn but unbowed, Charles faces his own battlefields this Easter.
Spirit unbroken
As Kate, the Princess of Wales, heals from undisclosed abdominal surgery and continues undertaking preventative chemotherapy, her spirit too is unbroken.
Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, who the King has welcomed back into the fold, also wrestles with the shadow of cancer.
Shamed Andrew and his daughters are expected, along with The Princess Royal and her family and the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward and Sophie.
It seems the blink of an eye ago that our steadfast royal matriarch infused the Easter holiday with traditions of resilience and remembrance.
Queen Elizabeth, a devout Christian, used to love Easter, not only because of its religious implications but because it was a chance for her family to come together.
The family gathering, as it was through decades, was a silent promise of deep-rooted continuity. Crowds, flowers and the warmth of shared traditions always marked the day.
The late Queen’s touch remains in the whispered joy of Easter chocolate egg hunts, hinted at by the Princess of Wales. It was a nod to simpler pleasures traced back to Queen Victoria herself, who revelled in the hunt for painted eggs.
Beacon of hope
The late Queen heralded Easter’s arrival on Maundy Thursday, honouring community pillars with ancient coins, a ritual rooted in centuries of history. This tradition, once hers, fell on Queen Camilla, who was at Worcester Cathedral on Thursday, as the King was advised against attending.
He had a message for them, however, saying they were “wonderful examples of such kindness”.
Last year the King and Camilla took up this mantle in York, distributing Maundy Money and unveiling a statue of his mother, a stone tribute commissioned in her Platinum Jubilee year but unveiled in her memory.
This Easter, amid the King and the Royal Family’s personal battles, tradition stands as a beacon of hope.
The ceremonies, the gatherings, the silent tributes, all weave a tapestry of royal resilience. For the King and his family, it is a reminder that even in the face of adversity, life and its rituals march on, anchored by the memory of those loved ones past who have shaped them.
- Robert Jobson is the author of Sunday Times bestseller Our King: Charles III.