Alexander Larman

The two years since the coronation of King Charles have been largely disappointing ones for the royal family. A great deal of this was due to factors that none of its senior members could have had any control over – Harry; the Duke of York; cancer. But, in these pages, I have also expressed doubts that the King has been fully in control of the public aspects of the role. Compared to his mother, he has often seemed a tentative, slightly querulous presence on the throne: a figure who had longed to rise to the highest level of responsibility for all his adult life, and was found wanting when he finally became attained it. But in a week in which the King has been very much on display during the country’s VE Day celebrations, he has been magnificent in two separate regards.

After Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022, it became of paramount national importance that a suitable memorial was constructed in memory of her and her unparalleled reign. Since it was announced that some of the leading architects in the country would be in competition to come up with something that would act as a fitting testament to her, there has been fevered speculation as to which design would be triumphant. Something suitably stately and reverential, perhaps, to remember the late Queen as a public figure? Or perhaps something brilliantly daring and unusual, which would have the artistic establishment in raptures at its encapsulation of the country’s greatest ever monarch? After all, if a terrible idea has come this far, what is to stop it going all the way? Alas.

Today marks the second anniversary of King Charles’s coronation, but celebrations are likely to be rather limited this time around. In truth, it is hard to call the past two years a particular success for the Royal Family. The king has suffered from cancer, for which his debilitating (and, it has to be said, ageing) treatment is still ongoing, as has his daughter-in-law. His younger brother has continued to bring shame upon the institution of the monarchy, most notably through shady financial dealings that have invited interest in his relationships with rumoured Chinese spies. His younger son has sold his birthright from his Montecito mansion, and complained vociferously about the privations that he has endured while counting the millions he made by betraying his family.

While the world continues to laugh (and, on occasion, groan) at the antics of the Duchess of Sussex, there remains a more serious ongoing issue at the heart of the royal family: the King’s health. As his treatment for cancer stretches on into its second year, with no clear end point in sight, he hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace yesterday for those who work with cancer patients and their families. This is, regrettably but obviously, a subject that he knows a great deal about, but it was still salutary to see how personal and emotive his words on the subject have been. In a booklet that was handed out on the night, Charles wrote: Each diagnosis, each new case, will be a daunting and at times frightening experience for those individuals and their loved ones.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle staged their dramatic departure from the royal family five years ago, there were various conditions attached to their ‘Megxit’. One of the most insistent was that the pair were no longer allowed to use their HRH, or Royal Highness, titles. These were solely reserved for those working royals who are expected to perform often arduous and tedious duties, rather than a pair of chancers who saw the opportunity to monetise their birthright (him) and the chance to cash in on an advantageous marriage (her).