Queen Camilla 'taking break' from royal duties after stepping up following King's cancer diagnosis

Queen Camilla is reportedly set to take a short break from royal duties after weeks of leading the Royal Family in public.

Queen Camilla has been seen stepping up more than ever in recent weeks following the news of King Charles’s cancer diagnosis. As he continues with his “schedule of regular treatments” and postpones public-facing duties, Queen Camilla’s diary has been consistently full with high-profile engagements. In his absence, Her Majesty led the Royal Family at a Service of Thanksgiving for the late King Constantine of Greece on 27th February and is set to represent King Charles at the Commonwealth Day Service on 11th March too. 

Until then, however, it’s been reported that Queen Camilla will be taking a short break from official duties. According to The Times, the Queen’s diary appears to be free of engagements for the week beginning 4th March.

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The publication adds that it’s understood that Queen Camilla will be spending a “few days of private downtime” with King Charles and her own family. Her Majesty is set to resume engagements after this break on 11th March at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. The annual service is typically led by the monarch and with King Charles not expected to attend this year, many people will inevitably look to Queen Camilla to lead the Royal Family in public once more.

“Although she was not expecting to find herself in the position of leading the family, the Queen is absolutely prepared to do whatever needs to be done for the institution,” a royal source claimed.

The source added, “She has been buoyed by the public’s reaction. She has found reserves of energy that even she didn’t think she had, and the estimation of her by those inside the palace has soared as she has put her shoulder to the wheel.”

Since Buckingham Palace made the announcement regarding King Charles’s health, Queen Camilla has undertaken thirteen engagements, several of which were originally meant to be joint visits with her husband. A second source has also suggested that the King is immensely “proud” of the work being done by Queen Camilla and her fellow senior royals.

They claimed, “Her Majesty is robust, positive and determined to keep going while the King is off public duties. The King is proud and pleased to see the show is being kept on the road by the Queen and the wider family.”

Whilst Queen Camilla takes a well-deserved break from royal duties the Royal Diary currently lists plenty of engagements which will be undertaken by Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and the Duke of Gloucester.

Prince William is also expected to carry out engagements this week and despite suggestions that he might read out King Charles’s message to the Commonwealth on his behalf, The Times has reported that the monarch will pre-record it.

King Charles will apparently address the Commonwealth with a televised message that will be shown during the service. Last year he broke with Queen Elizabeth’s tradition and delivered his Commonwealth Day message in person during the service at Westminster Abbey.

Since his diagnosis was made public King Charles and Queen Camilla have spent a lot of time in Norfolk and have been seen attending church together on several occasions. At this challenging time, Queen Camilla will likely be looking forward to some days of private downtime with the King away from the public gaze before resuming her public duties.