King Charles Calls an “Urgent” Summit at Balmoral to Discuss the Future of the Monarchy

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published 19 August 2023

September 8—the one-year anniversary of Her late Majesty’s passing, and vis a vis, the beginning of King Charles’ reign—is approaching quickly, and, multiple outlets report, the King is calling an “urgent” summit to discuss the future of the monarchy.

In attendance is expected to be the King, Queen Camilla, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, and one of the topics on the agenda is said to be carving out precise roles for each of them as the King’s reign moves forward into its second year and beyond. The Mirror reports that Charles is intent on using William and Catherine’s “star quality” to bind the Commonwealth together, and he will deliver objectives for at least the next year, including foreign travel, engagements, and key aims, the outlet reports. The summit will take place at Balmoral, where the royal family typically spend their end-of-summer days, and where the late Queen died last year at age 96. Charles is set to arrive there on Monday.

King Charles and Queen Camilla at Royal Ascot

“His Majesty is very clear,” a source close to the King said, per The Mirror. “The Commonwealth must be at the very heart of his reign. He sees it as his utmost duty to fulfill the sincere wish of his late mother, that one of his central roles must be to ensure not only the survival but the robustness [of the monarchy].” The same source said William and Catherine’s roles will include “being at the heart of cementing their own future and that of the monarchy at large.”

The King and Queen will tour Kenya this fall, where the King “hopes to use the symbolism tied into his mother’s legacy to offer a hand of friendship, which might get harder as the years go by,” a senior civil servant said, per The Mirror. The King is also understood to have made plans to visit both Canada and Australia next year, in line with request from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As the task at hand remains to bring Commonwealth realms closer to Britain—and on the heels of William and Catherine’s “disastrous” Caribbean tour in 2022—the goal has been described by senior officials in the Foreign Office as “gargantuan.”

William and Catherine will launch a “charm offensive” at carefully chosen destinations, The Mirror reports. “The Caribbean tour wasn’t a complete catastrophe, but it was a massive wake-up call,” a government insider told The Mirror. “Simply turning up with a wave and a smile and a speech of friendship will not work anymore.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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