King Charles Coronation: Monarch waves to crowd on balcony

Lady Louise Windsor, 19, and her brother James, Earl of Wessex, 15, are two of the less prominent members of the Royal Family.

Louise is currently a student at St Andrew’s University and James is still at school, but two royal commentators have suggested the pair would be ideal candidates for working royal life.

Ann Gripper and Russell Myers, hosts of Pod Save The King, discussed the siblings’ roles within the Royal Family, noting Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh’s, desire to keep them out of the spotlight.

“There’s the argument of if they did want to be part of it, could they put in an application and say to King Charles: ‘We really do want to support you and the monarchy,’ Mr Myers, who is royal editor at Lorraine, questioned.

“And they [the Royal Family] could do with two young people who are by all intents and purposes very mature for their age, they know the business of the monarchy and their parents are very grounded.”

He continued: “If they wanted to be a part of it, could they lobby the King for it? It is an interesting discussion because this slimmed-down monarchy always had Harry as a part of it — Harry and whoever his partner was going to be.

“So his family were always going to be a part of it and now they’re not, does that mean that the goalposts have changed? They haven’t at the moment but might be in the future.”

King Charles’s idea for a slimmed-down monarchy has been under speculation since before he ascended the throne. Ahead of his Coronation on Saturday, May 6, reports suggested the monarch would place prominence on the smaller Royal Family.

It was anticipated that the newly-crowned Charles and Queen Camilla would appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony — for the post-ceremony iconic scene — with just the working members of the family.

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However, when the time came, the balcony appeared packed out with royals, as well as those who served as Pages of Honour during the service and Camilla’s Ladies in Attendance.

Prince William, Kate, Princess of Wales, and their three children are all high up in the line of succession, so were guaranteed a spot on the balcony. As were the working royals: Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent, along with Princess Alexandra and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

Perhaps more unexpected were the appearances of Lady Louise and James, who stood alongside their parents.

Other non-working royals, including the Princess Royal’s children Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, and the York sisters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, as well as their respective families, were not photographed on the balcony.

While Peter and Zara never used royal titles and pursued careers outside of the Royal Family, Beatrice and Eugenie’s fate was decided in the Nineties when the Way Ahead Group was founded to discuss the changes in the Royal Family, largely because of the several scandals that had rocked the Firm.

Ms Gripper noted that different “royal parents want for their royal children or how much royalty they want for their children,” explaining: “Princess Anne’s decision that her children weren’t going to be HRH seems to have worked pretty well for them.

“They’ve been really clear on their life whereas Andrew has always felt like he’s been railing against the Royal Family. He wanted his daughters to be more royal than they’ve been given permission to be by his brother — to a certain extent.”

Just last year, The Telegraph reported Prince Andrew wanted his two daughters to be made working royals.

In 2016, there was a row within the Royal Family over whether Beatrice and Eugenie should become full-time members of The Firm.

Andrew reportedly wrote to his mother Queen Elizabeth II demanding that his daughters be given taxpayer-funded royal roles and new accommodation at Kensington Palace.

But the move was blocked by Charles, then the Prince of Wales, who was intent on a slimmed-down monarchy.

Of course, unknown at the time, the Royal Family would become unwittingly smaller due to the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and the downfall of the Duke of York.

Mr Myers noted “how much has happened,” questioning: “Even given the recent history, is there cause for change?”

He admitted that the answer remains unclear, with Louise and James unlikely to take on any sort of official role in the near future, and Beatrice and Eugenie’s future seemingly sealed.

He marvelled, however: “Could it be presented as a palatable situation for people to consider?”

Ms Gripper added: “This will be a very slimmed-down monarchy. When you think about Princess Anne, famously the hardest-working royal, she and Charles — they’re both in their Seventies. And this is a whole new era.”

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