The secret of the British monarchy, throughout time, has been to be visible and invisible at the same time, to be present and in contact (at least apparent) with the reality of the subjects, but maintaining an aura of mystery and magic. . But the formula has been broken.
With more absences than Barça (Carlos sick, Catalina theoretically convalescent, Andrés pointing the finger and Enrique on voluntary leave), the load is too heavy for the substitutes and the team notices it. Queen Camilla, at 76, has privately commented that she never, in her wildest dreams, imagined having to carry the weight of the monarchy on her shoulders. Diana’s biggest fans disparagingly called her the Rottweiler, and for a time she took it for granted that she would never wear her crown.
The out-of-service situation of her husband and daughter-in-law has loaded Camila’s public appearance calendar to the point that she has said enough, and has taken vacations, until Monday of next week, to regain strength. And there is nothing to suggest that the injured will return anytime soon. Carlos’s cancer is a long-term problem, and Catalina’s is a mystery.
A photo supposedly of her with her mother in a car published on social media (but not in the British press), and the announcement that she would appear in public in early June on the occasion of a military parade to celebrate the king’s birthday, They briefly created the impression of an early return. However, it was a mirage that only lasted 24 hours. On the one hand, and since her image is not good, some media believe that it is not her, but her sister Pippa going to pick up her nephews from school in Windsor. On the other hand, Kensington Palace has poured cold water on the date of her return, and has clarified that it is by no means confirmed.
Since Diana’s death, the British press is very respectful of the Windsors’ privacy, especially in matters of health. But the lack of information in the internet age, the 24-hour desire for news and the ease of launching conspiracy theories, means that the secrecy around Carlos and Catalina is becoming unsustainable.
What type of cancer does the king suffer from? What is the diagnosis and treatment? Why has Catherine, who in some ways was the face of royalty, not been seen since Christmas? Isn’t that too long? Carlos, asked as a young man if he was in love with Diana, made famous the phrase “love, whatever that is.” Now, with Guillermo’s wife, you can say “an abdominal intervention, whatever that means.” Because Kensington doesn’t clarify it and her speculations range from the reasonable to the downright bizarre, including that aliens have abducted her and taken her to a distant planet.
To complicate things, while Catalina is invisible, the one who is very present is her uncle Gary Goldsmith, a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother, and who is going to give the family in the coming weeks the type of publicity it least needs. . Like the one that Andrés provides when, in view of Guillermo’s absence for also opaque “personal reasons” at a mass in memory of King Constantine of Greece, he took great time to combat the ostracism to which he is subjected due to accusations of abuse sexual relations, the friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and the payment of millions to Virginia Giuffre to avoid having to testify in a trial that would put the monarchy in check.
“In January (after his intervention on the 16th) we made the recovery schedule clear, and that he would not make public appearances until after Easter, and nothing has changed,” Kensington Palace reiterated to meet the concerns. rumors of the last few days. Unofficially, the message is that convalescence (whatever it is) proceeds normally.
The lack of headlines is very noticeable, with the Windsors in a kind of fog, despite the fact that Charles III was photographed the day before yesterday with the Minister of Economy, and has announced that in a few months he will make the official trip to Australia that It planned. Enrique dropped that he would be willing to take on a greater role after his father’s illness, but he has been met with a resounding no, while he and Meghan pray that Donald Trump does not win the elections (apart from not paying for his security, he could cancel the visa of the Duke of Sussex for having confessed to drug use in his memoirs).
Many families are dysfunctional, and so are the Windsors. The problem is that now they seem older, more fragile and more invisible than ever.
