Passing the royal baton: How more duties are gradually shifting from the Queen to the younger generations
CBC
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On their own, the events were routine, the regular moments that happen every year around this time, when members of the Royal Family turn their attention to remembering the loss and sacrifice of war.
But put them all together, and consider just which Royal was doing what over the past few days, and there is an underlying message about the future of the House of Windsor.
Central to this was Queen Elizabeth's absence at ceremonies to mark Remembrance Sunday, an absence that came as a great disappointment to her, but was necessitated, Buckingham Palace said, by a sprained back.
As he has for a few years now, her son and heir, Prince Charles, laid a wreath for her during those ceremonies. His wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was at Westminster Abbey a few days earlier for another remembrance event.
Charles and Camilla, along with his son, Prince William, and his wife, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, were also on hand for a variety show, where observers could not help but notice there were fewer Royals in the royal box than in previous years.
"I think we are seeing a gradual shift from the Queen to Charles and Camilla," royal author and biographer Penny Junor said via email.
"They are doing the brunt of the physical work, along with William and Kate, and also Edward and Sophie."
Junor said there's been a perception that Prince Edward, the Queen's youngest son, and his wife, Sophie, "are suddenly stepping into the breach."
"But the fact is they have been working away quietly all these years but have attracted very little media attention. They have now come into focus."
Edward was also on hand the other day to deliver the Queen's speech to the General Synod, which governs the Church of England, an event his mother hadn't missed in its 51-year history.
In the speech, the Queen offered her deep regret at being unable to attend, and also noted how "none of us can slow the passage of time."
The next day, she met the chief of the British defence staff at her Windsor Castle home.
"She's all right, thank you very much," Charles told reporters that same day during a visit to Jordan. "Once you get to 95, you know, it's not quite as easy as it used to be. It's bad enough at 73."