The year 2026 appears to be shaping up as another difficult one where much diplomacy and strength will be needed. As the King so eloquently said in his 2025 Christmas message ‘our world seems to spin ever faster’. Whether he was referring to the tremendous advances in technology such as AI or the general pace of life so alien to his generation a few years ago we cannot be sure, but it implies it is a message to us all.
The Duke of Sussex remains a divisive figure. A media report that he will once again have the police protection he has been demanding before bringing his family back to the UK had not been confirmed officially at the time of going to press. Other than video links, the King has not seen his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet in person since June 2022 when Harry and Meghan visited London for the late Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
Clocking up more than 500 official engagements last year, the King was the busiest member of his family despite his ongoing treatment for cancer, which he announced recently would be reduced. The new Prime Video documentary, Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, will be released this month to 240 territories in the style of a Hollywood blockbuster focusing on Charles III’s long-held environmental philosophy of harmony. In the film the King describes human beings as part of nature, saying, ‘we are a part of it, not apart from it’. He points out that we should respect the Earth more than we do, adding wryly: ‘It’s unlikely there’s anywhere else!’
Buckingham Palace hopes the film will cement the King’s legacy as a passionate campaigner. Many of his philosophies are those of his late father, Prince Philip, who – to get the message across – said frequently that the human race was part of nature.
I wonder if Prince George, who will become a teenager in July, will adopt his own father’s philosophies. Reaching the age of 13 means that George will leave Lambrook this summer to start somewhere new in the autumn. Although Eton College is often suggested, I understand Prince William feels it might give the impression of being elitist; since Lambrook is a feeder school for Marlborough College and Wellington College it is more likely to be one of those. It is a sad reflection of our times that security must be a prime consideration: the school that George attends will have to be the most efficient one to protect and not simply one of his personal choices.
The Queen took part in a discussion about domestic violence on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, guest-edited by former prime minister Theresa May and recorded at Clarence House, alongside racing commentator John Hunt and his daughter Amy. Hunt’s wife Carol and Amy’s sisters Hannah and Louise were murdered in their Bushey home by Louise’s ex-partner in 2024.
Queen Camilla spoke of her experience of being attacked by a man on a train when she was a teenager, which left her ‘so angry’ and ‘furious’, to help de-stigmatise the discussion around violence against women. She also said she supported the implementation of anti-misogyny classes in schools and felt it is important to get the message of respect to women across as early as possible to prevent potential violence.
