'A lot of subtext going on here': Why King Charles gave daughter-in-law Catherine a rare honour

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When King Charles awarded Catherine, Princess of Wales, a rare honour the other day, it was more than a recognition of her role within the Royal Family.

It also drew attention to the warm relationship that has developed between Charles and his daughter-in-law since she joined the family through marriage to Prince William 13 years ago this week.

"There's a lot of subtext going on here, both on a personal level and on a professional level," said Justin Vovk, a royal commentator and a PhD candidate at McMaster University in Hamilton who specializes in the history of the monarchy, in an interview.

On the personal level, Charles and Catherine get along splendidly, he said.

But there are also larger family dynamics at play that reflect subtle changes over time and in the new reign of Charles.

"This is a public show of support that [Diana], Princess of Wales, didn't really get from the late Queen," said Vovk. 

"I think this is really reinforcing [Charles and Catherine's] personal relationship, but also the fact that this is a united Royal Family. The drama, the tensions of the 1980s and 1990s, are not looking to be repeated, and the mistakes of that era are not looking to be repeated."

Vovk also sees a contrast between the way the relationship between the sovereign and the Princess of Wales was handled under Elizabeth versus how her son Charles is handling it now.

"When William and Catherine got married, Catherine just seemed to get it. She seemed to get what the Royal Family was about, she seemed to get what the expectations, what the job would be, and she's integrated so seamlessly that I think Charles is probably, on some level, really grateful for that."

With the award, Catherine becomes the first member of the Royal Family appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour. 

The order was founded in 1917 by King George V to recognize outstanding achievements in public service, the arts, sciences and medicine. Other members include actor Maggie Smith, musicians Paul McCartney and Elton John and artist David Hockney.

While the award may not "seem like much to the average person," Vovk said, considering that Catherine has only been Princess of Wales for less than two years, "for the family, that's a big gesture."

Judith Rowbotham, a social and cultural scholar and visiting research professor at the University of Plymouth in southwestern England, saw a personal element to the award that comes as Catherine is undergoing preventative treatment for cancer.

"I think [Charles] took an opportunity to do something that would give her a boost and I think that the timing has more to do with that than anything else," Rowbotham said in an interview.

Observers have long noted the strong bond between Catherine and Charles, and see the possibility of it being reinforced through their shared experiences with cancer diagnosis and treatment. 

"It is clearly mutual fondness, mutual respect, mutual comfort on both sides, and I think you could say that it's undoubtedly been a major factor in improving relations between William and Charles," said Rowbotham.

She also sees Catherine — along with Queen Camilla — having an effect on Charles.

"Charles has, since his marriage to Camilla and since Catherine came along, [become more] approachable," she said.

"Now we look for something that's in our leaders [that is] more approachable in terms of them being relatable, and that's what I think Catherine and Camilla have both brought."

A return to public duties with a personal touch

The destination chosen for King Charles to make his return to official public duties after his cancer diagnosis three months ago seemed both deliberate and fitting. 

As he spoke with patients at a cancer centre in central London earlier this week, the 75-year-old monarch talked of the "shock" of hearing a cancer diagnosis, and said he was feeling "all right, thanks. Not too bad," the BBC reported.

Charles's visit to the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre had echoes of the engagements he and other royals often make. But there was also a sense this wasn't quite like those other times members of his family meet hospital patients and health-care workers.

"He's been campaigning for many years, been working with cancer charities for many years and making appearances like this, but this has a sort of different feel now because he's coming to this as someone who really understands this from a personal perspective," royal commentator Victoria Murphy told the CBC's Briar Stewart on Tuesday.

The announcement in early February of Charles's diagnosis of an undisclosed form of cancer came after he was treated for an unrelated benign prostate condition. 

Specifics of his treatment have not been released, but a Buckingham Palace spokesman said "doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress made so far that the King is now able to resume a number of public-facing duties."

WATCH | King Charles resumes public duties with visit to cancer centre: 

Just how that resumption will unfold remains unclear, but caution is expected to be a watchword over the next several weeks.

"I think that his doctors and the Queen will be devoting their efforts to making sure that it's as carefully managed [as possible] so he doesn't exhaust himself … because treatment such as he's undergoing does take it out of you," said Rowbotham.

"Charles very clearly would love to fling himself back and do as much as humanly possible, and the Queen [and] the medical advisers are going to say, 'Hold your horses.'"

Scrutiny will fall upon upcoming regular royal events, including spring garden parties and Trooping the Colour — the military procession marking the monarch's official birthday in mid-June — and the extent to which Charles is present and takes part.

That Charles would choose to make his return at a cancer centre also reflects an emerging hallmark of his reign, Vovk suggested.

"We see these more personal touches with this monarchy," Vovk said.

"Under the late Queen, a return to duty like this would have been more with … the expected ceremonial functions of the Crown. But we are seeing more of these causes that are personally affecting the Royal Family that in turn are also affecting millions of people in Britain and around the world."

Vovk expects there will be similar visits and engagements down the road.

"I think it all makes sense, it fits and I think we're probably going to see more things in this vein."

As serious as a visit to a cancer centre is, eagle-eyed royal watchers were also seeing a bit of self-effacing humour in Charles's appearance on Tuesday — the tie he was wearing and its pattern of little dinosaurs, reportedly a gift from grandson Prince Louis.

" I think that was carefully chosen to bring humour to the situation," said Rowbotham, who noted that the visit to the cancer centre was also an opportunity for Charles to send a message that people can get through a negative medical diagnosis and be encouraged. 

'Indefatigable' Princess Anne visits B.C.

One look at the jam-packed itinerary and it's easy to suss out which member of the Royal Family is undertaking a whirlwind working visit to British Columbia this weekend.

There are engagements that reflect her longstanding personal interests, along with ones that focus on her dedication to honouring military and naval service.

And then there is just the sheer number of events Princess Anne is attending after her arrival in Vancouver on Friday on a visit hosted by Maritime Forces Pacific of the Royal Canadian Navy.

"She is indefatigable," said Rowbotham, who sees Anne channelling her great-grandmother, Queen Mary, who had similar stamina.

"She will have been happy to pack in as much as possible and I think that's just Princess Anne — it's business as usual."

Long known for her down-to-earth attitude and matter-of-fact manner, Anne is back in Canada just months after two separate and similarly quick but jam-packed visits last year.

This time, among other events, she attended the commissioning ceremony Friday in Vancouver for HMS Max Bernays in her role as commodore in chief for Canadian Fleet Pacific.

On Saturday on Vancouver Island, her engagements include visits to a military family resource centre, the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, which was founded with an initial donation from her late father, Prince Philip, and an urban agriculture project.

For those looking to welcome Anne during the visit, there is much anticipation and pride in the chance to have her see what their groups do.

"We feel so lucky. It's such an amazing opportunity for our organization," said Liz Gagel, acting executive director of the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association, in an interview.

Anne, an avid equestrian who competed in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, is touring the association's riding facility on Sunday. She will also watch as riders demonstrate how the association has supported them.

"She knows what the connection between horses and people is like," said Gagel. "So I think she understands in her heart what we do and how special it is having that human-equine connection."

Gagel welcomes the potential Anne's visit has to draw attention to the organization's work.

"I really hope it brings a little bit more recognition to equine-assisted services, because it is such an important therapy that we provide. And I want more people to understand how important it is to our community. And hopefully it'll come with a few more people connecting to our organization and hopefully a few more funders or donors."

WATCH | Princess Anne's 2023 interview with CBC's Adrienne Arsenault: 

On Sunday, Anne is also attending the Battle of the Atlantic commemorative service at the B.C. Legislature and visiting the Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Oak Bay, where she is presenting prizes at its Spring Dinghies Regatta for young sailors.

"She is an avid sailor and a huge champion for sports," Dale Gann, the club's vice commodore, said in an interview.

"It's really a great honour to have her attend and view and meet the participants and the moms and dads of those aspiring sailors…. They're quite excited about it, as we are."

Gann sees a particular opportunity for the young sailors to be inspired by Anne.

"To have a past Olympian on property that's a sailor is an incredible mentor [and] champion for them."

Happy birthday — with photos by mom

As controversy swirled in March around the doctored photo of Catherine and her children that was retracted by news agencies, there was additional curiosity: would family photos she takes continue to be issued to mark family milestones such as birthdays?

The answer came — twice — in the past couple of weeks, as photos Catherine took were made public as Prince Louis turned six on April 23 and Princess Charlotte turned nine on Thursday.

But observers were quick to note that the photos weren't released as they had been in the past: at midnight and in time for the morning papers in the U.K. 

"It's clearly sending a message with a gentle snub to the media, especially the U.K. media," Rowbotham said via email. "A photo has not been released for the morning headlines, so any release will be for Royal Family supporters and not to assist the media in print, online or visual/audio."

It's a "clever and balanced" strategy, Rowbotham said.

"It firmly signals that the Waleses are in control over the release of images of their family and are not allowing media criticism of the princess as photographer/editor to force them to bow to pressure to use professional photographers."

It's also, Rowbotham said, implicit that King Charles and Queen Camilla support Prince William and Catherine in their strategy. 

There is also the sense that the photos of Louis and Charlotte were deliberately chosen to offset speculation any editing was going on.

"There are very deliberate photographic elements in this portrait [of Charlotte] that have been used to ensure that it would be extremely difficult to Photoshop," Vovk said, noting for example the use of the portrait filter and the very clear foreground and a bit of blur in the background.

"There's clearly a bit of wind in the portrait because her hair is blowing a bit and so things like her hand are all positioned in such a way that [for] anyone who wants to zoom in on them, it would be nearly impossible for something to be edited there."

And in that, Vovk sees a message that "we've learned our lesson" and "we're making sure to do things differently moving forward."

Royally quotable

"Women and girls pay the highest price in terms of human cost when it comes to the way that they are affected, the way that they can be used as weapons of war."

— Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, in a speech during a visit to Ukraine.

Sophie met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife during the first trip to Ukraine by a British royal since the conflict with Russia began.

While the trip on behalf of the British Foreign Office came as a surprise, Sophie's attention in particular on the plight of women who are victims of sexual violence in conflict zones did not. It is a subject she has long been focusing on.

"This was, if you like, soft diplomacy at work," Rowbotham said. "She said nothing controversial that could be negatively picked up on. She talked to women. She talked to children. And it has been very positively reported internationally."

Royal reads 

1. Plans by the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate of the Prince of Wales, to build 2,500 new homes outside an historic market town south of London have gone down badly with some residents. But the U.K. needs housing, and this is a promising site. [The Guardian]
    
2. King Charles has been presented with an illustrated record of his coronation, almost a year after the historic service at Westminster Abbey. For the first time, the manuscript does not use any animal skin. [BBC]
    
3. Prince Harry will return to the U.K. next week for a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will visit Nigeria later in May. [BBC, Evening Standard]
    
4. A Daimler once driven by Queen Elizabeth that has a custom-built handbag tray is going up for auction. [The Mirror]
    
5. What is believed to be the first work contract of Diana, Princess of Wales, has sold for £8,470 ($14,500 Cdn) at auction. [BBC]

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