Right, I want to start this week by saying something I know many of you are thinking … I am absolutely exhausted by the Harry and Meghan conversation. Yes, they are back. Yes, it is wild given everything that has happened, and of course this column will have plenty to say as it all unfolds. This week, however, we are giving it a rest because there is far too much else going on, and you can read everything you need to know about the King’s response right here.
Prince George, 13, began at Eton College on Tuesday, following in the footsteps of his father and uncle. William and Catherine accompanied him through the school grounds in light rain, where William’s umbrella turned inside out and left all three laughing. George was welcomed by headmaster Simon Henderson and provost Sir Nicholas Coleridge before changing into Eton’s traditional uniform for photographs.
George will board at the school, although Eton’s location near the family’s Windsor home will allow him to return home on selected weekends. The move also marks the first time George, Charlotte and Louis have attended different schools since the Wales family relocated to Windsor in 2022. It is a significant step towards independence for the future king, even if his first day began with his dad losing a battle against the British weather.
This Wednesday, representatives from royal families across Europe will gather at Oslo Cathedral for the state funeral of King Harald V of Norway, and the British delegation tells an interesting story of its own.
King Charles will not attend, but this should not be read as a diplomatic snub. The British monarch does not traditionally attend the funerals of foreign heads of state, with Queen Elizabeth II’s appearance at the funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium in 1993 considered a rare exception. Charles will instead be represented by Prince William, who will attend in his official capacity as heir to the throne and continue taking on the major international duties that increasingly fall to him.
Princess Anne will also attend, although in a private capacity as godmother to the new King Haakon VIII. Her connection to Haakon dates back to his christening, so while William will formally represent the Crown, Anne will be there because of a longstanding personal bond with the family.
The guest list will bring together many of Europe’s most familiar royal faces. Denmark will be represented by King Frederik, Queen Mary, Crown Prince Christian and Princess Benedikte, while King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Crown Princess Amalia will be among those attending from the Netherlands. Royals from Spain, Belgium, Monaco, Sweden, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Japan are also expected to attend.
Marius Borg Høiby, Queen Mette Marit’s son, has also been given permission to attend while under court ordered house arrest. Norwegian police have confirmed that he was granted temporary leave to take part in funeral events. Given the continuing legal process, it is important to leave the matter there.
We send our deepest condolences to the Norwegian royal family and will return next week to the farewell for a king whose life and reign stretched across an extraordinary period of European history.
Queen Margrethe of Denmark, 86, was admitted to Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on Sunday after feeling unwell. Doctors diagnosed a new blood clot in the hip region and mild dehydration, both of which are being treated, and the Danish Royal House said she was in good spirits and doing well under the circumstances.
She will remain in hospital for observation and treatment and will miss King Harald’s funeral, which she had been expected to attend. King Frederik and Queen Mary will travel to Oslo with Crown Prince Christian and Princess Benedikte.
It is Margrethe’s third hospital admission this year, and her absence from the funeral draws attention to a much bigger change taking place across Europe’s royal families. Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, King Harald V died last month at 89, and Margrethe, now 86, has faced several health problems. Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf is 80 and remains on the throne.
These royals belong to a generation whose reigns shaped the modern European monarchy. Their relationships were not as simple as diplomatic. They were relatives, friends and contemporaries who had known one another for decades and shared memories of a very different world. Harald and Margrethe were third cousins, and both had longstanding connections with Queen Elizabeth.
With every death and abdication, the royal landscape changes. The next generation is already carrying much of the work, with figures including Queen Mary, Queen Máxima, Queen Letizia and Queen Mathilde firmly established in their roles, but King Harald’s death and Margrethe’s latest hospital admission make the passing of the old guard feel particularly close this week.
Now for the most unexpected piece of news to cross this desk this week: Major Eye Candy is leaving.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonny Thompson, senior equerry to King Charles and Queen Camilla, will step down at the end of 2026 after seven years with the Royal Household. Before becoming one of Charles’s closest aides, he served Queen Elizabeth and spent more than two decades in the military.
His sudden fame had very little to do with the job description. In the days after Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022, footage of Thompson in a navy suit was viewed millions of times online, where admirers decided he had reached James Bond levels of dashing. Later photographs of him wearing a kilt did nothing to calm the situation. He appeared on Tatler’s Social Power Index, inspired a dedicated Instagram account and became one of the most recognisable people in the royal entourage despite never being the person anyone was meant to be watching.
Thompson married Olivia Lewis in 2023, and their daughter Theodora was born in May this year. He is leaving the military and is expected to move into the private sector. Buckingham Palace said the King and Queen were grateful for his support over the past seven years and wished him well for the future.
His departure follows news that Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s longtime private secretary, will step down in May 2027, while the King’s butler Bernie Flannery retired in August after more than 40 years of service. Each departure has its own circumstances, but together they mark a significant changing of the guard inside the royal household.
King Charles attended the Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship this week, where he was asked to unveil a plaque and instead found himself in a brief struggle with the curtain covering it.
When Charles’s pulled the cord, nothing happened. He tried again, exchanged a few words with those nearby and then burst out laughing when the curtain continued to refuse it’s one simple task. It eventually opened, the plaque was unveiled and order was restored, but the King’s completely unguarded reaction was the part people wanted to watch again.
Finally, the Andrew Mountbatten Windsor rumour mill is turning again, although this story needs to be taken with a very large pinch of salt.
Royal commentator Paula Froelich has claimed that Andrew is seeing a woman who lives locally in Norfolk, where he is now based. The woman has not been identified, Andrew has not publicly confirmed a relationship, and no independent evidence has emerged to establish that the claim is true. At this stage, it is gossip rather than fact.
There have also been reports about Sarah Ferguson’s return to Britain, her living arrangements and the state of her relationships with Andrew and other members of the family.
For now, what we have is another round of claims about Andrew’s private life, none of them confirmed by Andrew or the unnamed woman said to be involved. Make of the rumours what you will, but they remain rumours.
Until next week, keep the tea piping hot and the tiaras polished.
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