Queen tells Princes William and Harry: It’s time to buckle down

We’ve got used to the young British princes showing their softer side, but we could see a change now Prince Phillip is officially retiring from public duties.

With the Duke of Endinburgh set to step away from public life in August at the age of 95, the Queen wants Princes William and Harry to focus more on state and ceremonial duties and less in initiatives such as the Heads Together mental health campaign set up in April by the brothers with the Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Prince Harry was praised at the time for revealing the anguish and turmoil he felt in the years after the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

A report in Britain’s The Sunday Times, an influential and well-regarded newspaper, said that Queen Elizabeth had made her views clear via her private secretary Christopher Geidt at a meeting of more than 500 royal staff. Phillip’s retirement was announced at the same time as the meeting.

A source in Buckingham Palace told The Sunday Times that the Queen believed it was time to “get back to doing what the royal family is here to do, representing the nation”.

“That means less of the individual royal activity than there has been in recent times,” the source said. “As successful as [the Heads Together campaign} was, it might be that soul-baring isn’t what Buckingham Palace is looking for,” the source said. “The Cambridges will be expected to step up and undertake more state business and do less of their own campaign work.”

That said, the Princes looked like they didn’t have a care on their shoulders at the weekend, as they played played at the annual Audi Polo Challenge in Ascot (below), as they do every year. Prince Harry’s girlfriend, Meaghan Markle, even made her debut in the royal box, cheering on her prince. The match raises money for two children’s charities.

Prince William was recently criticised for missing a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, in favour of going skiing in Switzerland. But in the coming months the prince is due to give up his job as a helicopter pilot and move to London to take up full-time royal duties.

What do you think of the change coming for the Princes? Is the Queen right to ask them to focus more on official duties?