Prince William pulls out of memorial service due to personal matter
The Queen led members of the Royal Family in attendance at a Windsor Castle service on Tuesday morning. The King, who is being treated for cancer, was absent.
Tuesday 27 February 2024 20:04, UK
The Prince of Wales has pulled out of a memorial service due to a personal matter, Kensington Palace has said.
William had been due to attend a service for the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.
But less than an hour before the St George's Chapel memorial was due to start, it was announced that William would not be present.
Kensington Palace would not elaborate further but said the Princess of Wales, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, continues to be doing well.
The Prince of Wales called the Greek royal family to let them know he was unable to attend.
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The late King Constantine of Greece, who died in January last year, was William's godfather and a first cousin once removed of the King's father, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Charles, who is being treated for cancer, also missed the service and the Queen led members of the Royal Family in attendance.
Dozens of royals travelled to Windsor for the memorial but the King - who has been staying at the castle - is not expected to meet them privately.
He was instead due to leave the Berkshire residence at some point on Tuesday.
The royals always face a losing battle
Any change of plans for members of the royal family will inevitably attract interest at the moment with both the King and the Princess of Wales being unwell.
That鈥檚 why the palace won鈥檛 particularly have wanted to share with us Prince William鈥檚 decision not to attend the service at Windsor Castle.
But in some ways their hand was forced. His name was already in the order of service because he was due to do a reading.
And because he now lives on the Windsor estate with his family, if he didn鈥檛 go to the service, there may have also been questions about why he wasn鈥檛 able to make the short journey to St George鈥檚 Chapel.
Now his team are doing everything they can to try and stop speculation about what the personal reason is for his decision to pull out.
We鈥檙e reassured there is no need for alarm and that the Princess of Wales continues to recover well from her abdominal surgery.
But with the intense global interest in this family in some ways they will always face a losing battle when it comes to calming the chatter about what is going on behind palace walls.
The Duke of York could be seen making his way into the service alongside family members including his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, their daughter Princess Beatrice, and Zara and Mike Tindall.
The Queen was the final British royal to arrive.
The family was joined by the late Constantine's widow, Queen Anne-Marie, their eldest son, Crown Prince Pavlos, and his wife, Crown Princess Marie Chantal, as well as other Greek and Danish royals.
The service saw Prince Pavlos step in to give a reading that Prince William had been due to deliver.
The King, 75, was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer this month. He is not carrying out public duties or attending engagements during his ongoing treatment.
Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery in January and remained in hospital for two weeks before returning to the Wales's Windsor home to recover.
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The planned surgery was understood to be routine and the princess's condition was non-cancerous, Sky News previously reported.
At the time of her hospitalisation, Kensington Palace signalled that it would be unlikely the princess would return to public duties before Easter.