King Charles returns to public at the Easter mass in Windsor (but William and Kate are missing)

He smiles. Say hello. Say thank you. The king is back!” headlines a British news site. Charles III reappears in public for the first time since his cancer diagnosis which forced him for weeks, between therapies and rest, to drastically reduce his commitments. His appearance is good, energy and mood seem encouraging, while his subjects await him at the exit of the Easter service celebrated in St George’s Chapel in Windsor: he stops, greets them, exchanges a few jokes, and seems truly grateful for the the affection with which someone urges him to “move forward with strength”, because the last few months have not been the easiest at the Palace and real improvements are not yet seen, as recalled by the absence of William and Kate in the Easter celebrations at the Castle .
Next to Charles there is Queen Camilla of course, but the rest of the royal family also gathers around the sovereign: Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, Edward Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Andrew and also his ex-wife Sarah Duchess of York. And it is not just a formal fact, the unity of the family in this case is the only force capable of holding the crown, the weight of which is becoming particularly heavy given the circumstances. On the other hand, it is no coincidence that in recent days, on the occasion of the heartfelt mass on Holy Thursday, the king himself had made a special appeal to the country to “take care of each other”, especially in times of need. Appeal to which the Kingdom seems to respond. While the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, during the Easter service, paid homage to both the king and the princess, praising their “dignity”. “In each of our lives there are moments that change us forever,” Welby said at the opening of his sermon at Canterbury Cathedral. He underlined the listening with “compassion and empathy” reserved for Catherine who made her cancer diagnosis public and invited us to “pray for her and for the king in their dignified response and for all those who suffer in the same way”.
So if for some observers, such as the biographer of the royals Robert Hardman, the return to public of Charles III – even if it were only a PR move in an attempt to reassure the country – is to be considered a “remarkable turning point” compared to a few weeks ago. But it cannot fill the void left by the absence of the Princes of Wales and can only cushion the shock still palpable in the country due to Kate’s illness. William and his wife spent these festive days together with their three children and in maximum privacy, while from indications circulated in recent days the heir to the throne could already resume his public commitments in the next few days coinciding with the return to school of his children George, Charlotte and Louis.