Despite having full schedules, King Charles and Prince William have canceled all of their public engagements this week — and possibly for the foreseeable future, due to some political upheaval that's happening in the UK. Though members of the royal family aren’t politicians, they are often viewed in a similar light, which means their presence during times of political changes can be a distraction for the general public.
King Charles has only recently returned to public outings since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, Prince William is still juggling his public engagements and being present for his family as his wife Kate Middleton is treated for her own cancer.
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Political events are (unsurprisingly) deemed more important than royal outings.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a surprise general election that is scheduled to take place on July 4. As a result of the general election, the king and Prince William have ceased all of their public outings for this week, and they will be assessing outings that are supposed to take place before the July election.
The royals don't want to distract from the election.
Charles had outings planned for May 23 and May 24, and his office is hoping that they will be able to reschedule those outings in the future. Meanwhile, William’s outing for this week was also abruptly canceled. The royal family will keep postponing engagements "which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign" for as long as they need to, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
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King Charles has political influence, not power.
While speaking at a news conference in front of 10 Downing Street on May 22, Prime Minister Sunak explained, "Earlier today, I spoke with His Majesty The King to ask for the dissolution of Parliament. The King has granted this request, and we will have a general election on the 4th of July."
“Though the King remains politically neutral on all matters, he is able to 'advise and warn' his ministers — including his prime minister — when necessary,” the royal family website explains.
This move isn't out of the ordinary.
While the royals do not get directly involved in politics, it is common for them to change their schedules during elections. The shifting of the calendar and cancellation of appearances is so that people’s attention isn’t diverted away from the election. Additionally, it’s important that people don’t ask members of the royal family any political questions during their outings.
All of the family's June appearances are currently up in the air.
King Charles has plans to travel for his first overseas trip since his cancer diagnosis, which will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, which is still expected to happen. But other events will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Events like the Trooping of the Colour, which is a celebration of the monarch’s birthday, have not been decided.
The king has only recently returned to his public outings, saying earlier in May that he was glad to be “out of my cage” after spending the last few months working on a smaller scale.
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