Prince William could change Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s standing as his cousins have been snubbed by King Charles.
Svar Nanan-Sen, GB News’ Digital Royal Editor and Cameron Walker, Royal Correspondent, discussed the upcoming Trooping the Colour on this week’s episode of The Royal Record podcast.
William’s cousins are not working royals but they often attend Royal Family events. They enjoy the Trooping the Colour festivities from above the Horse Guards Parade alongside other royals not in the firm.
Cameron said: “Maybe we will see Beatrice, Eugenie, Zara and Mike and the rest of them at Horse Guards, but in a private capacity, not particularly in front of the cameras, not taking part in doing any official duties. But at least they're supporting the working royals.”
Traditionally, extended members of the Royal Family, including non-working royals and their young children, would appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
However, since King Charles has taken the throne, non-working royals have been restricted from the prestigious position.
This policy was enforced during the 2023 Trooping the Colour and the Coronation, preventing Beatrice, Eugenie, and Zara from appearing on the balcony.
Cameron thinks that this could change when William becomes King: “But I think it would be such a U-turn, in terms of balcony etiquette, if we saw those people on the balcony, because then the next question is going to be, well, if they can be on the balcony, as non-working royals, why can't Harry and Meghan, why can't Prince Andrew?
“And then it just opens a whole can of worms for the Buckingham Palace press team and by extension, the King as well.”
Svar responded: “You touched on the point there that King Charles has set a precedent now where, non-working members of the Royal Family are not included on the balcony. It may be something that we see in the future with Prince William.
“Where he relaxes that and allows Beatrice, Eugenie, Zara and other non-working members of the Royal Family, to be part of the appearance on the balcony. “
Cameron agreed: “Yeah, I think that's quite possible, because, remember, we still have 10 years at least before George, Charlotte and Louis take up official royal duties. He may well need them to step up a bit more as well.
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“So it will be interesting to see how Prince William handles that. Watch this space.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have "not been invited" to this year's Trooping the Colour celebrations.
They were also not invited to the event last year, which marked the first Trooping the Colour parade under the reign of King Charles, Harry's father.
The couple attended Trooping the Colour together in 2018, one month after their royal wedding at Windsor Castle.
In addition, they were present at the event in 2019, just weeks after welcoming their first child, Prince Archie.
The event was significantly scaled down in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, held for Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle without a large gathering of family members.