7 March, 2024

Delivered in association with Sean Coughlan Welcome to Royal Watch. The King is going to send a video message for the next big date in the royal calendar. It could become a pattern for the weeks ahead. The Princess of Wales is still recovering from surgery, but the Celebrity Big Brother reality show is unlikely to be on her watch list. Plus, a royal exhibition wants to be more inclusive. And how much council tax would you expect to pay on a palace? The Virtual King Has the mania of speculation on the royals subsided since their health problems began earlier this year? Or have recent events cranked the rumour mill up a notch? While there has been precious little information since the initial news, it has at least become clearer how things are going to be for the near future. King Charles, undergoing cancer treatment, won’t be at the big public events for the coming period, the palace has said. So for next week’s Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey he’ll send a recorded video message. He’ll be a virtual presence rather than attending in person. And at the end of this month, for the traditional Maundy Thursday service, it will be Queen Camilla rather than the King who will be taking the lead, in a service at Worcester Cathedral. That suggests the state of play until at least Easter. King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Royal Maundy Service at York Minster last year. The King holds the traditional nosegay bouquet. Credit: Getty Images. Beyond that, it seems to be a case of wait and see, with Buckingham Palace saying events might have to make allowances for any “adaptations” or “changing circumstances” nearer the time. There are still claims the King is planning to go to Australia in the autumn. That has never been formally announced, so it wouldn’t need to be cancelled. But that’s a long way off and it feels unlikely that any final decisions are anywhere near being made. For now, the King is sticking to smaller engagements, as he did this week in meeting Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ahead of the government’s latest Budget. Pre-Budget audiences are normally private, but this time photographs were taken. Credit: Getty Images. Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales has been at the centre of some bonkers social media rumours since her abdominal surgery in January. This week a grainy photo of Catherine in a car with her mother appeared on US websites but wasn’t published by the British media because of privacy concerns. The UK has strong laws when it comes to privacy, especially when it involves someone recovering from medical problems. The picture might dampen some of the wilder conspiracy theories about her health. The Princess of Wales attended the Christmas morning service at Sandringham Church on Christmas Day last year, a few weeks before surgery. Credit: Getty Images. There were also reports of her return to official duties for the Trooping the Colour parade in June, following a claim posted on the Army’s website. Much to their embarrassment, it was swiftly rejected by Kensington Palace. The message again seems to be wait and see, with nothing confirmed. • Army removes Kate claim from website • King Charles and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hold pre-Budget meeting Celebrity Big Uncle What is inescapable though is that Catherine’s uncle, Gary Goldsmith, has gone into the Celebrity Big Brother House for the latest series. The charity Women’s Aid has criticised the decision to include Gary Goldsmith in the Celebrity Big Brother House. Credit: Getty Images. Mr Goldsmith’s inclusion is even more controversial because of his conviction for punching his wife. He has already made headlines by sharing his thoughts about Meghan Markle, accusing her of creating “so much drama”. Whether his appearance is a flash in the pan or more longstanding will be up to the viewers. • Princess of Wales' uncle Gary Goldsmith joins Big Brother Cost-conscious culture An exhibition on Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, is showing at the King’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace from 17 May, examining how the royals have been captured by leading photographers such as Cecil Beaton and Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband, since the 1920s. Pictures of Queen Elizabeth in 1952 and Princess Margaret in 1967 are among the collection going on display. Credits: Dorothy Wilding and Snowdon/Royal Collection Trust. A young King Charles and Princess Anne are pictured playing. Credit: Snowdon/Royal Collection Trust. Given the cost-of-living worries, the palace has followed some other public exhibits and attractions by introducing an interesting approach to widening access. People on a range of benefits, including universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance, working tax credit and child tax credit, can get in for £1. That also applies to an exhibition on Georgian fashion at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. What's the tax on a palace? On the subject of Buckingham Palace and taxes, there’s been a debate on social media about how much such a huge building pays in council tax, sparked by an article in The Economist magazine. Domestic properties in the UK pay money to their local authority based on the property’s value. But, the article proposes, the system is woefully out of date, to the point where “46% of households in England will receive a bigger council tax bill” than Buckingham Palace because of regional differences in how the tax is calculated. Amid a cost of living crisis and the new Budget of tax and spending cuts from the British government, it's no wonder the more vocal social media users are asking questions. But it’s more complicated than that. Westminster City Council says the palace grounds includes seven separate properties, each liable for council tax, and that most of Buckingham Palace counts as commercial property so has to pay rates of over £890,000. In 2016, the BBC reported that Buckingham Palace would undergo a 10-year-long refurbishment, costing the taxpayer £369m. Credit: Getty Images. From a briefing on royal finances last year, we found out that while the palace is undergoing long-term repairs costing hundreds of millions, more or less no one is living there. As increasing numbers of local councils across the UK file for bankruptcy, the questions are unlikely to dissipate quickly. • Why do councils go bust and what happens when they do? 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