The New Royal Power List: Why Prince William Beats King Charles
The royals lined up for the king’s birthday last weekend. Center stage was Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, making an unexpected return to the limelight after last being seen in public on Christmas Day 2023. Now receiving treatment for an unspecified kind of cancer, her presence made the day’s events and gave a powerful reminder of just how powerful a figure this 42-year-old woman now is in the life of the nation. But who else is up, and who’s down?
What? How could anyone be more powerful than the king? Until the beginning of this year, any royal power list would have put King Charles at the top. But his illness has changed things, and focused insiders' minds on the simple fact that given his age, the reign of King Charles will necessarily be a relatively short one, even if he makes a full recovery from the cancer he is currently valiantly fighting.