He’ll be there for family. Prince Harry could step in to do royal duties for King Charles in the near future if he chooses to do so. A former staff member of the King recalled how it was possible for the Duke of Sussex to return to help the Royal family after Charles was diagnosed with cancer.
“The King has made it very clear that [Harry] is part of his family and always will be part of his family, but as far as the working part goes, that will be something that we will only see over time,” Grant Harrold, who worked for King Charles when he was the Prince of Wales, told The New York Post. “It is possible that given recent events, with the King not being 100% and he’s now relying on other members of the family, he could ask Harry to take on other duties.”
Prince Harry stepped down from taking public duties as a senior member in 2020 alongside his wife Meghan Markle. “Remember, Prince Harry is still a senior member of the royal family — he’s not a working member of the royal family, but he is still very much a member of the family and Counsellor of State, which means he’s able to step in when the King is unable to perform his duties. Technically, he is able to step in for the King. If he wasn’t still Counsellor of State then that would be a very different matter,”
The monarch is taking a break from public facing duties throughout his treatment, the palace has since confirmed that he will continue to carry out his duties as head of state, including any paperwork and private meetings with officials.
Royal experts largely agree that the monarch will not abdicate the throne. Carolyn Harris, a royal history instructor at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Education, told USA Today that if an abdication were ever to occur, it would only be under extreme circumstances. “In Britain, you don’t see peaceful abdications,” she told the publication on February 8, 2024. Harris believes the king would have to be extremely ill before deciding to step down, given “the examples of his mother and father to keep calm and carry on,” she said. “They will have had a huge impact on him to carry on with this until the end of his life.”
King Charles expressed his immense gratitude for the support he’s received from around the world. “As all those who have been affected by cancer will know, such kind thoughts are the greatest comfort and encouragement,” he shared on Saturday, February 10, 2024.
“It is equally heartening to hear how sharing my own diagnosis has helped promote public understanding and shine a light on the work of all those organizations which support cancer patients and their families across the UK and wider world,” he continued in his statement. “My lifelong admiration for their tireless care and dedication is all the greater as a result of my own personal experience.”
Earlier in the month, Harry reportedly met with his father privately for less than an hour before Charles and his wife Queen Camilla left London.
