The Princess of Wales will celebrate her 43rd birthday this week after a brutal 12 months. Kate started 2024 by entering hospital for a procedure on her abdomen and ended up having to undergo cancer treatment through much of the year.
She will hope 2025 heralds better things as she prepares to celebrate with her family. But her birthday on January 9 has forced King Charles, 76, to make a major change as the royals prepare to carry out an action for just the third time in history.
But his decision is said to have “raised eyebrows”, according to the Daily Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle column. Charles is sending his brother Prince Edward, 60, to Washington this week for the funeral of former US President Jimmy Carter.
It will be only the third time a royal has attended the funeral of a US President, and both occasions it was Charles in attendance when he was Prince of Wales. He was there to see Ronald Reagan laid to rest in 2004 and also made the trip over the Atlantic again in 2018 to honour George Bush Snr.
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It would have been expected the same ranking royal would have made the journey for Mr Carter, who passed away last month at the age of 100. But William has reportedly made it clear to aides that his dedication to Kate comes before duty and he will ensure her birthday – on the same day as Carter’s funeral – remains a family affair.
So instead, the 14th in line to the throne has stepped up. Edward, along with his wife Sophie, have impressed the King and William with their dedication to duty during the last year. As well as Kate, the King was also absent due to his own cancer battle with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh standing in on several occasions.
King Charles with his brother Prince Edward
(Image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Sending him to Mr Carter’s funeral will be a major show of trust in Edward by Charles, who has previously seemed reluctant to promote him. We reported last year that the King still prefers his sister Princess Anne to carry out investitures on his behalf.
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