As the Royal Family ushered in 2024 exactly one year ago, nobody could have predicted what the next 12 months would have in store.
Just weeks into the new year, both King Charles and the Princess of Wales had hospital stays, with the pair later sharing their shock cancer diagnoses. It no doubt sent carefully-researched plans for the year ahead into chaos as the Firm dealt with the heartbreaking fallout.
Thankfully, it appears both the King and Kate are doing much better, with the end of 2024 providing some semblance of normality – even if Prince William described the year as ‘brutal’ after dealing with the double dose of devastation.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2025 masterplan by expert who issues dire warning
The Prince and Princess of Wales have had a brutal year
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Both Charles and Camilla have had separate health challenges
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And now with 2025 here, what might be in store for the House of Windsor? Well, according to royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop, the road ahead is still unclear, but it may well involve more travel.
She told the Mirror: “That Britain’s fittest, full-time working royal described 2024 as ‘the hardest year of my life… its been brutal’ suggests 2025 is unlikely to open with a bang. William did not mince his words in South Africa, as he flagged up a changed institution with ‘a smaller r in the royal’.
“Less clear is exactly how this downsized monarchy will present itself. William alluded to Kate joining him on trips in 2025, but with young children and the Princess of Wales still managing a phased return to work, think more European pop-over than full-scale headline tour.
Prince Harry and Meghan are set to have a big 2025 in store
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“Charles and Camilla are likewise compromised. Australia, billed as a ‘tonic’ for the ailing King, felled his wife; the 77-year-old Queen returned to Britain and succumbed to nasty chest infection that morphed into pneumonia, knocking her out for weeks. So far the King and Queen’s only overseas fixture in 2025 is a visit to Rome (inherited from the Waleses who pulled out last spring). Pressure might be relieved if they travelled as a four; a partnership that would allow Italy to benefit from the Royal Family’s only glamorous player.
“Like it or not, Kate remains the shiniest jewel in the Windsors’ crown. Last year’s highlights were all hers: Trooping, Wimbledon, Armistice, Christmas at the Abbey. It is a lot of pressure for one woman.”
One question that will hang over the next 12 months after being posed many times in 2024 is whether Prince Harry and Meghan will be able to reconcile with any of their royal relatives. In the past year, Harry has made several solo trips to the UK, but Meghan seems keen to remain in the US.
Prince William greets wellwishers in Cape Town in November
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And Tessa mused: “With their American schedule looking a little lacklustre and Trump due back in the White House, the pair have a strong motive to travel. The February Invictus Games in Canada cannot come soon enough. But whether the Sussexes take a leap of faith and across the Atlantic together remains to be seen. Family relations remain frosty.
“All the royals, Harry included, do remembrance well and May 2025 sees the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. A balcony shot with the whole Windsor clan is probably too much to ask for.”
So with the important World War Two anniversary coming up, Tessa believes it will be one royal leading the nation, especially as his role begins to take shape. She explained: “William will assume a leading role. Recent outings in military uniform have been frontpage news and lend to his emerging hand as a statesman.
“Although the Prince of Wales lamented 2024 as a ‘brutal’ year (even untouchable Anne sustained a nasty head injury), ironically William’s public profile has been much enhanced. Sympathy for a man whose wife was globally harassed online and then temporarily felled by cancer, has combined with respect for multiple philanthropic projects at home and abroad. In his own words, William reckons ‘we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world ‘.
“So that is what he will try to deliver, climaxing in Brazil when the future King will headline at COP30 in November. It speaks volumes about our current turbulent times that the best hope for compassionate leadership comes from an unelected millionaire prince. If all goes according to plan, 2025 will be William’s year.”
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