The Queen’s pneumonia diagnosis has meant she is the third senior royal to suffer ill health this year and she has subsequently had to step back from several of her royal duties. What does this mean for the year ahead?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Nikki Peach<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/12\/imago717202053-scaled.jpg” alt=”Queen Camilla” title_text=”Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visit King Charles in London, UK, 25 June 2024 London, UK, 25 June 2024: Ki” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] Christmas is usually a time for celebration and togetherness \u2013 something that has been in short supply in the royal family this year following King Charles\u2019 and the Princess of Wales\u2019s respective cancer diagnoses. Most recently, Queen Camilla was diagnosed with pneumonia and has been urged to take time to rest and fully recover. It is thought that she contracted the illness a month ago during her long-haul trip to Australia and Samoa.<\/p>\n A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: \u2018The Queen has been suffering from a viral infection which has been diagnosed as pneumonia. Her Majesty has not required hospital treatment but is experiencing lingering side effects, chiefly suffering extreme bouts of tiredness which has meant the need for greater flex in her working diary.<\/p>\n \u2018Her symptoms have been persistent for a number of weeks but fortunately she is well enough to attend several engagements for the Qatari state visit and looks forward to returning to a full schedule as soon as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n As such, during the Qatari state visit Camilla took part in the indoor events including a private lunch at Buckingham Palace, but she did not attend the outdoor parts of the welcoming ceremony.<\/p>\n Queen Camilla\u2019s health update comes at a time of increasing uncertainty for the royal family. Several senior royals have had to take a step back from their usual duties because of their health this year \u2013 throwing the family\u2019s role in public life into question.<\/p>\n The Queen, for one, was absent during various Remembrance events in November, including the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance and the traditional Cenotaph wreath laying, which King Charles and other UK dignitaries attended. She also pulled out of the Royal Variety Performance last week, with Buckingham Palace releasing a statement about her lingering chest infection symptoms.<\/p>\n Kate Middleton stepped back from her royal duties between last Christmas and June after announcing her cancer diagnosis in March. Her absence in those early months caused such a frenzy online that it sparked international conspiracy theories about her whereabouts. She has, however, been making a steady return to public life since she was given the all clear in September and is set to host her annual Together At Christmas carol concert on 6 December.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, King Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer in February, has also had to absent himself from several major events this year. In October, the King missed the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan while he underwent cancer treatment, which, given his role as a lifelong environmentalist, came as a blow to both him and the organisers.<\/p>\n However, he was able to complete his recent nine-day visit to the Commonwealth with Camilla by his side. It is thought that the King paused his weekly cancer treatment in London to do so. Their visit to Australia and Samoa was Charles\u2019 first major tour since his cancer diagnosis; it was also his first visit to any Commonwealth realm outside of the UK since becoming King.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] Unfortunately, it was not plain sailing for the royal couple. The King was heckled by Australian senator Lidia Thorpe during their visit to Canberra, who accused him of \u2018genocide\u2019 after he delivered a speech paying his \u2018respects to the traditional owners of the land\u2019. Thorpe shouted, \u2018Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us \u2013 our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty.\u2019 Despite attending more than 30 official engagements during the trip, it was not the PR triumph Charles and Camilla might have been hoping for.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, it is also the trip where Camilla\u2019s health started to deteriorate when she contracted pneumonia \u2013 the name given to the inflammation of the lungs which is usually caused by an infection such as flu, a cold or other viruses.<\/p>\n In more ways than one, the royals are not as infallible as they once were \u2013 or at least once seemed to be. As the BBC royal correspondent, Jennie Bond, stated, \u2018There is no getting away from the fact that we now have a fairly elderly King and Queen. Camilla\u2019s recent chest infection is a reminder that neither of them is a spring chicken and they cannot be expected to go full pelt into the coming year.\u2019<\/p>\n She continued, \u2018Charles […] can be a very introspective man and some people feared that his cancer diagnosis would make him morose. But by all accounts, he has been positive from the start, he has used his own illness to encourage other men to come forward for tests.\u2019<\/p>\n Of course, it is paramount that all members of the royal family prioritise their health over their public duties, but it is becoming difficult to ignore the debate surrounding their relevancy in a modern world. The absence of senior royals from typical royal events, state visits and charitable obligations this year only confirms that, in many ways, the show still goes on without them.<\/p>\n As for Camilla\u2019s health update, it serves as a reminder that Christmas and indeed the year ahead may take a different shape to usual. With three out of the four most senior royals still in fragile health, Prince William is under increasing pressure to tow the line.<\/p>\n If his recent documentary\u00a0Prince William: We Can End Homelessness<\/em> on ITV and Disney+ \u2013 which prompted widespread backlash and accusations of hypocrisy on the royal family’s part \u2013 is anything to go by, it\u2019s not going to be easy.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-in-article-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”] Subhead<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Queen Camilla contracted her illness during her trip to Australia and Samoa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":5557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5556"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5566,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5556\/revisions\/5566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘There is no getting away from the fact that we now have a fairly elderly King and Queen’<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]