King Charles urged to drop ‘boring’ royal duties after cancer treatment setback

Royal commentator Ingrid Seward has suggested that while the King should continue with the more engaging aspects of his role, other royals could take over some of the more routine duties.

Charles, who has been battling cancer for more than a year, returned to work on Tuesday despite the health scare.

The King conducted a lengthy investiture ceremony on Tuesday, where he knighted and presented honours to dozens of people.

Among those honoured was world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who received an MBE.

Johnson-Thompson later told the press: "He seemed in good spirits. You know it's long, all day, because so many people are getting honored today."

Convincing Charles to reduce his workload has always been notoriously difficult.

"The trouble is, he's been so conditioned to work that I don't think he functions unless he's working," Seward told Newsweek.

"When he's not working, he's probably a bit all over the place. He's always working, and it's just not his nature to take an afternoon nap."

Seward believes there are specific duties the King could delegate to other senior royals.

"He could just step back from the investitures," she suggested. "I think that would be a good idea, there's the Princess Royal [Charles's sister Anne], Prince Edward could do investitures as well. There's no reason he couldn't."

The royal author highlighted that cancer treatment causes extreme fatigue, making certain royal duties particularly challenging.

"The trouble is it's his duty as Monarch to do these stifling, boring handshakes with incoming and outgoing ambassadors," Seward explained.

"How boring must that be, and I would think that's very exhausting but the only way he could slow down is if someone took over some of his official roles as Monarch."

Despite his recent health scare, the Palace described the incident as a "bump in the road" that would not disrupt the King's overall positive trajectory.

Charles is still planning a trip to Italy and spent Friday preparing for the State Visit. He did manage to rest over the weekend at Highgrove, his country retreat in the Cotswolds.

According to reports, Queen Camilla is the only person who has had any success asking the King to slow down.

"She can jolly him long with great affection—and at the other end of the spectrum, she's about the only person in the universe who can try to rein him back," a source told the publication.

However, the source added that she is only "partially" successful in these efforts. Despite the challenges, Seward remains optimistic about Charles' overall health.

"Very much so, yes. He's always been driven, and he's strong. This cancer has weakened him, but I think he's fine," she said.