The future of the royal monarchy rests squarely on the soldiers of future king Prince William and his family. For starters, he will eventually be ascending the throne, but with King Charles’s ongoing cancer battle and Princess Anne’s hospitalization, William and Middleton—who is undergoing her own cancer treatment—have become the “pillars on which the future of the monarchy rests,” royal biographer Christopher Andersen told OK!. 

Plus, William reportedly has his own “slimmed-down” vision for the monarchy, however, Anderson notes that this could put a lot of pressure on William and Middleton, who are “far and away the most beloved members of the royal family.”

If either of them starts to wobble, the whole thing can come crashing down,” Anderson said. “At the moment, Kate is at her most vulnerable. The ground beneath Kate is shifting in major ways. Only time can tell if she can stand strong.”

Given the family’s current state—King Charles has had to take a step back from duties as he recovers while Princess Anne, highly regarded as the hardest-working family member, is out due to an equestrian accident—Anderson noted that William’s plans of a bare-bones Firm may not be the most practical. It’s also possible that the family could face a similar scenario in the future.

The simple truth is that the royal family cannot be whittled down to a precious few without the risk of having it grind to a halt altogether,” Anderson explained. “For over 70 years, the Windsors had longevity on their side—almost to a ridiculous extent. Queen Elizabeth lived to be 96, and her husband Prince Philip was 99, the longest-living royal male in history [when he died]. 

The Queen Mother was downing her favorite gin and Dubonnets right up until the end at the astounding age of 101. There seemed to be no need for redundancy, with senior royals seeming practically immortal, and three generations of future monarchs waiting in the wings.”

But the recent happenings are proving that the family is not as invincible as they seem. “It’s hard to blame palace officials for not having a plan in place to cope with the simultaneous cancer diagnoses of King Charles and Princess Kate, much less the sidelining of such a valuable supporting player as the princess royal,” the expert continued. “The home team is running out of options.”

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams agreed that having a smaller team is “impractical,” as there’s a good chance they’ll need to call in back up again in the future.

“Princess Anne’s accident this week shows what can happen, quite unexpectedly,” Fitzwilliams said. “It was she who quite recently said a slimmed-down monarchy was impractical. It depends on what is wanted of the royal family.”

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