Why Kate And Williams' Kids Have The Weight Of The Monarchy On Their Shoulders
In recent years, Prince Charles has been readying himself for when he takes the throne of the British monarchy (via Us Weekly). When that time comes, Prince William will become the first in line to succeed his father, which in turn will bump his three children up a few notches. With that comes more responsibility, and like their father, they'll all have to undertake royal duties. If William's eldest, Prince George, were to follow in his trajectory, the young royal would start being a working member of the monarchy at 21 (via Yahoo! Life). While it's likely George's younger siblings – Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – will never take the throne, they'll have to do their part as working royals, too.
Even more so now, as the amount of senior royals working on behalf of Queen Elizabeth has diminished somewhat in recent years. For example, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their royals in 2020 (via Oprah Daily), Prince Philip passed away in April 2021, and Prince Andrew had his royal titles stripped in 2022 following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal (via BBC News).
And it's not like his work as a royal can be passed down to his children either. In the late nineties, it was decided that Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice would not be working royals (via the Express). This would have been the likely trajectory for Charlotte and Louis, but their future seems to have changed significantly.
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will have less options
What their future roles within the royal family entail remains to be seen. Still, it would seem that Prince William and Kate Middleton's children may have a lot on their shoulders when they become young adults. According to one royal expert, the Duchess of Cambridge is already worrying about the "painful dilemma" that her three children will potentially face. "The pressure on them is going to be intense to help ensure the survival of the British monarchy," royal commentator Daniela Elser wrote in the New Zealand Herald.
Elser believes "there is no way ... at this stage, Charlotte and Louis will have anywhere near the latitude and freedom to ever make a similar choice" and step down from their royal responsibilities when they're older. "The only possible candidates to step in and help [George] carry the burden here are his siblings," she writes, "meaning that like it or not, all three of the Cambridge children could very well be dragooned into working royal life whether they fancy it or not."
The future of the British monarchy is looking uncertain
However, the future may look a little more optimistic and less stressful for the younger Cambridge children. Over the past couple of years, it's been speculated that once Prince Charles becomes king, he's planning to "slim down" the monarchy (via the Mirror). "It is well known that Charles wants to stamp his mark and in modern times, don't be surprised to see changes made," analyst Jonathan Sacerdoti told the Mirror. "The demands of responsibility and certain behaviors that are needed will be at the forefront – simply, you must be totally reliable."
Royal expert Camilla Tominey added that the "slimmed down" idea comes from a place where Charles wants "to make sure that everybody is doing their bit and [there are] no so-called hangers-on," she said on The Telegraph's Royal Insight podcast. However, Tominey feels this prospect "make[s] the future of the monarchy kind of uncertain," as Britain has had its current model with the queen on the throne for such a long time. "That means by association that you're going to have fewer royals taking on fewer patronages," she said, which certainly brings the future roles of Charlotte and Louis into question.