King Charles made his most significant appearance since sharing his cancer diagnosis when he led the Royal Family at their traditional Easter Sunday church service – and it seems when images of the event were shared on the Firm’s official social media accounts, two royals were missing from the photos
Royal fans were delighted to see King Charles make his biggest public appearance since starting cancer treatment at the traditional Easter Sunday church service.
The monarch, along with Queen Camilla and several other family members, attended the special service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor and after the ceremony Charles even carried out a surprise walkabout, shaking hands with wellwishers. The outing was documented on the official Royal Family X and Instagram accounts, with a series of jolly pictures from Easter Sunday being shared showing the likes of the King and Queen, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward and Sophie, and their son James, the Earl of Wessex.
However, it seems that two other family members who made up the royal party at the weekend were omitted from the snaps – Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. The Duke of York was forced to step down from public life following his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 and is no longer a working royal. He was later stripped of his royal patronages and military affiliations.
His ex-wife Fergie still shares Andrew’s home, Royal Lodge, with him and has recently been seen at several events with the Royal Family. Their appearance came just days before a brand new Netflix drama about his car crash interview on BBC Newsnight about his association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein drops on the streaming platform.
The show is based on former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister’s memoir Scoops, which documents the “high-stakes negotiations with Buckingham Palace through to the BBC’s headline-making interview with the Duke of York.”
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson also attended the service (Image: WireImage)
The couple walk back to Windsor Castle following the service (Image: Getty Images)
In the caption from the pictures shared on social media on Sunday, Andrew and Fergie are not mentioned by name and are instead referred to as “other family members”. The caption reads: “The King and Queen, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal and other members of the Royal Family attended the Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel today.”
Meanwhile, during Sunday’s walkabout, Charles had an unexpected reply to a wellwisher who urged him to “keep going strong”. A small crowd of wellwishers had been allowed to gather within the castle walls and after the service both Charles and Camilla went over to greet them.
The pair shook many hands with one member of the public telling the King, who is undergoing cancer treatment: “We’re all rooting for you, we’ve all got your back.” As the King made his way along the line of wellwishers, one man poignantly told him: “Happy Easter, Your Majesty. Keep going strong, keep going strong, never give in.” And Charles unexpectedly replied and joked: “I have to obey my instructions!”
Beforehand, the King beamed and waved to the small crowd as he and Camilla, in a green coat dress by Anna Valentine and a Philip Treacy hat, arrived for the service by car and. Arriving minutes beforehand were Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Prince Andrew and surprisingly his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson as well as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward and Sophie, and their son James, the Earl of Wessex.
The King, wearing a dark coat and blue tie, smiled and waved at members of the public outside St George’s Chapel. One person shouted “Happy Easter”, to which Charles gestured with his arm and responded: “And to you.”