Prince William, the husband of Catherine who is recovering from surgery, and the son of King Charles III who is battling cancer, decided not to attend a memorial service, citing a “personal matter.”
According to a statement from his office at Kensington Palace, William declined to provide further details but reassured that Catherine, the Princess of Wales, is “doing well.”
The memorial, scheduled at Windsor Castle to honor the late King Constantine of Greece, one of William’s godfathers, was an event William had been expected to attend.
Due to his absence, the Prince of Wales, who was set to deliver a reading, informed the Greek royal family of his inability to attend.
This year has seen a decrease in the presence of frontline royals, with both the king and Catherine hospitalized almost simultaneously earlier in the year.
Charles underwent surgery for a benign prostate condition but was later diagnosed with a separate cancer, leading him to step back from public duties for treatment.
Catherine underwent abdominal surgery around the same time and is projected to remain inactive until at least the end of March following a hospital stay.
In Charles’s absence, Queen Camilla led the royal family members at the memorial service, with attendance from foreign royals such as Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
Charles, staying at Windsor Castle, was not expected to have private meetings with the attending foreign royals.
King Constantine of Greece, Charles’s second cousin, passed away at the age of 82 in January 2023.
Constantine, who reigned for only three years before the army took control of Greece in 1967, fled to Rome and later London after a failed military counter-coup.
The monarchy in Greece was abolished by the junta in 1973, and despite the restoration of democracy in 1974, Greeks voted against reinstating the royal family.
Princess Anne, King Charles III’s sister, represented the British Crown at Constantine’s funeral in Greece last year.
