Prince George just turned 13. Why it’s a ‘challenging time’ for the 2nd in line to the throne
Son of Prince and Princess of Wales garnering more public attention ahead of starting boarding school
Hello, royal watchers and those intrigued by what's going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your deep dive into royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox.
Any time there's a royal birthday, there's a predictable pattern: A new photo of the royal celebrating the annual milestone shows up on social media and family members chime in to offer their good wishes.
So it was to be expected there'd be a new photo of Prince George as he turned 13 this past week, this one with him sporting a dark suit — without his tie — taken after Trooping the Colour last month. (There was also a short video of him frolicking on a beach during a family holiday.)
What was more unusual this time around was the media flurry that surrounded the eldest child of Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, becoming a teenager.
This summer is a time of significant change for the second in line to the throne, as he and his family prepare for him to head off in September to Eton College, the elite boarding school his father attended a generation ago.
"It just seems that there's quite a bit of interest in George as he's going through this period of transition in his life," Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris said in an interview.
"He's starting at Eton, and even his growth spurt, how he suddenly seems to be as tall as his parents, is attracting a great deal of attention."
While George's birthday has received media attention every July 22, Harris sees a notable difference this year: an increased focus on what lies ahead for the new teen.
"It seems his 13th birthday is receiving a lot of media coverage that's focused on the future," she said.
Previous coverage of his birthday, she noted, often looked back, even as far as the "Great Kate Wait" outside the London hospital where he was born on that hot July day in 2013.
Now, Harris said, the coverage is changing, with questions around "how he is maturing, how he's engaging with the wider world. What sort of a school experience is he going to have? What might his interests be beyond the influences of his family circles?"
Turning 13 — and becoming a teenager — is one of the bigger milestones for any young person, George included.
"It's the start of his transition towards adulthood, with several key moments in the years ahead, the first of which is starting at Eton," Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, said via email.
If George is anything like his father, Prescott suggested, he may meet lifelong friends while he's at the school just up the road from Windsor Castle.
"Like any 13-year-old, he will start to develop his own interests over the next few years, both academically and otherwise, such as sport, the arts or whatever it might be," Prescott said.
"This is all in the public interest because how he will be as King depends on his character and who he is as a person, and this will start to emerge in the years ahead."
So far, however, what's emerged about George as a person has been limited and carefully curated by his parents, as they have placed a high priority on privacy for their young children.
But heading off to boarding school — even one that is relatively close to home — inevitably changes the calculus of all this.
"It's going to be a challenging time for Prince George, [and] his parents and his school are going to be trying to create a lot of privacy, and yet the public is going to be more and more interested in how he is going to be coming of age as a public figure," Harris said.
For William and his younger brother, Prince Harry, Eton offered something of a refuge and protection from prying public eyes, particularly after the 1997 death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
But that was in ways a different time, before the rise of social media and the ever-present smartphone and how that all can fuel the spread of rampant speculation.
Now, Harris suggests, there is the question of "what does it mean to be directly in line for the throne in the 2020s, when some of the pressures are similar to what his father faced, but some are quite different as well."
- The Royal FascinatorThe apprenticeship of Prince George
- THE ROYAL FASCINATORPrincess Charlotte showing more confidence in public appearances
There is a challenge here, Prescott said, in recognizing "the genuine public interest" in George as a member of the Royal Family while also protecting his privacy.
As George — and his sister, Princess Charlotte, and brother, Prince Louis — get older, they will inevitably be seen more often in public.
"There won't be an ‘on' switch as such," Prescott said.
"Depending on whatever else is happening in [George's] life, such as university or military service, he will just conduct more and more engagements. You might say that turning 13 and starting Eton is the very start of all of this."
Here comes PM No. 4
When King Charles invited Andy Burnham to form a government on Monday, the Labour Party leader became the fourth British prime minister the monarch has seen in as many years.
Given that prime ministerial turnover, a question might arise over how the monarch adjusts to seeing a new leader so regularly.
"Fundamentally, they have to work with whoever is in Number 10 [Downing Street] on any given day, so in that sense it doesn't change," Prescott said. "But clearly it's harder to build up an ongoing relationship if the occupant in Number 10 is always changing."
Having such a turnover might also reflect on the monarchy itself.
"If a point to the monarchy is stability, then that comes all the more to the fore if they're appointing prime minister after prime minister," Prescott said.
It's all quite the change from the previous reign, where Queen Elizabeth saw 15 prime ministers over her 70 years as monarch.
"It was long assumed that King Charles III would have far fewer prime ministers than Queen Elizabeth II," Harris said. "But it seems he's averaging a prime minister per year early in his reign."
When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952, the scenario was quite different.
"In a sense, the Queen was this young, untested monarch and prime minister [Winston] Churchill served as a symbol of continuity from the Second World War," Harris said.
But now, with so much prime ministerial turnover, Charles's role and his visibility are "very significant as a symbol of continuity."
The nature of the relationship between the monarch and any prime minister remains something of a mystery and subject to much speculation. While hints may emerge, what they say in regular audiences remains private.
Still, some observations can be made.
"You've got a sense of the King getting on" with Burnham's immediate predecessor, Keir Starmer, Prescott said.
"I think we saw the King willing to push the boat out in terms of the U.S. state visit ... that he was very much eager to play his role in supporting the government, in dealing with President [Donald] Trump and perhaps did things that other monarchs may not have done."
- AnalysisCan the 'King of the North' fix a fractured Britain?
- Andy Burnham officially becomes British prime minister
And what of Burnham — how might this relationship between monarch and PM evolve?
"It's interesting to see Andy Burnham coming from Manchester. King Charles III is … very interested in cities and urban areas and opportunities for young people, whereas previous generations of the Royal Family are very associated with country pursuits," Harris said.
"So he and his prime minister will find a great deal to talk about, and certainly urban renewal has been a topic that King Charles III has found interesting throughout his lifetime."
There may also be common ground between the new prime minister and Prince William.
WATCH | Burnham promises to end homeless people having to sleep outside:"What's interesting is one of Andy Burnham's last things he did before he became prime minister was to visit that homeless charity which Prince William is patron of," Prescott said.
Burnham also said he wants to end homelessness, an objective Prince William has been focusing on for several years.
"I think it'll be very interesting to see that relationship [between Burnham and William] over the next few months," Prescott said.
Remembering her mother's pain
When Camilla took on her first patronage — long before she became Queen or was married to Charles — it was for a cause that had a deep personal connection.
It was 1994, the same year her mother died of osteoporosis.
"In those bad old days, osteoporosis was seldom discussed, rarely diagnosed and usually attributed to old women with so-called dowagers' humps," Camilla said in a speech the other day at Clarence House, during an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
Camilla and her family had little or no understanding of the disease at the time and were determined to find out more about it, she said.
"We failed to comprehend how our mother could suffer so much pain, lose inches in height and yet find no available treatment from the doctors — the terrible problem being that osteoporosis is a silent thief hiding in plain sight."
In her speech last week, Camilla noted that osteoporosis "is now treatable" and thanked everyone at the event for all they had done for the charity.
Camilla's commitment to the charity is in keeping with a broader approach to some of her charitable interests.
"We're seeing Queen Camilla speaking more and more about her family outside the Royal Family and bringing this very personal touch to her philanthropic endeavours," Harris said.
"Even before her marriage to the future King Charles III, this was a cause that meant a great deal to her because of the suffering that her mother and grandmother endured. And we're seeing that as Queen this continues to be a very personal crusade to address the suffering caused by this condition."
The focus on osteoporosis falls within a larger theme that has emerged as a priority for Camilla.
"This also fits into her wider philanthropic work about improving the lives of women and girls, whether it's addressing domestic violence, encouraging greater community connections and for communities to come together," Harris said.
Camilla told those gathered at Clarence House that "we are not quite there yet" when it comes to finding a cure for osteoporosis, but she held out hope.
"Together, we can — and we will — see the end of osteoporosis, forever."
Royally quotable
"The fight and belief you have shown has inspired us all. "
— Prince William, in a post on X, after England's soccer team lost its semifinal match to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup.
King Charles also seemed to have the loss on his mind, mentioning that "maybe it's a good day to drown a few sorrows" as he poured a pint during a visit the day after the game to a pub in Dorset, England.
Royal reads
King Charles and Queen Camilla made a dramatic entrance at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games opening ceremony on Thursday, stepping out of the Tardis — the iconic time and space machine of Dr. Who fame — as the 11-day sporting event got underway. [ITV]
Princess Anne honoured British soldiers who died in a pivotal Korean War battle 75 years ago. During her trip to South Korea, she also had a futuristic meet-and-greet when she shook hands with a robot. [BBC, The Independent]
Anne's travels continued closer to home, as she spent time in County Fermanagh on her 65th visit to Northern Ireland. [BBC]
A new photograph of Queen Camilla was released to celebrate her 79th birthday. Buckingham Palace said Camilla was marking her birthday with a renewed commitment to supporting children's literacy, with the announcement that every child in the final year of primary school in the U.K. will be given a special edition of the book Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell this Christmas. [BBC]
King Charles said he was impressed by the design of Europe's first eco mosque and praised "all the care and attention which has been lavished on it." [BBC]
Princess Margaret's grandson, Sam Chatto, has announced his engagement to fellow artist Eleanor Ekserdjian, revealing he proposed with a porcelain ring he crafted himself. [Daily Mail]
The Reluctant Traveller with Canadian comedian and actor Eugene Levy earned two Primetime Emmy nominations after Prince William's surprise appearance in the Apple TV travel comedy series. And Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for As Ever in the outstanding lifestyle series category. [Daily Mail]