Royal 'Star Players' Sidelined: Crown Facing Crisis Like Queen Elizabeth's 'Annus Horribilis' Due to King Charles and Princess Kate's Illnesses

Queen Elizabeth II's "annus horribilis" in 1992 was all about scandal and divorce, but 2024 could be a repeat of that infamous royal year for entirely different reasons.

With King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales being "two of the main star players and the royal family," this terrible year is being shaped by a lack of royals to adequately represent the institution.

"It feels like we're back there again," GBN's Nana Akua shared with guest, Lady Colin Campbell.

The outspoken aristocrat responded: "I think to an extent you're right because so much that's untoward has gone on."

She then shared that the Princess of Wales "did make the point that it was preventative," before adding: "Preventative chemotherapy means just making sure there are no free radicals floating around anywhere, so they're doing a mopping up exercise."

"William and Catherine are coping as positively and as well as they can," Lady C continued. "They're both very levelheaded people, they're not drama queens like Harry and Meghan, [and] they're not going to make a drama into a crisis. And they're going to be coping with this in as measured and sensible a way as possible."

After taking a swipe at the Moneticito royals, the royal author then revealed: "I understand from people in the medical profession that she is actually the ideal patient because she's very positive, she's very intelligent, she's not creating a drama and a crisis where there's no need to. And she's evidently very amenable. She's very fit, she's very athletic, so that's all good."

These insights come amid reports that reflect the "increasing bond" between King Charles and his daughter-in-law during their shared ordeal.

"The King has always had a close, warm, and unique relationship with the princess," a palace source recently spilled. "She has a great love and respect for him and his position. When they were in hospital together there was a lot of toddling down the corridor to spend time with her. He has been encouraging and supporting her throughout."

"He's not a father figure as such — she’s got her own dad to whom she's absolutely devoted — but you could say the king treats her like the daughter he never had," a report published on Saturday, March 23, stated. "You see it in the pictures of them together. That relationship is best summed up in those fascinating moments when she greets him first with a kiss and then with a curtsy."

"It is highly unusual for just the two of them to sit down together like this," a source revealed when discussing a reported lunch meeting between the future queen and her Sovereign on Thursday, March 21.

Although the King is "slowly but surely" starting to return to royal events, sources revealed that it could be "until at least September" before the future queen does the same.