King Charles the Last? Royals Need to Get Their 'Act Together' Before Monarchy Enters It's '11th Hour'

Whereas 2023 was a "nightmare" for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, 2024 seems to be turning into a "perilous time" for senior working British royals. Due to the still-mysterious health scares of King Charles III and Kate, Princess of Wales, and the ongoing "royal work shortage," the Crown could be entering its "11th hour," the late Diana, Princess of Wales' friend Richard Kay said about the monarchy.

"The photograph issue, while small in itself, nevertheless exposed tensions that lie close to the surface in the family, as well as the fragility of an institution that for decades seemed impervious to any external threat," he added when discussing Kate's Mother's Day "photoshop editing debacle."

Kay continued: "But if we are not quite at the 11th hour, we are ­perilously close. There still may be time for the high tide of public disapproval to recede, but the cost to the royal image and to individual reputations has been high. Yet the problems go beyond the two medical emergencies. Family cohesion and other certainties that we once took for granted are fast disappearing."

Numerous royal analysts and some historians have reported that King Charles' monarchy "had good intentions" when wanting to "adapt to the times," but "missed the entire point of Queen Elizabeth II's reign." The King and Prince William have been accused of "letting too much daylight in upon magic," which has caused a closer lens to fall on what makes the monarchy tick.

A former courtier to Elizabeth II shared that His Majesty's reign is missing the "glamour, exalted status, pomp, pageantry, and living, breathing fairy tale opulence to stun the senses."

"I get the sense this is a real moment in time, a real shift for the royals," group editor of Women & Home magazine Hannah Fernando told an outlet. "We are seeing this level of emotion."

"We are seeing William step away from royal duties, we are seeing different things happening that we never saw under the Queen; that sort of emotion and those feelings were kept fairly close," she added.

Under Elizabeth II's 70.5-year reign, the monarchy operated within the model of "kindness but distance," according to one palace insider. "The late Queen grew up in a monarchy still rooted in deference, mystery, and Victorian sensibilities."

When she came to the throne at the age of 25, it is believed that she was dedicated to maintaining that style of royalty, although she accepted small changes toward modernity after Diana, Princess of Wales, died in 1997.

Prince William's infidelity, Kate and the King's illnesses, and the "never-ending damage" from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have likely sent the late Queen "spinning in her grave."

The New York Post reported on Kay's comments.