As the anniversary of QEII’s death approaches, so too does the one-year anniversary of the start of King Charles III’s reign. There are already pieces – commissioned by Buckingham Palace – about the past year and how King Charlie is the most perfect king ever. The palace absolutely wants to wave away the fact that the Windsors grossly miscalculated everything in the last decade of QEII’s life, and now they’re just a sorry lot of old farts and one rage-monster. Still, Charles wants us to know that he “seems very content and happy, having mourned the loss of his mother, he is settled. His destiny has arrived and he has embraced it.” He has been downright ecstatic since QEII died, because of course he was. Some highlights from this Sunday Times piece:

Charles is comfortable: “He seems really happy and comfortable in his own skin, which hasn’t always been the case,” said a friend. “There was understandable caution in terms of how the public would receive him. Would he enjoy the role; would it hinder him in what he wants to do? Even though there were times in his life when he’s wanted more media attention, he had no idea how he’d cope when he had the full blast of it — but the more he sees of the public and the more he sees the public turning out to cheer him and the Queen, he sees there is a will for him to succeed. They are always cheered to be cheered, particularly with the reputational challenges they’ve had over the years.”

He’s still obsessed with Camilla: “I think the red boxes and [extra] duties have come as an unexpected burden on his time. The Queen is absolutely integral. Without her you’d be looking at a very different person, in terms of his happiness, which is vital to the success of the whole mission. He’s got the Queen by his side who can make him laugh like nobody else, who can reassure him things are going well, who can humanise him, particularly at a time of immense stress and strain when he lost his mother and was suddenly sovereign, red boxes overflowing. To have the companion in whom you have complete faith and trust makes that burden a bit lighter.”

A source says that Charles knows he won’t be a change-maker: “When he was younger, he would have been quite a reforming King but he’s taken it on at a fractious time for the nation, with political divisions, economic hardships and uncertain times ahead. The country is struggling on so many fronts and big changes within the monarchy might not chime well with the times. I think Charles realises that the main changemaker will be William, who will have more licence to do it [as monarch] and Charles has decided to be the ‘steady-as-we-go’ monarch, providing the stability and continuity the country needs now.”

A caretaker king: One friend of Charles questions his decision to be cautious, believing the King, who is head of the Commonwealth, is “not moving at enough pace” to establish a meaningful Carolean legacy: “The coronation is months in the rearview mirror — where is the big Commonwealth vision or the momentum on opening up the palaces [to the public]? He needs to be careful he doesn’t end up being just a caretaker king.”

On the Sussex situation: A friend to whom the King turned for advice says: “He has done the right thing to rise above it and carry on with the work of the monarchy, which provides a welcome and stark contrast to what happens on the west coast of America. It’s all very sad, but it also mirrors what happens in a lot of families, so it humanises him. What’s clear is the side the public has come down on, and that’s reassuring to him.”

Andrew is being frozen out: The conundrum remains over what to do about Andrew, already stripped of his official roles and the use of his HRH. Charles has no desire for his brother “to come out of the freezer”, according to aides, but the attempts to remove Andrew from the palatial Royal Lodge and into Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes’ former home, appear to have been shelved. A royal source believes “Andrew is more of a long-term problem than Harry and Meghan. It feels like more stuff is going to come out on Epstein and there are still unexploded bombs there.”

[From The Sunday Times]

The fact that Charles and his handlers still believe that Andrew is the long-term “problem” and not the Sussexes, tells you everything you need to know about the state of the king’s royal court. While I agree that Andrew is a huge problem, Charles looks absolutely delusional to believe that he can “ostrich” his way out of the biggest shift in the monarchy since his great-uncle abdicated. Charles has spent the first year of his reign openly briefing against his son and daughter-in-law, evicting them from their British home, searching for ways to “punish” them, and then he turns around and demands that Harry show up to the coronation. All of which played out – as Charles intended – for the domestic British audience, in the British tabloids. At the very same time, Charles couldn’t go anywhere without republican, anti-monarchy protesters showing up and booing his ass and throwing eggs at him. This whole palace PR strategy comes across as delusional.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.