It’s all change for the royals but in the most subtle of ways. This week sees several big events for the House of Windsor but the one that’s most likely to catch the public imagination isn’t King Charles setting a record but rather one of his heirs reaching a milestone.
Prince George, the teenage years
It’s quiet season for the royals with official engagements gently reducing in most diaries other than Princess Anne’s. But there’s one big date in the diary that they are already prepared for this week. On July 22, Prince George turns 13 and the second in line to the throne is officially a teenager.
While George, who only recently charmed his mum and sister with a hat show at Wimbledon, looks far removed from the stereotypical sullen teenager, there’s no doubt that his 13th birthday is a milestone. We already know that he’s left prep school, tried out boarding and is about to embark on five years at Eton College, following in the footsteps of his father who is reported to have loved his time at the top class school.
George will walk into Eton a teenager and walk out a young man. He’ll be 18 by the time his last day arrives. For many that means the chance to start their own path in life. For George, it means he can reign without a regent and, if needed, stand in for the Monarch if called upon.
So Wednesday’s birthday is kind of a soft spotlight on what is waiting down the line. George is moving from youngster to young adult and in royal terms, that makes a huge difference.
The moment will be marked by new photos and, given how organised Kate has been about these, they may well already be taken. Should we hope for a family portrait, too, to celebrate this special birthday?
Whatever happens, George Alexander Louis is entering a new phase of his life and we can only wish him well. The royal role he occupies is now slowly evolving. The baby prince who charmed the world is taking bigger steps, now, towards the throne he was born to inherit.
Birthdays are everything
George’s big moment comes just days after Queen Camilla celebrated her own birthday. The Queen turned 79 on July 17 and there was, of course, a photo.
It’s nothing but a good thing that the House of Windsor has leaned into the tradition of sharing photos to mark birthdays and other special events every year now. It’s such an open goal. Happy day, smiling image, nothing not to love.
However, Queen Camilla has a very subtle way of switching things up without making a fuss. As her rather lovely birthday portrait was released, Buckingham Palace also announced that every Year 6 child in the country would get a free reading book at Christmas as a way of The Queen celebrating literacy, her long term passion.
And there, without even ruffling her ever perfectly coiffed hair, Queen Camilla added another layer to the 21st century celebration of royalty. It’s not just about her, she’s doing something for others that makes a difference.
Queen Camilla has a habit of just doing and then everyone else catches up. It appears that as she counts down to turning 80, she’s showing no signs of changing.
King Charles gets ready for a change
Royalty’s big issue is that the really important things often get overtaken by the image. It’s always been the same. And this week, we’ll see it once more. What we’ll all remember next Sunday is the way George celebrated his birthday. However, his grandfather will have done actual, real life constitutional Monarchy in the meantime and most of us will just have sighed.
On July 20 2026, The King will welcome Sir Keir Starmer to Buckingham Palace to accept his resignation as Prime Minister. It comes just two years after Sir Keir was welcomed in to begin his tenure after winning a whopping majority in the General Election. Unfortunately, for him anyway, he wasn’t as popular with the Labour Party as he was with the general population and he’s off now to pastures new, most likely writing an autobiography and giving after dinner speeches.
And after he sweeps out of the Palace, in will whizz Andy Burnham, who’s been an MP again for less than a month but who will now be asked by the Monarch to form a government. Charles III has to ask the person who is most likely to be able to form an administration to do just that. As Andy Burnham now leads the parliamentary party with a clear majority in the Commons, that’s him. And so, for the fourth time in his reign of less than four years, Charles will welcome in a new PM and kiss hands.
This ancient tradition happens once the incoming PM has accepted the role. Andy Burnham won’t actually kiss the King’s hand, it’s now a representative handshake. And King Charles seems to have dispensed with the other tradition of showing the incoming leader bowing to him in the first official phot, perhaps still traumatised by Liz Truss and the most hapless curtsey in history.
It took Elizabeth II over 11 years to welcome 4 PMs so that’s one record Charles III can claim. And safe in the knowledge that we’re all far more interested in birthday portraits anyway.
