One royal role Prince Harry will never fill 'under any circumstances' even with King Charles 'out of action'

Two senior royals in the same hospital at the same time is unprecedented – a procedure on the King for an enlarged prostate, and undisclosed abdominal surgery on the Princess of Wales.

Two senior royals leaving the same hospital, The London Clinic, and on the same day is off the unprecedented scale. 

The knock-on effect of the King announcing that he was suffering from an enlarged prostate sent the UK's National Health Service (NHS) website into a tailspin.

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Analysis by NHS England, which runs the website, found visits to the prostate enlargement page jumped by 1061 per cent to one visit every five seconds as news of the King's health condition was announced.

The day of the Palace's announcement, the web page received 16,410 visits compared with 1,414 the previous day.

When Catherine went into hospital - she is now recuperating at home in Windsor - Prince William said he would step back from official duties to stay by her side while she recovers and care for their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

That decision coupled with The King's hospitalisation was all some British media needed to speculate as to whether the 'Regency Act' needed to be invoked, and questioned too if there were enough Counsellors of State. 

Buckingham Palace made clear last month that only 'working royals' were eligible to function as Counsellors of State, namely The Queen and Prince William, Prince Edward, and the Princess Royal.

While Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice remain on the list of Counsellors of State are ineligible, because they are not working royals, will not be required under any circumstances.

There are, however, limits as to what Counsellors of State can and cannot do on behalf of the Sovereign – they can attend Privy Council meetings, sign routine documents, and receive the credentials of new ambassadors to the UK.

What they cannot do is oversee matters relating to the Commonwealth, dissolve Parliament, except on the explicit instructions of the Sovereign, create peers and appoint a Prime Minister. 

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The Regency Act requires that the regent should be the next person in the line of succession who is over the age of 21, a British subject domiciled in the United Kingdom and capable of succeeding to the Crown under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.

The Regent rules in a de facto fashion because the Sovereign is unable to do so for whatever reason.

While a Counsellors of State can only conduct limited functions on behalf of a Sovereign, a Regent has the full authority of Parliament to act in the Sovereign's name. 

The first and only time the UK had a Regency was during the reign of George III (1760-1820).

Anyone who saw that splendid film The Madness of King George will remember how he suffered from the illness porphyria, which completely incapacitated him, so would have understood the need for a Regent.

In 1811, under the 1789 Regency Bill, his son the Prince of Wales later George IV, functioned as Regent right up to the time of his father's death in 1820. 

Parliament has subsequently made provision for a Regency Act for successive reigns.

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In 1910 when George V acceded to the throne, all of his six children were under the age of 18, Parliament passed the 1910 Regency Act that named his consort, Queen Mary, as Regent. 

At the end of 1936 when George VI became king upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor), his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth as heir presumptive was under the age of 18, leading to the need for a new Regency Act.

Unlike previous Acts, the 1937 Act (still in force today) established in law a procedure for determining the incapacity of the sovereign due to infirmity of mind or body.

Which brings us back to 2024. 

When The King arrived at The London Clinic for his prostate procedure he walked in, and three days later he walked out.

Buckingham Palace was clear that even while His Majesty was in hospital he continued to work on his 'Red Boxes' - bursting with paperwork containing State papers, Cabinet minutes, ambassadorial despatches, and nominations for honours, etc. 

No incapacity of body or mind there.

Prince William, having announced he was stepping back from official duties until his wife was out of hospital, will, I believe, be back at work sooner rather than later now the Princess is recuperating at their Windsor home. 

With two senior royals out of action, what many of the great British media failed to report is that January has always been a very lean month when it comes to royals on the road – the exception has always been the Princess Royal. 

The late Queen, for example, never left Sandringham until after 6 February, the anniversary of the passing of her father George VI, so we should not have been surprised that The King was scaling back on public engagements for as short period of recuperation.

The Princess of Wales is taking a lengthier period to recuperate – we should not expect her back to work until after Easter, and Prince William taking time out to be on hand for his wife and children. 

With both now out of hospital our good wishes go to The King and Princess of Wales for a speedy recovery.