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Louise Thomas
Editor
The future direction of the monarchy is on a knife-edge, amid the passing of the late Queen, tense relationships, and a shrinking inner circle bolstered by an unprecedented health crisis.
Less than two years into his tenure as monarch, King Charles III announced his cancer diagnosis, reducing his public duties to recover. The Princess of Wales is also unable to carry out public duties, dealing with her own cancer diagnosis.
The number of working royals has been steadily shrinking since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back in 2020, and Prince Andrew was stripped of his titles and patronages due to U.S. civil action over sexual assault allegations.
In this exclusive event for The Independent, Assistant Editor Vicki Harper and a panel of royal experts will analyse the current state of the shrinking Royal Family, look back at how we got here, and explore the potential next moves for “the firm” to stay relevant.
The first guest on our panel is Anna Pasternak, an international bestselling author and frequent royal commentator on television, radio and podcasts. Anna’s debut book, ‘Princess in Love’ – about Princess Diana’s affair with James Hewitt – was considered the scoop of the decade.
Anna is also on the Writers’ Advisory Council of the Free Speech Union and is the author of ‘The American Duchess; the Real Wallis Simpson’. In 2021, she spoke against the motion to abolish the British monarchy at The Oxford Union.
Tessa Dunlop will also join our panel. The twentieth-century historian, Sunday Times bestselling author and Royal Television Society awarded broadcaster was also a presenter on the BBC’s BAFTA-winning series Coast, and appears on numerous history documentaries and talk shows, often commenting on royal news.
Our third panellist is Jonathan Spangler: royal historian, lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and the senior editor of The Court Historian, the journal of the Society for Court Studies. Jonathan specialises in the roles of second sons, or other more junior members of the royal family.
The event will be hosted on Zoom and will last one hour. It will take place on Tuesday September 10 and will start at 7pm BST.
Once signed up you will be able to ask questions to the panel. You can also post questions in the comments of this article.
For more information and to sign up for a free ticket click here.
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