Prince William pulling out of a memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece is an “extremely concerning” development, according to a former royal butler.
Grant Harrold spoke on GB News about the Prince of Wales, who was due to deliver a reading at the event.
William called the Greek royal family ahead of the service in St George’s Chapel to inform them he was unable to attend.
Harrold says that for the royals, duty “comes before everything” and the Prince’s mysterious absence will not have been a decision taken lightly.
Grant Harrold is concerned by Prince William's notable absence
GB NEWS / GETTY
“The fact he’s pulled out shows something is not right”, he said.
“The first thing people will think is if it is something to do with his father, the King? I think it’s probably something closer to home
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“It’s possibly something to do with Catherine, the Princess of Wales, because obviously she had that surgery a few weeks back and a lot of people have said to me they’ve been very quiet since she’s had it done.
“Obviously it’s a very personal matter so they’ve not discussed what it was but it does cause concern to suddenly pull out because of a personal reason.”
While Harrold is worried about what could be behind William’s decision, he says it could be down to a more minor matter.
“Of course it could be as simple as one of the children maybe going down with a cold or flu or something”, he said.
William and Kate
Kensington Palace
Grant Harrold joined Michael Cole on GB News
GB NEWS
“But I think it’s something possibly more to do with the actual Princess and I just hope there isn’t anything too serious.”
Kate is away from official royal engagements until after Easter following major surgery in January.
The King also missed the service as he continues treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Constantine’s eldest son Crown Prince Pavlos is to step in to give the reading in William’s place.
The Duke of York led family members including his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice, the Princess Royal and Zara and Mike Tindall, who arrived at the chapel after being driven to the castle quadrangle by coach.
The final member of the British royal family to arrive was the Queen, who was driven down from the castle to the 15th century chapel.
Constantine died at the age of 82 in January last year, decades after being toppled from the throne in a military coup.