Kate return timeline emerges as Harry set for 40th birthday inheritance – live

The Scottish church where Queen Elizabeth II worshipped has hosted the BBC’s Songs Of Praise programme for the first time to mark the second anniversary of her death.

The special programme, which was screened on Sunday, featured a hymn commissioned by the King called Crathie in honour of the building.

During the programme, presenter Claire McCollum meets Crathie’s minister and chaplain to the monarch, Reverend Ken MacKenzie, to reflect on the late Queen’s deep faith and how she always felt part of his congregation.

He took the broadcaster on a historical tour of the kirk, including the foundation stone laid by Queen Victoria in 1893 and the royal pews where the King and Queen Camilla regularly worship.

The King faced a “rollercoaster” second year as sovereign, with the Queen proving herself the “star of the show” thanks to her support for her husband and the monarchy, a royal expert has said.

Sunday was the second anniversary of Charles’s accession to the throne and the loss of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The year 2024 looked set to offer a chance for the King and the royal family to settle in amid the aftermath the late Queen’s death and the King’s accession in 2022 and the hectic demands of the coronation in 2023.

But the health blows faced by Charles and the Princess of Wales torpedoed any plans for a run-of-the-mill year.

Joe Little, of Majesty magazine, said: “Nobody saw those things coming and they had a profound impact. It has been a rollercoaster year for the King, not just for him, but for his family, and it will have been of great concern to the Queen.

“Nonetheless he has been remarkably active for someone with his condition and given his age.

“He hasn’t really let the treatment hold him back, but I’m sure he hasn’t done anything near as much as he would have liked to have done.”

The Princess of Wales is hoping to join the royal family at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday and host her Christmas carol concert, according to reports.

Kate, who has undergone months of chemotherapy treatment for cancer, is “potentially” set to join the King on November 10 at the national service in Whitehall in honour of those who died in conflict, The Sunday Times said.

Planning is also said to be under way for her annual televised Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in December, if she continues to have “more ‘good days’”, the newspaper revealed.

Kate, 42, has made two official public appearances since her diagnosis – attending Trooping the Colour in June and presenting the Wimbledon men’s trophy in July.

No date has been set for her return to public life, but the princess is understood to be holding more regular meetings as she works from home, having enjoyed the summer with the Prince of Wales and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The King’s health is “heading in a very positive trajectory”, royal sources have said, as he marks the second anniversary of his accession to the throne.

Charles’, second year as sovereign has been filled with health concerns, having been diagnosed with cancer and dealing with ongoing treatment alongside his royal duties.

But a source said Charles had coped with the past year with a “determination to be as public as he was able” to reassure the nation about how much he could still do.

The King spent around three months away from public-facing duties and returned in April with a visit to a cancer centre in London.

He had a high profile run of engagements through the next few months with D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations in Portsmouth and Normandy, Trooping the Colour, the incoming Japanese state visit, a short trip to Jersey and Guernsey, the appointment of a new Prime Minister after Labour’s landslide general election, and the State Opening of Parliament.

The King and Queen are gearing up for an important tour to Australia and Samoa in the autumn – their first major overseas trip since news of Charles’s cancer was announced.

“Health has to remain the number one priority, albeit heading in a very positive trajectory,” the source said.

Sir Ian McKellen has asserted his support for Prince Harry as the duke’s estrangement with his brother and father continues.

The veteran British actor, 85, told The Times he believed Harry isn’t “bright enough” to deal wit the turmoils of royal life.

Reportedly pointing to a copy of Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare, in his east London home, Sir Ian said: “I’m most definitely on Harry’s side.”

He added: “Imagine being born into the royal family. I’ve been in public life a bit, but these people are in prison. They can’t do anything normal. Can you imagine having to be nice to everyone you talk to?”

“Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world,” he said.

“Like the [late] Duke of Edinburgh managed to do, although even he was deeply, deeply eccentric and I suspect deeply unhappy. Same with the present king. He sort of survives, but he is clearly damaged. As for Harry, he’s probably not bright enough or doesn’t have the right friends to really help himself.

“Mind you, he had the pick of all the pretty women in the world. I hope he’s got the right one.”

The Duke of Sussex is set to receive millions from the late Queen Mother when he celebrates his 40th birthday next week.

Prince Harry will reportedly become eligible to receive a large sum on September 15 from a trust set up by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when he was ten years old.

An estimated £19 million was set aside by the dukes great-grandmother to be shared between her grandchildren, The Times reports.

Citing contemporary reports, the newspaper claimed William and Harry were set to receive £6 million between them when they turned 21 and a further £8 million when they turned 40. It is believed Harry would receive a larger share as William would benefit from the income from the Duchy of Cornwall.

A former Palace aide told The Times: “There was a trust fund set up at the time. It was a way in which the Queen Mother could set aside money for when her great-grandchildren were older and a way of passing a slice of her estate down in a tax-efficient way. It was a way in which some of her estate could be ring-fenced for them.”

Reports name Zara and Peter Phillips, Beatrice, Eugenie, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto as the other beneficiaries of the fund.

The King’s second year as monarch has been less hectic than his first, with cancer treatment understandably having an impact on his schedule, though he has still undertaken dozens of visits, meetings and events.

Charles has carried out official engagements on 132 days during the past year, compared with 161 days in the previous 12 months.

The second year of his reign can be divided roughly into three sections: a full schedule during the autumn of 2023, with trips around the UK as well as to France, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, a period out of the public eye following his prostate operation in January 2024 and subsequent diagnosis of cancer, and a gradual return to regular activity from May onwards, including visits to Scotland and the Channel Islands.

The figures have been compiled by the PA news agency using the Court Circular, which is the official record of the royal family’s daily activities.

Sir Ian McKellen has claimed the late Queen Elizabeth II was “quite rude to him” on the occasions they met.

The veteran British actor, 85, was knighted for services to the performing arts in 1991 and had met the Queen at least once when she personally appointed him Companion of Honour (CH) for his services to drama and to equality in 2008.

“The Queen, I’m sure she was quite mad at the end. And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude,” he told The Times. “When I received a medal for acting (the Companion of Honour in 2008), she said, ‘You’ve been doing this for an awfully long time’.

“I said, ‘Well, not as long as you.’ I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, ‘Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?’.

“That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting. It meant, ‘Does anyone care a f*** about you because I don’t. Now off you go!’”

The Burnley-born actor went on to demonstrate how the late Queen shook his hand, claiming she “shoved” him away as he offered his hand and added: “That was her handshake and it meant, ‘Go! Go!’”

The guest preacher at the service attended by the King and Queen described the anniversary as “particularly significant and poignant for the royal family”.

Rt Rev Dr Shaw Paterson, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said he had remembered the royal family in his prayers during his sermon, and it was a privilege to preach to the King, the Queen and rest of the congregation.

After the service, he described how the King was “very well known and liked” in the local community around Balmoral and is “very much part of it”, just like the late Queen.

Dr Paterson said: “It was a privilege to preach to the congregation of Crathie Kirk, which included King Charles III and members of the royal family.

“This weekend is particularly significant and poignant for the royal family, indeed for all of us in Scotland, across the wider UK and Commonwealth, because the 8th of September marks the second anniversary of the death of Her Majesty the Queen and His Majesty’s accession to the throne.

“Like his late mother, His Majesty is very well known and liked in this community and is very much part of it. I remembered the royal family, along with all the people of this parish and the wider nation and Commonwealth in my prayers.”