Peter Phillips has addressed the pressure facing royal family members to actively engage in public duties amidst ongoing health crises.
The King has postponed a significant portion of his public appearances while undergoing cancer treatment, whereas the Princess of Wales recently disclosed her initiation of preventative chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer in late February.
In a rare televised interview with Sky News Australia, Peter, the son of the Princess Royal, was questioned about the support provided by external family members.
“Everyone has their own different role to play,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure on the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, my mother and the Queen to take on a lot more of the responsibilities… that adds its own pressures.
“There is definitely a short-term pressure on certain members of the family to be able to continue to be out and about and to be seen and to support organisations and conduct official engagements that need to be done.”
At 46 years old, the father of two further mentioned that his uncle Charles is feeling “frustrated” by the duration of his recovery, as it’s longer than he would prefer.
Peter, who is currently in Australia in his capacity as the patron of the charity ISPS Handa, dedicated to assisting disabled athletes, conveyed that the King’s morale remains high. However, he noted that the King is urging his staff to facilitate his return to royal duties after commencing cancer treatment the previous month.
“I think ultimately he’s hugely frustrated,” Peter said. “He’s frustrated that he can’t get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do. But he is very pragmatic, he understands that there’s a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself.
“But at the same time he is always pushing his staff and everybody – his doctors and nurses – to be able to say ‘actually can I do this, can I do that?'”
Peter, who holds the position of head of partner acquisition at the sports and entertainment rights agency CSM Sport & Entertainment, was not bestowed with a royal title by his parents, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, at birth.
Similar to his sister and accomplished equestrian, Zara Tindall, he has established his own career in the entertainment, sports, and television sectors. The interview occurred prior to Princess Kate’s public disclosure of her cancer diagnosis through a deeply personal and poignant video message.
Peter, who is close to his cousin, Prince William and his wife Kate, said of the couple: “She’s remarkable in herself… Her and William make a fantastic team together.”
Speaking about their family life with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, he also told Caroline Di Russo: “Their kids are great and they have the balance of public life and trying to be parents to three young children which is always difficult. They’ve got it pretty right because I think as history has taught us and anyone knows that actually you want to be there for your children.”
