Prince William and Kate Middleton conducted their first official diplomatic duty, since the lockdown, at Buckingham Palace on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena while observing social distancing protocols.
The Ukrainian head of state and his wife had an audience with Prince William and Kate at the Throne Room of the Queen's official home. According to reports, shaking hands was not observed and the Cambridges always kept a safe distance from their guests. However, none of the four important people in the room wore a face mask for their meeting so that they could properly hear each other talk.
According to Daily Mail, William and Kate were likely charmed by the Ukrainian president because he's a fun and jovial person to talk to. Zelenskyy was a comedian before he took on his political office in April 2019 and topped the other party's candidate.
Buckingham Palace had to stop diplomatic meetings and royal events for six months. Since the resumption of official business and reopening of the economy, the royal family has also slowly returned to their duties.
William and Kate, however, needed to step up for this diplomatic meeting because the Queen was isolating from the coronavirus in Windsor Castle. In September, Buckingham Palace announced that the monarch will return to her countryside home after spending the summer in Scotland.
Queen Elizabeth will not be living in Buckingham Palace for the rest of 2020. She will be carefully choosing what events to attend at her official residence, which will likely not be many considering her vulnerability to the virus as a 94-year-old.
Prince William and Kate, as well as Prince Charles, are then tasked to take on what the Queen will not be able to handle until the end of the year. Royal experts, however, said that William and Kate, especially the Duke of Cambridge, are slowly recognizing the "power of the monarchy." Sources from the Palace told Richard Kay that William truly "gets" what his duty means.
Kay said that the Cambridges have been the unifying figures championing for Britain amid this pandemic. In contrast, Prince Harry has been out of touch and even criticized his homeland and its people, while based in Los Angeles with Meghan Markle.
To many British people, they feel that they have the right brother as the second in line to the throne. The comparison comes as a new book, Battle of the Brothers, will uncover more details about the Prince William and Harry's feud.
