RICHARD EDEN: Surely it’s time to see more of popular Beatrice, Eugenie and Lady Louise? Now more than ever, our ageing Royal Family needs its younger generation…

It’s time to see more of the younger royals as the older generation struggles to hold the Monarchy together in tough circumstances, says Richard Eden.

Writing in the latest edition of his Palace Confidential newsletter, Eden says that the York princesses and Lady Louise Windsor could play vital role in the future.

And he suggests that the absence of the King’s nieces from the Easter service at St George’s Chapel was a particular disappointment.

‘Having prepared for this job for almost 74 years, King Charles was never going to let a little thing like cancer get in the way of carrying out his duties,’ writes Eden, the editor of the Daily Mail’s Social Diary.

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The King attended the Easter Sunday service at Windsor despite his ongoing treatment for cancer. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex were all absent

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Lady Louise appears on the palace balcony after last year’s Coronation. Her younger brother, James, Earl of Wessex, stands behind

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Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice could play a vital role in the future says Richard Eden. They are also popular with the public

‘And that’s why His Majesty could be seen greeting the crowds outside St George’s Chapel in Windsor on Easter Sunday.

‘While most people undergoing cancer treatment would avoid mixing with others, the King shook hands with not one, not two, but dozens of well-wishers during an impromptu walkabout.’

Despite his determination to make the best of things, however, there is no doubt that the Royal Family has been stretched this year, says Eden – the more so as Prince Harry is now permanently out of action while the Princess of Wales is, like the King, undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.

‘Prince Andrew, who is the subject of yet more lurid headlines this week with the broadcast of Netflix’s much-hyped royal drama Scoop, was the second most senior member of the Royal Family at the chapel, in terms of the line of succession.

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Three of the King’s nieces, Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice and Lady Louise Windsor, right, are pictured with Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, far left, at Trooping the Colour in 2018

‘That is worrying for the Monarchy.

‘I was disappointed that Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, and their growing families, were not present on Sunday.

‘They and their cousins, Lady Louise Windsor and James, the Earl of Wessex, could play a vital role in the future, supporting their cousin Prince William when he eventually succeeds to the throne.

‘What better way to prepare for becoming full-time royals than joining the family at Easter, the time of renewed hope?’