King Charles’ slimmed-down monarchy needs ‘younger blood’: report

King Charles made a promise to slim down the British monarchy when he became king last September, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

However, a source recently claimed that the king’s goal of streamlining the royal family has worked a little too well.

There are reportedly not enough members of The Firm to go around when it comes to undertaking royal engagements.

According to OK!, Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are first in line to handle official occasions, as part of a two-year tour of the Commonwealth.

The insider added that “emergency meetings have been held to come up with a solution to fulfill the growing number of royal engagements both here in the UK and abroad.”

With Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, currently the only “senior” royals under the age of 50, insiders believe that the British monarchy needs additional youthful members to appeal to the widest range of potential supporters.

“There needs to be some younger blood to reach the younger generation and the only candidates available are Beatrice and Eugenie,” the source explained.

While Beatrice, 35, and Eugenie, 33, are not officially working royals, they have taken on engagements in the name of the crown in the past.

“It will be a case of increasing those responsibilities as opposed to making them into full-time working royals,” the source continued.

William and Middleton, both 41, have been carrying much of the weight and attending many events for Charles, 74.

But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will need to take a small step back for the sake of their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

“William and Kate will be taking part but with reduced roles to account for the children. They will take on most of their work during the children’s school holidays. This leaves a gap in the UK that needs to be filled. That’s where Eugenie and Beatrice come in,” the insider said.

Charles’ former butler Grant Harrold gave some insight last month into the former Prince of Wales’ changes to thin out the monarchy.

“It’s been interesting. He has copied Queen Elizabeth’s footprint and done things the way she did them with all the official engagements,” Harrold said. 

“She stopped doing overseas visits a few years ago so Charles has been able to take that on quite easily but he has added his twist to it.”

“There’s lots of changes in the gardens. King Charles is famously a gardener and loves his gardens,” Harrold said.

“I think there are changes coming. A prime example is the balcony at Trooping the Colour earlier this year,” he added, speaking about the annual London parade. “If you look from the Queen’s time it looked like Piccadilly Circus. If you look at it now, it looks like something after Armageddon; it’s completely different.”