Royal Family Is Dealing With ‘Biggest Crisis’ Since King Edward’s Abdication, Expert Claims

The royal family is in the midst of a challenging time, which royal expert Robert Jobson likened to King Edward VIII abdicating the throne.

“I think people will be talking about this as the biggest crisis since the abdication,” Jobson said in ABC News Studio’s IMPACT x Nightline: The Crown in Crisis broadcast special, which is currently streaming on Hulu. “It’s quite vulnerable.”

King Edward VIII was the ruler of England before resigning in 1936 when he was barred by the church from marrying Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. In Edward’s absence, his younger brother King George IV ascended the throne. George was the father of Queen Elizabeth II. (After his abdication, Edward and Simpson moved to France and lived there until the former king’s death in 1972.)

After 70 years as sovereign, Elizabeth died in September 2022 at the age of 96. Her eldest son, King Charles III, subsequently assumed the throne. Eighteen months later, Charles, 75, was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer and took a step back from his public duties. (He has continued to hold a few audiences at Buckingham Palace and attended the royal’s Easter service late last month.)

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In Charles’ absence, he has leaned on wife Queen Camilla, son Prince William and brother Prince Edward to take over at his engagements. William’s wife, Princess Kate Middleton, is also a senior working royal but is in the middle of her own battle with cancer and canceled all of her public duties while she undergoes treatment.

“I’ve covered the royal family since 1990 and it’s always been a roller-coaster,” Jobson said in the special, which dropped on Thursday, April 11. “I think this particular period of 2024, where you’ve got Camilla who used to be regarded as the ‘Rottweiler pariah,’ she’s leading the royal family into ceremonies at Westminster Abbey. I think it’s been quite shocking.”

Camilla, 76, married Charles in 2005 after a scandalous affair amidst the twosome’s respective marriages to Andrew Parker Bowles and Princess Diana. After they each divorced their former partners, they were married in an intimate civil ceremony. Camilla was formally blessed and anointed as queen in May 2023 during Charles’ coronation.

With only Camilla, William, 41, Edward, 60, and his wife, Duchess Sophie, left to handle public appearances, it has cast a shadow of doubt over the monarchy as a whole.

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“I would argue that the royal family, prior to any of this happening, was already facing a crisis regarding their future when it came to their popularity, when it came to apathy towards the royals in the U.K., particularly when it came to younger generations,” royal expert Omid Scobie claimed in the documentary. “This health crisis in the middle of it has given them their biggest challenge in all the years.”

Per Scobie, there is a “huge void in the royal lineup.”

“This is not the slimmed-down monarchy that King Charles dreamed of,” Scobie added. “He imagined a lineup of his strongest royals in the family, including Prince Harry. And now we have a really limp lineup at times. And you know, the queen said it best herself: ‘To be seen is to be believed.’ If we’re not seeing the others and what they’re doing, what are we believing in?”

Harry, 39, and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from their positions as senior working royals following drama with father Charles and brother William. While the siblings have yet to make amends, Scobie further claimed on Thursday that Harry and Charles are speaking on the phone “quite regularly.” Harry also made a brief trip to London in February after learning of his father’s cancer diagnosis.