Royal Central

On Thursday, the Palace shared that King Charles and Queen Camilla will host the Sultan of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, for a state visit between 20-22 October. The royals will host the Sultan at Windsor Castle. King Charles previously welcomed Sultan Haitham bin Tarik at Windsor Castle last summer for a private tea. The last Omani state visit to the United Kingdom occurred in March 1982. King Charles and Queen Camilla will then jet off for their own autumn tour following the Omani state visit.

Surrounded by the floral emblems of Canada, King Charles is officially set to replace Queen Elizabeth II on the Canadian twenty-dollar bank notes beginning early next year. In the new bank note, King Charles is depicted surrounded by the floral emblems of Canada’s provinces and territories with a window that features culturally significant plants for the Indigenous Peoples of Canada.

For the first time in its 960-year history, the Bayeux Tapestry is outside France, and King Charles joined French President Emmanuel Macron to officially open the British Museum’s newest exhibition earlier this week. First floated by President Macron years ago, the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry is the first time it has left French soil since its creation in the years following the Battle of Hastings.

Norway’s Royal Family will remain in official mourning for more than a month following the death of King Harald V, with the Court confirming that almost all official engagements will be cancelled during the period. The Royal House announced on September 2 that court mourning will continue until October 9, one month after King Harald’s funeral.

The King is returning to London from Balmoral as his summer break comes to an end, with a busy programme of official engagements now getting underway. After spending recent weeks at his Scottish home, the King is back in the capital today and is expected to resume his public duties, marking the beginning of a packed autumn schedule. The King flew from Aberdeen to London shortly after lunchtime on Wednesday.

A US Republican congressman has publicly accused Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of committing sex crimes in the United States, making the allegation during a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. Thomas Massie, a Republican representative for Kentucky, named the former Duke of York while calling for further investigation into people who had associations with Jeffrey Epstein. “And Prince Andrew, who committed sex crimes in the US,” Mr Massie said during the roughly one-minute address.

Excitement is growing as the Princess of Wales prepares for what promises to be a particularly busy autumn, with Catherine potentially set to make a significant return to the international stage alongside the Prince of Wales. The Princess of Wales could accompany Prince William to Mumbai in November for the Earthshot Prize ceremony, in what would mark their first major joint overseas engagement in four years.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, the sprawling Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, is set to go back up for lease – but whoever takes on the 30-room mansion could face an annual upkeep bill of around £400,000. The property has stood empty since Andrew left in February after revelations surrounding his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He subsequently moved to a more modest property on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The King will receive £99.9 million in core annual funding from the taxpayer from 2027-28, after Treasury ministers said the Royal Family’s official activities had increased significantly in recent years. Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said the increase reflected the greater number of public engagements undertaken by the King, as well as increased expenditure on staffing and the support required for official duties.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonny Thompson, the King and Queen’s senior equerry and one of the most recognisable faces around the Royal Family, is to leave the Royal Household at the end of the year. The Palace confirmed on Tuesday that Lt Col Thompson will also leave the British Army after almost 22 years of military service, with the 43-year-old planning to pursue a career in the private sector.