A royal expert has expressed his fears for the Royal Family after witnessing the diminished number of family members on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after Trooping the Colour

William and Kate appeared with their three children on the balcony (

Prince William reportedly has further plans to slim the Royal Family, leaving one expert worried.

Kate’s first official appearance since announcing she was undergoing treatment for cancer delighted many royal fans as she stood smiling and looking radiant alongside her family. The Princess of Wales was side by side with her husband Prince William on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at Trooping the Colour on Saturday, and beamed happily as she waved to the crowds below.

Accompanying them at the celebration of the King’s official birthday were their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, as well as other members of the Royal Family, including King Charles and Queen Camilla. Also there were Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with their daughter Lady Louise. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent were either side.

The King had reportedly decided to stick with the late Queen Elizabeth’s decision to only have working royals on the balcony, so the junior members were unable to join them. In previous years, the long terrace was packed out with more minor members all squeezed in together as they watched the fly-past. Apparently it was seen as an opportunity to celebrate the entire family in all its symbolic glory.

How they used to be: Rammed to the rafters in 2019 ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

It’s this relatively new decision for a sparse balcony show that has one royal expert worried. Richard Eden points to the lonely figure of the Duke of Kent, who in years gone by would have been accompanied by his close family such as his wife, children and his glamorous granddaughters Lady Amelia and Lady Marina Windsor, but who on Saturday appeared as a solitary figure.

Eden also claims other minor members of The Firm such as Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Queen Elizabeth’s adored first cousin Prince Michael of Kent, and his recently bereaved sister, Lady Gabriella Windsor, were asked to stay out of sight behind the curtain in the Centre Room at the palace, like “some embarrassing relative”.

The King has chosen to stick with his mother’s decision to scrap tradition and keep the appearance scaled down. She originally decided it was necessary because she couldn’t exclude Harry and Meghan, as well as the troublesome Duke of York if she was allowing other non-working members to appear.

The full line-up this year was looking a bit sparse ( 
Image:
GC Images)
Eden believes it would be beneficial for the royals to change this “uninspiring policy” and include more, smiling members of the family on the happy occasion, but was dismayed to find out there are apparently no plans for it in the future. In fact, he claims, the show of unity could become even more restricted.

He says he spoke to a friend of Prince William after the weekend and “what he told me left me worried about the future of the monarchy” because William is in full agreement over the slim-lining. “He told me: ‘When the older members of the family retire, His Royal Highness won’t be inviting anyone else to become working royals. It remains to be seen if he will even want his two younger children to be working royals,” he wrote.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, is the only other member to be under 60, which could mean by the time William becomes King and Kate Queen, they could be the only full-time royals left. “That is what William wants,” his source claims. “He sees the small European monarchies as the model for the future.”

In the original plans for the future, Harry and Meghan were intended to play an integral role sharing the workload with William and Catherine, but now they are no longer involved, the King’s vision has been shattered. To solve this, the expert believes William should take a leaf out of his grandmother’s book, who asked her cousins to help her with duties. Therefore William may want to rethink his radical vision and turn to his cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor and the Earl of Wessex, for help in sharing the load when it’s time for him to ascend the throne.

Mirror.co.uk went to Kensington Palace about this story and it declined to comment