King Charles Is Heavily Relying on Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie Amid Royal Family’s Struggles

King Charles III brought in his youngest sibling to help with some Royal duties this past week.

King Charles III and the Royal family have been facing a number of struggles lately, leading the British monarch to heavily rely on his younger brother, Prince Edward the Duke of Edinburgh, and Edward’s wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, the Duchess of Edinburgh. According to Us Weekly, Charles, 75, called on the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh to lead a major event on Monday, April 8.

In what has been referred to as a “historic moment,” Edward and Sophie visited Buckingham Palace to mark the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, an agreement between countries united against German ambitions in the decade before World War One. The important ceremony would’ve been hosted by the king and his wife, Queen consort Camilla, but Charles is currently undergoing cancer treatment and has taken a step back from royal duties for the time being.

Buckingham Palace announced the king’s cancer diagnosis in early February. The type of cancer has not been revealed, but a Palace rep did confirm that it is not prostate cancer, as many had thought this based on the King’s recent treatment for an enlarged prostate. It has since been reported that King Charles’s condition may be worse than the public realizes, with sources saying that his cancer is “eating him alive,” and adding, “He’s very frail. The situation is desperate.”

Charles is not the only member of the royal family facing a cancer battle as his daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton — who is married to Charles’s eldest son Prince William — shared in March that her doctors discovered that cancer “had been present” when she underwent abdominal surgery two months prior.

“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” Middleton explained. “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.”

To make matters even more complicated, it’s rumored that the rift between William and his brother, Prince Harry, has only grown, amidst other issues. “William is totally distracted by his wife Kate’s physical and emotional issues and the problems in their marriage,” a source alleged. “He also can’t seem to control his fury over Harry and Meghan.”