With new overseas visits, a reduced chemotherapy schedule for King Charles, and Princess Kate returning to more frequent royal duties, 2026 is shaping up to be a busy year for the Royal Family. Although The King shared that his cancer treatments have been heading in a positive direction, former royal butler Paul Burrell claims that the monarch will lean on Prince William and Princess Kate even more this year.
Speaking exclusively to OLBG, Burrell said the King recognizes that the Prince and Princess of Wales represent the future of the monarchy, and the couple will increasingly take on larger duties on the world stage.
"I think that the King is going to rely more and more on William and Kate because he knows that they are the future," Burrell says, adding, "He knows they are the most important and most powerful armor in his arsenal."
The King is scheduled to visit the United States in April to celebrate its 250th anniversary of independence from Great Britain. Burrell says that the monarch is "going to rely on [William and Kate] to pincer his visit to America. It'll be a two-pronged attack."
Although nothing has been set in stone for an official state visit, a source recently told the Sun that Prince William and family were planning to attend a FIFA 2026 World Cup match in the United States this summer.
"Wills is planning to come to the U.S. and we have been told to prepare for what a trip would entail," a source close to the World Cup said. “Interactions between security services and U.K./U.S. intelligence teams are in progress."
Burrell—who worked as a footman to Queen Elizabeth before serving as Princess Diana's butler up until her 1997 death—continued that the Prince and Princess of Wales have played a key part when it comes to relations between the United States and the United Kingdom.
"It's important for Britain. It's important for America that the Royal Family can prove their worth," Burrell says, adding that William and Kate "are specially placed to please an American president."
Dressed in a shimmering gold lace gown by Phillipa Lepley, Princess Kate took center stage at President Trump's state visit to the U.K. in September, even choosing to wear a dress in the president's favorite color.
"Kate played a blinder when the president came to visit here because she charmed him, and he'll never forget that," the former butler says of Trump. "We're dealing with a president who has a huge ego, so you're going to have to stroke that ego, and nobody does it better than the Royal Family."
