King Charles, Queen perform royal duties as William, Kate rest after Caribbean vacation
Queen Elizabeth performed multiple royal duties on Tuesday
February 25, 2025
A day after King Charles visited Tower Brewery in Burton-Upon-Trent, his wife Queen Camilla undertook a visit to The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge to celebrate the city’s passion for heritage and literature.
The royal couple's visits came as Prince William and Kate Middleton continued to spend time with their children after vacationing in the Caribbean.
Prince William is inclined to spend more time with his family, especially after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
The future king often draws criticism for his "lackluster interest in royal duties."
Prince William also skipped the BAFTA ceremony to spend time with his family on this trip.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are scheduled to visit Wales on February 26, ahead of St David's Day.
A statement issued by the royal family said, during her visit to Canterbury, the Queen unveiled a bronze statue of Aphra Behn, considered to be the first professional female writer in the English language and one of the most popular playwrights of the 17th century.
"Following the statue unveiling, The Queen visited The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, a popular museum, library, art gallery and visitor information centre situated in the heart of historic Canterbury."
"In the last decade, The Beaney has attracted 3.5 million visitors including almost 50,000 schoolchildren and has seen more than 7,000 people take part in health and wellbeing activities."
"Her Majesty toured the building, meeting children undertaking an Aphra Benn workshop, members of the local book club and library volunteers, and a group of visually-impaired people who, with their assistance dogs, regularly use the library’s facilities."
"In the Explorers Gallery, Her Majesty saw members of the Royal Shakespeare Company performing an extract from Aphra Behn’s play ‘The Rover’. Gyles Brandreth, President of the Aphra Behn Society, also read one of Aphra’s poems and The Queen heard about Canterbury Festival’s Poet of the Year competition. "
