Why the Royal Family Is Struggling

For months the rumors swirled. She was suffering vaccine-related injuries. She had fled the country. She had died. What we knew for sure was that Catherine, princess of Wales, had gone into the hospital on January 16 and had barely been seen since. Photos released by the royal family were not telling the whole story. People on the Internet went crazy with speculation.

The truth was more mundane, and more tragic. On March 22, she announced, alone, that, subsequent to her abdominal surgery on January 16, cancer was discovered. She has begun chemotherapy.

This came only a few weeks after Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles iii has cancer. In both cases, the type of cancer has not been announced. In January, Sarah Ferguson, the duchess of York, was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer.

Meanwhile, the drama surrounding Prince Harry’s rift with the royal family continued. He flew to Britain to briefly visit the King after the cancer diagnosis.

“There were hopes the 39-year-old’s visit from California would help repair damaged relationships between himself, his father, and his brother, the prince of Wales,” the Independent stated, “but these hopes were soon dashed when it became clear he would not be seeing William during the trip” (February 9). Prince Harry spent less than 24 hours in the country.

More trouble awaited him on his return to America. Like his infamous uncle Prince Andrew, Harry is facing the possibility of being dragged down by a celebrity sex scandal. Prince Harry is named in a $30 million lawsuit that accuses rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs of sex trafficking and sexual abuse. The court filing says people attended Combs’s parties with sex-trafficking victims due to his “access to celebrities such as famous athletes, political figures, artist [sic], musicians and international dignitaries like British royal Prince Harry.” Harry is not accused of taking part in the parties or of wrongdoing; it seems likely the lawsuit named-dropped him just to grab more headlines. But it is more bad news.

But the royal family has not merely been a victim: It has brought some of this trouble on itself.

Betraying Israel

“I remain deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October. Too many have been killed. I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible.”

This statement is similar to many others from celebrities and activists. But this one came from Prince William, heir to the throne, and timed for the day before the key debate in Parliament over whether to pressure Israel into a ceasefire.

Britain’s monarchs never get involved in politics. The throne is supposed to be something all, regardless of their political views, can support. Politicizing it risks the survival of the monarchy itself, or so the theory goes.

Prince William is probably articulating deep personal convictions. Many clearly share his view. Most are well meaning—they read the stories of suffering children and families in the bombed-out streets of Gaza and want the crisis to end. But the sufferings and deaths of a large number of children in Ukraine, Syria and places beyond has failed to elicit a similar reaction, which betrays a clear anti-Israel bias in those who pressure Israel so soon after it suffered the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023.

If a thousand British people had been murdered, many more tortured and raped, and 130 still, right now, were being held hostage, it is hard to imagine Britain’s leaders demanding a ceasefire and respite for the terrorists. Any ceasefire before Hamas’s total defeat will leave them capable of perpetrating more atrocities in the future—as they are clearly willing to do.

To say that “too many have been killed” supports Hamas’s propaganda about the conflict. The many casualty figures it has published are demonstrably false. Israel has instead been killing Hamas fighters; civilians are being caught in the killing at a lower rate than just about any other modern conflict. Given that Hamas is actively placing women and children in harm’s way, the conduct and effectiveness of the Israeli forces is a phenomenal achievement.

Prince William’s statement puts the monarchy on the side of Hamas, against the victims of October 7. This is helping to divide Israel from Judah, which will have real consequences.

Protection Withdrawn

“I believe that now that the Queen has died, Britain’s demise will accelerate,” wrote Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry in 2022. “We are about to see a very sad ending for that throne ….” A few years prior, he had warned that “we would see a rapid decline in Britain’s royal family.” Why?

King Charles iii was crowned a year ago. That ceremony declared that Charles was “set apart and consecrated” by God “for the service of his people.” If that is the case, it is worth considering God’s view on this throne.

The Bible declares that “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1). But the royal family in Britain had a special link with God. A symbol of that link was the stone of Scone—traditionally believed to be Jacob’s pillar stone (Genesis 35:14). But Britain rejected that tradition, and England rejected the stone, sending it back to Scotland in 1996.

About 10 months later, Princess Diana died in a car crash. “Did the royal family of David’s throne lose some of its protection from God?” Mr. Flurry asks in his book The New Throne of David. “I don’t know for certain, but it is interesting that it happened within a year of England surrendering the stone.”

Now, over 26 years later, it is clear that much of God’s protection certainly has been removed.

Would a loving God be behind a mother dying in a car crash? Or a mother with some very young children getting cancer? The answer to this question is tied directly to the reason why this throne is declining.

The Hope in the Throne

In the Garden of Eden, God offered to show man the way to live the happy and joyful way—the way that would lead to eternal life. This choice was symbolized by the tree of life. But mankind chose to decide for himself what is good and evil. God gave man the freedom of choice, but that freedom requires him to live with the consequences. Mankind has had 6,000 years to experience those consequences and learn the hard way, through pain and suffering, that it needs God.

But mankind was not doomed. The overwhelming majority lived and died without knowing God, but the Bible reveals they will be resurrected and will have an opportunity to choose again, having experienced the results of choosing to go their own way. This time, the vast majority will choose life.

But even during these 6,000 years, God has not left mankind completely alone. He still shapes events to give the most people the best opportunity, in the long run, to choose life.

One key way He does this is through a throne.

God made a dramatic promise to Israel’s King David: He told him that when his son Solomon ruled, “I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:13). Many scriptures repeat this promise: 1 Chronicles 28:7; Psalm 89:4 and Isaiah 9:7, to name just a few.

Luke 1:32-33 show that, ultimately, this throne will be assumed by Jesus Christ. But He is not ruling on it right now. Instead, He is sitting on His Father’s throne (Revelation 3:21). He will not sit on David’s throne until His future return to Earth.

The kingdom of Judah was conquered in 585 b.c., and it seemed that the throne of David disappeared. Yet God had promised that it would last forever. Some argue that Christ fulfilled this promise at His first coming, but the kingdom of Judah was conquered centuries before He came on the scene.

Herbert W. Armstrong showed in his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy that God did not let David’s throne die. He moved it to Ireland, then later to Scotland, and still later to England. Britain’s royal family is, in fact, descended from King David.

God said of Solomon, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (2 Samuel 7:14). In a world cut off from God, He had a father-son relationship with Solomon.

Centuries later, an evil king on that throne of David was trying to stamp out true religion, yet God refrained from destroying that royal house “because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever” (2 Chronicles 21:7). This throne was to be a light, a lamp pointing to God’s promise to rule the world and to bring all mankind into this Father-son relationship. And so, those who sat on the throne were given a measure of protection, so that light would remain.

That is the way it was for centuries. But rulers on this throne have consistently failed to point man back to God. So in these last days, God has made a change in how He works with this throne—moving that light to a different descendant of David. That change took place in 2017, on January 16—the same date Princess Catherine went into the hospital. You can read more about this in our free book The New Throne of David.

So the protection for the British royal family is gone. Like everyone else in this unhappy world, they are cut off from God, left to solve their problems alone. The tragic news of the last few months is a result of and a reflection of that reality.

But the light remains. And the royal family, like everyone else, will have the opportunity to come to know the true God. That light still points to God’s intention of offering all mankind the opportunity to choose life and to be part of His eternal Family.