Prince William just pulled out of an important event due to 'personal matter'

Prince William was not able to attend a service of thanksgiving for his godfather King Constantine of Greece due to a personal matter, Kensington Palace has said, as reported by People.

King Constantine, Greece's last monarch, passed away in early 2023, and was one of William's six godparents.

Though there are no further details as to what William's personal reasons for skipping the event were, it was apparently unrelated to his father King Charles' cancer diagnosis, which was sadly revealed earlier this month.

The service was held on Tuesday at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, which is where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married in 2018.

William was scheduled to give a reading at the service, but King Constantine's eldest son, Crown Prince Pavlos, stepped in for him, according to BBC News.

With the Prince of Wales not in attendance, Queen Camilla was the face of the Royal Family for the occasion. She was joined by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, as well as Princess Anne, Zara and Mike Tindall, and Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

People reports that Prince William didn't attend King Constantine's funeral last year either, instead appointing Lady Gabriella Windsor to represent him.

King Charles' policy as head of state has been to operate with a "slimmed-down monarchy." Unfortunately, with the King battling cancer, Princess Kate still recovering from an abdominal surgery last month, William needing to be elsewhere, and of course Prince Harry and Meghan Markle having stepped down from their official roles, there aren't many senior working royals available to attend official events at the moment.

When Kate's abdominal surgery was first shared with the public in January, Kensington Palace explained that she would aim to resume her royal duties after Easter. At time of writing, this has not changed.