Even though Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, were more than 400 kilometres apart in England on Thursday, they both found themselves celebrating local culture.

Prince William, as Duke of Cornwall, served up savoury local pastries while he was in Cornwall on St. Piran's Day, which marks the heritage, identity and culture of the Cornish people. Catherine went barefoot as she tried out traditional dancing while she was in Leicester, meeting with the British Indian community the day after the Hindu festival of Holi.

Such visits are typical for the royals. They have also been front and centre for several senior members of the Royal Family over the past couple of weeks, since the arrest and release under investigation of former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor amid the scandal surrounding his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In keeping up regular appearances, even if they aren't commenting publicly on Andrew, the senior royals have been sending messages amid the controversy swirling around King Charles's younger brother.

"For the Royal Family to simply continue business as usual, that emphasizes their distance from Andrew, that he is not in the midst of the Royal Family as he was for so many decades," Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris said in an interview.

In that "business as usual" vein, William and Catherine also attended the BAFTA Film Awards and visited Wales. 

They delivered a video message in Welsh to mark St. David's Day, which celebrates the patron saint of Wales. In a noted first, Catherine delivered a video message entirely in Welsh.

King Charles has undertaken engagements with a military theme — a common occurrence for him — and Queen Camilla has focused on some of her prime causes, including literacy and support for victims of domestic violence.

In the current circumstances, not keeping up with royal business as usual would be more controversial, Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, said in an interview.

Business as usual "shows that in institutional terms, Andrew is no longer part of the monarchy," he said, and in principle is the only way for the Royal Family to proceed right now.

"It's like all these things with royal scandals, that they erupt, they attract enormous attention and then they almost die down as quickly as they rise."

That's not to say there might not be particular issues and difficulties around Andrew's situation that are under serious consideration by courtiers.

King’s brother Andrew arrested by U.K. police

"But you imagine there are people at the palace now thinking about that, working that through and thinking, what does changing the line of succession look like? Does that include [Andrew's daughters] Beatrice and Eugenie? Maybe, maybe not," said Prescott.

The visits by William and Catherine to Cornwall, in southwestern England, and Leicester, in the East Midlands region, also reinforced other priorities for the monarchy in these early years of King Charles's reign.

"One of the essential roles of the Royal Family in the reign of King Charles III is keeping the United Kingdom united," said Harris, noting there were "real concerns" after the Brexit vote in 2016 that Scotland or Northern Ireland would be interested in breaking away from the United Kingdom.

"So we've seen a very strong emphasis on the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales connecting with as many communities as possible within the United Kingdom."

Catherine's time with the Indian community in Leicester reflects another priority of King Charles.

"We're seeing Catherine connecting with diverse communities and this is also building on [how] King Charles III had a wide variety of faith leaders present at his coronation," said Harris.

William has the additional role of Duke of Cornwall, a factor that could set Thursday's visit on a slightly different plane than events William might carry out elsewhere in England.

"Clearly, it's a little bit more controversial because [William's private estate] the Duchy of Cornwall has come under criticism," said Prescott.

An investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches revealed among other findings that the Duchy of Cornwall has contracts with charities and public bodies.

"You can imagine there might be some comment or criticism about the Duchy of Cornwall being triggered by him going to Cornwall," Prescott said.

And that's where "the Andrew issue does have some implications," Prescott noted, as questions are raised in both instances over the use of public money.

While William, Catherine and other senior royals are likely to carry out similar engagements to those in Cornwall and Leicester in the near future, there is considerably more doubt about higher-profile overseas visits that have reportedly been on the horizon.

"There is still a great deal of uncertainty about future royal events," said Harris, noting that King Charles and Queen Camilla are supposed to make a visit to the United States, reciprocating the state visit by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Some reports suggested a short visit was in the works for New York and Washington, D.C., in late April.

"But an itinerary hasn't been announced and world events are changing so quickly that there's a great deal of uncertainty whether this event will go ahead as scheduled," said Harris.

It's also been assumed, Harris noted, that William would attend the World Cup, which has soccer matches scheduled in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in June and July.

"But now there's real questions being raised of can the World Cup go ahead with conditions in Mexico at present; with the United States being at war, how would the team from Iran participate in the World Cup?" she said.

"There's now so much uncertainty about how the World Cup is going to unfold that of course that's going to affect firming up any plans as to whether Prince William is going to attend the World Cup."

One issue that has been the focus of much recent attention around Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is his place in the line of succession. While he is no longer a prince, he remains eighth in the roster for the throne.

Shortly after his arrest and release under investigation, the U.K. government said it was considering introducing legislation that would remove him.

"The government making the announcement that they're considering it has in a sense taken the wind out the sails because the concern is that this was never discussed, this was never mentioned, and people are asking questions," said Prescott.

"So at the very least, the sight of the government and the palace thinking about this is, in a sense, more than half the battle."

While discussions may be underway, there is no sense that there will be a formal decision any time soon. 

Prescott sees the issue lying in "a holding pattern" right now, with any movement unlikely before the next King's Speech in the U.K. Parliament, which will be later in the spring.

Former prince Andrew used tax dollars to pay for massages, retired civil servants allege

"Even then, it's unlikely to be mentioned in the King's Speech," said Prescott.

"But that's the new parliamentary season, it's the new session. And so you have a reset and you might think of a slot in the parliamentary timetable, but even then that's all dependent on what's actually happening with Andrew by that point."

As much as there is interest in removing Andrew from the line of succession, there is little sense it would be an easy process. It would, among other considerations, also require acceptance by all the Commonwealth realms. (For his part, on Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Andrew should be removed from the line of succession for his "deplorable" actions.)

"Even though there is universal disgust regarding Andrew's behaviour, the process of succession reform has a history of being long and complicated," said Harris. 

The last effort at succession reform — which removed male-preference primogeniture — took four years.

Andrew's royal status threatens to remain in the news for a long time, Harris said.

"If Andrew's removed, the question is going to arise: Well, is there a good character requirement [to be in the line of succession] and should these requirements be spelled out so that the Commonwealth realms don't have to come together every time there is a rogue senior member of the Royal Family? Should there be clear rules as to who gets to stay in the line of succession?"

And all that could, Harris suggested, create further complications for King Charles, and later for King William V.

To read more about why removing Andrew from the line of succession is not as easy as it sounds, click here.

As Gisèle Pelicot was on tour to promote her new memoir, she found herself standing alongside Queen Camilla at her home in central London.

The French woman whose ex-husband was convicted of drugging and raping her and recruiting other men to do so also had tea with Camilla at Clarence House. Camilla had written a letter of support to Pelicot last year.

"We're seeing that Gisèle Pelicot's gone through this absolutely horrifying, harrowing time and Queen Camilla is standing with her as she has previously stood with other victims of domestic violence," said Harris.

Seeing Camilla with Pelicot was quite a powerful image, Prescott said.

"You have this victim of this most appalling crime with the Queen and that's something that a head of state or a member of the Royal Family can do. They have a platform that very few other public figures do."

Camilla, according to the BBC, told Pelicot she was left speechless by her new memoir.

"I've met so many survivors of rape and sexual abuse," the Queen told Pelicot, according to the BBC report. "I never thought I could be shocked by anything anymore, but I was shocked at your case — it left me speechless."

To read more about Pelicot and her memoir, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides, click here.

Members of the Royal Family keep having their Paddington moments.

The beloved fictional bear — who famously took tea with Queen Elizabeth during her Platinum Jubilee in 2022 — was on hand for a reception at Windsor Castle the other day.

Queen Camilla shook his paw and asked him to share his marmalade sandwiches during a reception to mark the end of a national writing competition for children.

Paddington is, said Prescott, "just so popular" in the U.K. that you can't really argue against him.

Paddington was created by author Michael Bond in 1958, and has gone beyond the page to star in cinematic and stage productions.

Because of that profile, seeing him with Camilla at the reception wasn't necessarily a surprise.

"It's a way of supporting or drawing attention to child literacy, which again is another of Camilla's themes, literacy in general, but child literacy, and support for the creative industries," said Prescott.

Paddington's meeting with Camilla wasn't the bear's only recent royal encounter. He also greeted Prince William and Catherine at the Royal Variety Performance in November.

Paddington has become a symbol of Britishness, Harris said.

"Once again, we are seeing the Royal Family in this unifying role in the United Kingdom, and Paddington has become one of those cultural figures. People see Paddington and they think of the United Kingdom."

"I need to be in quite a calm state and I'm not at the moment."

— Prince William, at the BAFTA film awards, on why he hasn't seen the movie Hamnet yet. 

Catherine, Princess of Wales, talked about her passion for mothers' mental health during a rainy visit to Wales. [BBC]

King Charles had a go at handling an air defence missile launcher and met military families on a visit to a barracks. [ITV]

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, visited a refugee camp in Jordan during a trip highlighting humanitarian efforts. [Sky News]

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is giving up the lease on another Crown Estate property. He will, however, keep one of his few remaining honours after a review determined it could not be removed. [BBC]

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have been told they cannot join the Royal Family at the Ascot horse racing event this year amid concerns about the unfolding scandal involving the House of York and their ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the Mail on Sunday reported.