AMANDA PLATELL: Kate and Wills need a recipe for the magic of monarchy

The news last March of the Princess of Wales's cancer diagnosis, delivered in her personal video, hit us like a bolt from the blue. She spoke with such candour it gave succour to cancer sufferers everywhere. Happily Kate is on the mend and she and William have just had their first joint engagement in Wales for more than a year.

Which is all very lovely and photogenic but I'm sorry to say that the event in Cardiff was too boring for words. The future King and Queen rolled up their sleeves – to bake Welsh Cakes. It's hardly the stuff to inspire the nation or conjure up the notion of a monarchy fit for the modern age. Yet, inspiration is what's desperately needed from them at a time when King Charles has cancer himself and we don't know how long he'll be with us.

Happily Kate is on the mend and she and William have just had their first joint engagement in Wales for more than a year, writes Amanda Platell. Baking is the sort of carry on we'd expect from the bicycling monarchies of Europe which have become irrelevant. Kate and William risk turning into European royals, so dreary they become obsolete.

We want royals with power, the kind of soft power that thrilled President Trump this week when he was invited on a second state visit by King Charles. That's the magic of monarchy. Where's the magic with Kate, Wills and cake mix?. They could also have been at the Baftas in London recently, supporting the British film industry and adding glamour. After all, he is the organisation's patron.

And talking of glamour, why has the royal household decided it will no longer issue details of the clothes and jewellery Kate wears. Such endorsements are a lifeline to British brands. My advice to Kate is: leave the cake-making to Meghan and her new Netflix series. Although, come to think of it, even Megs would make it more interesting.

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