Second anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's death marked by health struggles and a slimmer royal family

Across the road from Balmoral Castle is the little church that meant so much to Queen Elizabeth.

It’s small in size and there are just a dozen or so pews, but Crathie Kirk has had many monarchs sit at the very front for family weddings and regular Sunday morning prayers.

Today, King Charles did what his late mother would do every Sunday morning during her summer stay at Balmoral Castle, he will drive over the River Dee and cross the A93 and attend the Sunday service.

But September 8 is, for him, what February 6 used to be for the late Queen: Accession Day.

Not a day to rejoice in becoming monarch.

But a day to reflect on the passing of a beloved parent.

Queen Elizabeth always spent Accession Day at Sandringham, the Norfolk estate where her father died in 1952.

And for the past two years, King Charles has followed that tradition and stayed at Balmoral Castle, the place where his mother’s remarkable 96-year life, and 70-year reign, ended in 2022.

We are told the King, with Queen Camilla at his side, will spend the day in "quiet reflection", no doubt thinking of Queen Elizabeth’s place in the history of this country, but also of his dear mother to whom he was devoted.

On the first anniversary of her death, the King might have looked back on a year in which the monarchy was seamlessly passed from mother to son, and an ancient ceremony of Coronation proclaimed him King Charles III in front of the country and the world.

He would have also remembered the pride he felt when his wife was crowned Queen Camilla, cementing her role as his greatest supporter, or consort, in his new role.

But any reflection on the second year of King Charles' reign will generate some very different emotions.

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A year in which he was forced to step back from public duties to focus on his health, following his prostate and then his cancer diagnosis.

Royal sources would speak of the King "chewing the carpet" in frustration and not being able to carry out his duties in public.

And while Charles in now back in the public domain, meeting people (which is what he loves most of all) he is not allowed to do it in a way he might have been planning this time last year.

Each visit is now signed off by doctors. His working days are shorter - which, for a workaholic monarch, is no easy task.

Foreign travel, apart from a short trip to Normandy for D-Day, has been curtailed.

The traditional "Spring Tour" never happened.

And his daughter-in-law has also been struggling with her own cancer diagnosis.

The Princess of Wales has been away from her work since Christmas, able to make just a couple of public appearances while she undergoes chemotherapy.

It's also impacted both her work and that of Prince William.

And while the King's second year hasn't been rocked in quite the same way by Prince Harry, those strained family issues are never really out of the media narrative.

The King didn't have to deal with a Netflix or a best-selling memoir from his second son, but there was a high-profile visit to London by the Duke of Sussex, during which a meeting between father and son conspicuously didn't happen.

Looking ahead, there is a big - if scaled-back - overseas tour to Australia, the King's first to a Commonwealth Realm where he remains the head of state.

And King Charles will address a big Commonwealth summit for the first time as the head of the organisation (at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, he was still Prince Charles and was representing his mother).

He is determined to keep leading the country as head of the nation, as he did recently in visiting the community in Southport and meeting the families of those young girls who had lost their lives.

Despite the health challenges, Palace officials constantly strive to show it's "business-as-usual", but, compared to this time last year, the Royal Family can sometimes looks very slim.

There were moments this year when Queen Camilla was singlehandedly keeping the royal show on the road and no-one would have dared to predict that in the 1990s.

This is the Royal Rota - our weekly podcast about the royal family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson