Prince Edward is said to be taking a short break from public duties after his recent trips this month to South Africa and St Helena and the news has left royal fans worried.

The Telegraph reported that it's up to Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Duchess Sophie to hold the royal fort now after King Charles and Princess Kate's health issues as well as Prince Edwards's "short break".

The Duke of Edinburgh's next scheduled engagement is for February 08, 2024 - according to the Royal Diary on The Royal Family's website.

Royal fans noticed the new update on Edward and have taken to social media to express their concern over his mini absence from royal engagements.

One user wrote on X: "Hopefully he just needs a bit of rest." while another one said: "HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh has done back-to-back engagements plus has been flying all over the world. Good on him for having a break. Rest up Sir and enjoy your break."

A third one added: "Wow. I hope everything is okay. This is unexpected. I'm sending my prayers that he gets some rest and a recharge" with a fourth one agreeing: "Hope he's okay. He and Sophie have been working so hard for a long while now, lots of overseas trips as well as UK engagements."

A fifth user said: "It is 8 days break. Not a long time. Hope he is okay" while a sixth one took aim at the King's slimmer monarchy noting: "They are all in their seventies. Charle's slimming down of the monarchy didn't really work out did it."

It comes as King Charles's slimmed-down monarchy vision became the main point of discussions recently after the latest health bombshells involving the monarch himself and Kate, the Princess of Wales, which left only a handful of royals available to carry out engagements.

A royal expert blasted the monarchy's current state stating it "could not function the same way [as before]".

Richard Fitzwiliams told Express.co.uk: "If the monarch is incapacitated or abroad, Counsellors of State can stand in for them. They act in pairs.

"Obviously Harry and Andrew, still technically on the list, could not. The Queen, William, Beatrice and more recently the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh were made Counsellors of State.

"This proves that a slimmer monarchy could not function in the same way."