Ping!
Much ado about nothing IMHO...
Very, very symbolic. There is no white Lily on the throne.
""Toward the end of the world, mankind will be purified through sufferings. This will be true especially of the clergy, who will be robbed of all property. When the clergy has adopted a simple manner of living, conditions will improve. " St. Hildegard
Robbed of all property? And the next line is 'adopted a simple manner of living.'
We went through a number of magnificent rooms, and we finally reached the Pope. He was sitting in the dark and slept in a large arm chair. He was very ill and weak; he could no longer walk. The ecclesiastics in the inner circle looked insincere and lacking in zeal; I did not like them. I told the Pope of the bishops who are to be appointed soon. I told him also that he must not leave Rome. If he did so, it would be chaos. He thought that the evil was inevitable and he should leave in order to save many things beside himself. He was very much inclined to leave Rome, and he was insistently urged to do so." Anna Catherine Emmerich
I think, more than anything, Benedict was just exhausted, and the exhaustion was taking its toll on him, so that he could no longer perform his duties at the level he wanted them to be performed.
Such a realization is a hard one to make, but it amounts to continuing to fight, and failing, until it kills him; or accepting that it would be best for all concerned that he step aside, that he can rest and be restored, and still contribute, but not at such a debilitating pace.
His words are no longer doctrinal, so they can be conversational. Gentle, learned advice for Pope Francis in private, with no axes to grind, or palace intrigues to consider.