Here are some photos of Prince Charles at the rededication marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Charles looks nice in his uniform, doesn’t he? According to the Daily Mail, Charles is basically “the Shadow King” at this point and in the past year, he will have undertaken 650 engagements in 2015. At the age of 66 (he’ll be 67 in November), he’s busier than he’s ever been, trying to juggle his own full-time schedule of royal appearances, appearances on behalf of the Queen, running Highgrove, the Duchy of Cornwall and, increasingly, running Sandringham, plus the constant demands of The Prince’s Trust. Now would be the time for Charles’ “streamlined monarchy” to come to the table and begin to take on some Charles’ workload. Except his oldest son still wants to play-act a middle-class charade. That’s what the Daily Mail’s Katie Nicholl has said in what seems like a bombshell royal-gossip item – you can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Next year is the 40th birthday of The Prince’s Trust: “Enthusiastic plans to mark the occasion are well under way.” There will be a big celebration, but behind the scenes, “It is understood their task is to ‘future-proof’ the trust, devising committees and new procedures that will allow it to run with more autonomy. In fact, I understand that several of Charles’s leading charities have received letters from the Prince in recent weeks, warning them that they must manage with less of his personal attention than in the past.”
The Queen is feeling her age, letting Charles take on more: ‘She is leaning more on Charles. She won’t let on, but her knees are giving her trouble and when events are planned, the first thing her aides check is whether stairs are involved. If you watch her these days, you see her take an arm to lean on or hold on to a bannister. She is slower and she complains a little about her back or her knees playing up.’
As Charles takes on more of the workload, he wanted William to step up: Charles held discussions some months ago with Prince William about whether he would take over as head of the trust – but William indicated he would rather not. The discussions are thought to be a source of private distress to Charles, who fears his legacy may be abandoned if it is not kept within the family…Today, the trust generates an annual turnover of £72 million.
William & Kate want to focus on their own foundation: ‘William has said that he has been asked to take on the trust, but he has mixed feelings about it. He has his own charitable foundation and he wants to make his own mark. If he takes on his father’s legacy, then it means he can’t create his own. William is very definite about wanting to do his own thing. Charles to a degree has to accept that much of his increased workload is down to his own doing. He was the one behind wanting to streamline the family and he upset his siblings when he made it clear they would not be on the balcony at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I think he had hoped his sons would take on more and help him out, but William and Harry are pursuing their own interests.’
William fetishizes the ‘normal life’: William is thought to have told his father he wants to carry on with a ‘normal’ life for as long as possible. Now, though, Charles’s packed diary has forced the issue to the surface. Some members of the Royal Family feel the Princes have had enough freedom and now, in their 30s, should buckle down to their Royal roles. But William and Harry have been adamant about going their own way – and even went to the lengths of moving their staff from offices they shared with their father at St James’s Palace to new rooms at Kensington Palace.
William’s trust, charitable instincts: One palace insider said: ‘William wants to avoid being a “letterhead” on a page and just take on charities that he is passionate about. This is a job with no retirement date so there’s no rush to jump into things. It’s more important to the Duke that he grows a sustainable charitable foundation of his own.’
The future of the Prince’s Trust: ‘The Trust operates beautifully. It’s an amazing fundraising giant with very loyal supporters but the future is something being talked about. I think there’s an expectation that when Charles becomes King, the Trust will step up with him and could become The King’s Trust if William and Harry decide they don’t want to take it on.’
Charles’ legacy: ‘Since his childhood, Charles has known that he will succeed the Queen,’ said a member of the Royal circle. ‘But he’s in the strange position now of having two sons, but wondering who will continue his legacy.’
The Mail says that William, Harry and Kate’s trust took in £4 million, but it’s not entirely clear what they really did with that money. Harry also has his Lesotho charity, Sentebale, which he has been genuinely active in for years. But it does feel like… William is seriously running out excuses to avoid royal work. Even his father is directly asking him to take on more and William still refuses. I wonder if Charles asked Harry directly to take over The Prince’s Trust, do you think Harry would do it? I bet he would. And I bet that would piss off William even more.
Photos courtesy of WENN, PCN.
William: Who me work?
Diana must be rolling in her grave…………….
#whateverworkmeans!!
Ugh. He comes across like such a petulant child, stomping his foot as he whines “I want my OWWWWNN legacy. I want a NORMAL life.”
Listen, William, you’re not normal. You never had a chance at being normal. You were born into privilege, “and with that comes specific obligations” (Prince Henry, Ever After). You’ve known you were a royal for… What… Ever? Either grow the hell up and deal with the fact that your privilege comes along with duty, or become the next David and step away officially.
Exactly. Suck it up and get busy!
Normal life=up at dawn to go to the same job . Every day. Feel like it or not. Two modest vacations a year. Weekends devoted to housework and naps.
Naps. I can’t wait for naps again.
Signed, exhausted mother of an 11-month-old.
Betty, exactly. He’s blind to the fact that he has it about as good as you can have it, and can’t even find in his heart a sense of duty to the country that he owes his life to.
Fallon, oh mama! Congrats on your little one, but I can’t imagine how tired you must be. Wishing you as many naps and moments of peace as you can find! *hugs*
Thank you, betty rose, I was about to say the same thing.
This. It’s a damned shame the Queen can’t ignore primogeniture and skip to Harry.
William keeps saying he wants to be Normal, so in about five years, the Palace and prince Charles should tell William GO BE NORMAL, GIVE up position, Go have his life with the Middleton’s, so the Palace can prepare someone else for the future role,
William should just come out and say he doesn’t want the work involved with the being King, so they can replace his lazy ass!
The Monarchy is stronger than Prince William and Kate!
The last line of the article was very interesting, that may be a subtle message to William!
This article is the Palace, letting it be know on its not them who is the problem, it’s William who is a problem and perhaps the palace trying to get a handle on him. More to come,IMO.
IMO William needs to step down.
Yes. Give it to Harry!! That little George would be a big mess too!! He ALREADY looks like he’d hate it. Will doesnt get that the middle class is disappearing. Let him struggle with horrid bosses and ridiculous home, rent, health, school costs! He fails to understand that the Middletons did everything they could to climb their asses out of the middle class for a reason! William is too foolish to be king.
So is Charles and/or the gray men behind this story? Because someone clearly is! It seems like a public dig at William, exposing his lazy butt to a wider, Daily Mail audience. This is the part I find fascinating, who pitched this story to Katie Nichols? Who are her usual sources? I think there’s more to come!
Yes , Leaking from behind Palace walls.
IMO
Very obvious that it’s coming from inside the house.
This isn’t the first time William has been called out. Richard Kay has been saying it over the past year, but in a more subtle ‘William may grow out of it’ way. All buried under a drivel of other stories chez Anmer.
This is the first (?) time I think that a story has concentrated on ‘William won’t work’ without other distractions.
LAK, do you think it was staff? Katie Nichols doesn’t seem like someone who’d write stories out of thin air just to get clicks on her articles. I guess I always thought she was pretty respected. Is that true?
Bluhare: KN used to be very critical of Kate Middleton, but never William. Any negative information about William, if any, was written in a pseudo syncophatic style with seemingly rational, reasonable inbuilt excuses for William’s behaviour.
Since she switched to praising Kate and becoming a Middleton mouthpiece, I can’t think of a single article she’s written that hasn’t outright praised Kate or William (or Carole for that matter).
Perhaps the Palace is changing tactics and using a known sycophant to write the unpalatable truth rather than Richard Kay who has never hidden his disdain for William and can be rationalised away as a jelli h8er if you recognise his antipathy.
Richard could also be seen as the old guard and dismissed as such despite his direct line to the inside of the house.
ETA: there has been an avalanche of journalists making it very clear that KP ie WHK is the problem office NOT BP or CH. If BP/CH can’t deal with KP, then a spot of media shaming might do the trick. No amount of twitter pics of cute babies and twitter releases can fight against the PR machine of BP/CH combined to shame KP.
LAK
I have found the exact opposite to be true actually. Nicholl never hid her disdain for Kate and was very much team York. However, pre-engagement there was a noticeable shift and she became Kates biographer. This was followed by a string of sugary puff pieces in which all things Kate were praised. But this did not last indefinitely. At some point KN became extremely ambiguous in her attitude towards Kate. She began to write pieces that I still consider to be vastly passive aggressive. I never understood why Kaitz family didn’t drop her as a source given the nature of some of those articles. For example, KN made it quite plain and several print and live pieces that Kate was determined to follow William to Saint Andrews and changed her choice of University at the last moment. I believe either KN disliked Kate because of her limpet reputation, got to know her and liked her and then disliked her post-wedding or…KN never liked Kate but used her access to cement her royal reporter privilege status and now no longer needs to be a sycophant. Idk.
Richard K on the other hand has never really liked William but has shown a surprising although subtle shift in attitude towards Kate. I find that to be the most interesting thing and something I would like to know more about.
Carole would never, ever, ever let William step down. Ever. So Charles should start the process of skipping over William unless he grows the heck up and he and his lazy wife step up.
And as an aside, the comments at the Daily Mail are hilarious!! I wonder if the people all read here – they call Wills a “man-child,” talk about him stepping aside and moving from Anmer Hall, call him “petulant,” and a brat. Call his wife worthless. I know it’s not nice, but when two people who have so much refuse to give anything back, it’s not unexpected that people will get bitter.
It shows how lazy he is. He cannot head up both The Prince’s Trust and his umbrella wildlife charity (where all it does is take credit for the work of the organizations allied with it)? Of course he can’t.
His wildlife charity that he inaugurated the weekend after he went HUNTING.
Ahole.
At some point Charles asked Andrew to join him in running the trust and he said no as well. Working in Charles’ shadow, and possibly under his thumb doesn’t sound very appealing.
I think Andrew and Charles would never help eachother. More a dynamic of siblings at eachother’s throats for years.
I don’t recall Charles asking Andrew. Seems very out of character.
Megan is correct. Charles asked Andrew to step up his royal duties sometime around one of the jubilees, I believe. Reportedly Andrew considered it but declined to immerse himself in his trade ambassador duties – with disastrous results. Charles, obviously, was very insulted and has redoubled his cold shoulder ever since. According to some articles Andrew blew it off and thought Mummy would smooth things over. When it was time to line up to proceed to the balcony to wave at the peasants Andrew and the princesses were told they would not be needed. Then to his shock, the queen and Phillip didn’t intervene. Andrew was furious. This was reported at the time.
So Prince Charles asked his brother to step up his royal duties, brother refused, but I am supposed to believe Charles is the villain for streamlining the monarchy to weed out those who can’t be bothered? Good for Charles; too bad he can’t prune William’s branch as well.
Charles is correct to prune the monarchy and he certainly dodged a bullet with Andrew. However, I’ve never felt it was fair to the York girls – they never stood a chance and I feel they would have been great at the job. Perhaps Charles couldn’t have foreseen how lopsided things appear now. There’s also the possibility that Charles is enjoying the benefits of being the hardest working royal – like the James Brown of the monarchy lol.
Andrew is a problem royal and his flaws and screw ups should not be the reason a new paradigm gets created.
IMO the monarchy did not need to be actively streamlined, there were going to be fewer royals based on the fact that the royals were having fewer children. What should be happening with the monarchy is what is going on in any modern organization, and that is putting the focus on accountability and performance. To me the non-heir apparent/presumptive children and grandchildren of the monarch can choose to work for The Firm or live private lives, but if they choose to work for The Firm and receive the benefits that go along with it, they should be expected to do the required work and also not bring dishonor to the monarchy.
Currently there are well over 1000 organizations whose royal patron is over the age of 70, what’s going to happen to those patronages when its royal is no longer with us? Doling out even half of the patronages to William, Kate and/or Harry would be overwhelming to them even if they were gung ho to take them on and they don’t seem to be. The whole streamlining thing never made sense to me, I think that the change should have been to let those children and grandchildren of the monarch be part of The Firm if they wish but then make them accountable.
The new model? They don’t become patrons to more than a handful of organizations. Remember, W&K were going to pick just a few and FOCUS HEAVILY on them and be MORE IMPACTFUL. That was also why W&K were never going to do events together, so they could split their impact.
To sum up, they’ll do next to nothing but take credit for everything. That’s the new model. Have staff do the work under the auspices of the Foundation, do very little yourself, do no bread-and-butter local appearances, and wave at the crowds a few times a year. KM didn’t even show up to their joint Foundation board meeting this year. She was papped out shopping the same time as the meeting.
aaa
In a perfect world, right? Unfortunately that isn’t the world we live in.
Nota
At least people are wising up to this ploy.
You said it. W and K are LAZY. I think the Queen should put those two to work.
W & K are an embarrassment to the Queen, who deserves better.
Upstream (Megan thread)
Prince Andrew may prefer to ‘stand alone’ with his Line-York/ Bea & E; Prince Andrew already work for HM/DOE /BP (with over 300 events last year), as heir to HM/BRF.
POW should manage his work with his Line (Petulant /cannot and Prince Harry (spouse)), or abdicate; not co-mingle the Lines (so to speak); maybe the strategy of the Firm/BP and HM heir/s (POW, York, Wessex).
Off topic, but I’ve never understood why some men go beet-red in middle age.
It’s usually a skin condition called acne rosacea
Thanks. I always presumed it was too much red wine!
Our agriculture minister – the beet-red gentleman who threatened to impound Johnny Depp’s dogs – shares this particular hue with Charles. I’ve never seen the condition in women, though, which is odd.
I suffer from it mildly and I’m a woman, plenty of us do.
Kath: I have acne rosacea. I’m over 60 but I’m not red like Charles. Maybe it manifests more in males?
Women get it Kath….they just have the benefit of make up to hide it. I’ve been getting it since I was 30.
@Kath I’m a woman and I have rosacea, the difference is the amount of moisturizers and skin care products for rosacea women use, but men don’t…
Our products are green (always found it funny) because green “cuts” the red, disguises it..
Ah, I stand corrected!
I highly recommend the Dr. Weil line at Origins. It basically cured my rosacea.
Aside from the roscea thing, in Chinese medicine, red face reflects a weakened heart. Not surprising in older men.
I don’t think he can pass the Prince’s Trust to Harry it would look too bad.
The fascinating thing, though, is that this story got out in the first place. Is this the kind of stuff the press was threatening William with? They are going to be reporting that he can’t even be shamed into doing his duty despite all the $$$ he gets?
If so, I am so here for this character takedown.
Indeed. The interesting thing is that this story is out.
Did you notice how swiftly they removed it from the front page?
If you weren’t aware it had been posted, you’d be none the wiser.
They buried it at the bottom of the news page, so unless you had/have a link, it isn’t easy to find.
Hi LAK, yes I did notice that. I had to really search for it yesterday. It’s rather fun watching how the media treats these stories on the Royals.
I saw it when it was first posted. It was on the top of the front batch, but one of those small articles batched together below or on top of another big photo. It was quite easy to miss even then.
Although then they go and put an article about Harry smoking as the headline!
I actually feel for Harry. If he takes it over, he assumes the duty and then what – he passes it on to his on children or to his nephew? And can you imagine the dinner conversation at Christmas, with his lazy bones brother complaining that it makes him look bad??
It would also make Charles and HM look weak by allowing WK to sit on their duffs doing nothing while Harry takes on more and more.
This is a no win situation…. I don’t care how WK justify their lack of activity to themselves, when the press and a whole country are judging you and finding you wanting, it’s time to do something about it.
I went to their charitable fund’s website last night — you know where William wants to “make his mark”. It’s the bloody Harry show! The news is all Harry and a lot of their work revolves around Harry; in fact, by far their largest grant last year was over £1 million for the Invictus Games, which is Harry’s baby.
I downloaded their 2014 annual report too, and I plan to read it. I like reading those things and translating what they actually say. But from a quick skim last night about 35% of their total charitable outlay last year went to that. And their net balance was less than the year before. But that could be accounting or any number of things, so I’ll read the report.
bluhare — exactly. I’ve been looking at the site on and off, and it IS the Harry Show, on and on.
This is just more silly PR for the tea towel crowd.
And that is why I continue to hope W gets shown the curb, and Harry steps in; I have a funny feeling that Harry would find a way to make the burden enjoyable, draft in young royals to help, get aided by Sophie and also probably be actively supported by a lot of people who’ve served with him and are ready be there for his future efforts.
Come on, Charles, test the waters..…they indicate a farewell to dreadful Willy.
What a change from the time when people wanted William instead of Charles.
I’ve also wondered if the press will follow through on their threats of revenge. And given my naivete about how Brits insult one another, I may not recognize revenge in UK press. For example, there’s a photo in the Daily Mail of Harry smoking a cigarette. Is it vengeance?
It’s a diversion. Look at the spare smoking! Forget about the heir refusing to work in his 30’s.
FLORC — exactly. It’s so desperate and obvious.
Smoker vesus a smokin’ loser. Tough choice.
@ Liberty, William’s ‘glue on hair’ it’s not working!
Frisbee
Hair looks fine here 😛
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/12/22/article-1340821-0C8E9728000005DC-689_468x468.jpg
@ FLORC – crickey, I’d actually forgotten he had some!
HAHAHAHAHA!! FLORC, you slay me with that! Talk about wishful thinking!
Maybe Charles is fed up and is secretly lining up Harry to take over? I wish.
My thought….and this is a test, a hint of what’s to come.
Harry doing the work (how prescient is that film role w Harry as a shirt-sleeves-rolled gardener eh?)
….and W and K moving their champion tennis courts about the treasured lawns, then skipping off to a film premiere (if it stars a Jolie-Pitt) in their precious glue-on hair.
Lol!
I don’t think Charles CAN “line up Harry to take over” unless William formally steps aside, and then it would default to George, and then Charlotte. The rules are pretty strict–they had to pass a law and get the whole Commonwealth to accept it to even put Charlotte after George.
Annaliese, if they wanted William and his children removed, they’d make a law to make it happen. See the Uncle David example.
Charles should just say, “I’m not asking you to do it, I’m telling you.” Don’t give him the choice.
Exactly. And if he still refuses, he should take some perks away like the credit card Kate uses to pay for her clothes, salon visits, shopping trips, personal trainer etc. Grow a pair Charles and throw down the gauntlet…it’s time to take a stand!
I suspect he remembers what it was like when he was hated by the public and the press, he doesn’t want a repeat because at this point, he’s quite beloved, no? Not as much as the Queen but still. I feel like William wouldn’t keep that private and then you have the old guy who everyone always knew was a cold a**hole and Diana’s son with the two super cute babies. Charles can’t win that PR fight and maybe doesn’t want the confirmation.
If anyone can put their foot down, it’s the Queen. Or maybe Philipp, that man doesn’t come across as if he has any qualms about putting the lazy kids in their place.
Chrissy
Innoway I completely agree with you but it strikes me as odd that you think Charles should put his foot down by denying his daughter-in-law access to the cash? This doesn’t strike you as disproportionate or unbalanced? Do you not think that William has more of an obligation to his own father? Do you not think that William benefits enormously from his father’s financial generosity? Perhaps you do but you didn’t mention it.
@lilmissnaughty
You’re right of course the red faced badger pictured above could never win a PR war against William. I don’t even think the Queen would win that war. While the public does abhor royal expenditures without service, Wills case is always going to be viewed more sympathetically than the others.
First, he is Diana’s son. That buys credit even among republicans because she clashed so heavily with the Establishment. Second, he can simply let it be known that this is the life his mother wanted for him – people will see that as Diana’s last stand and again the sainted dead mother will surely win that PR war. Third, he can let it be known that he is taking parenting cues from his mum. Everybody knows how ineffectual the Windsors are with their kids and most hate that about them. Will needs to claim to be a hands on dad and state that royal duties would significantly change that. He can then make some vague promise to evaluate the decision when the kids are older. Finally, just create the perception that they only take from State what they must. I mean, he is always going to need special security even if he abdicates and he can’t just live in a flat down the road again because of his personal security.
In short, as long as their lifestyle is marketted as reasonable. He keeps his part time helicopter job and invokes his mums name alot. Nobody can take him in a media battle and nor look like an insensitive Diana-hater. Not even the Queen.
Naya: he already does and that’s why neither the Palace nor the media can call him out on his BS outright.
All the ex-royal personnel willing to go on public record are saying that everybody behind the scenes is scared of the Diana factor where William is concerned, and unfortunately for them, he invokes it repeatedly.
@imo
I just used the credit card as an example since Kate is the more obviously seen user of the credit card. I’m sure that William also uses the same card for his toys. I could just have easily said, take away his Aston Martin or the Kensington Gardens apartment or the Dolittles share of the 4.6 million pounds. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.
Charles the red faced badger! Great comment, Naya.
The key is as you said, their lifestyle being marketed as reasonable which was what they seemed to try doing -their original smaller digs at Kensington, pretending their staff was smaller than it was, Thrifty Kate, taking Ryanair -but at this point, that game seems to be up. In the end, the Cambridges are their own worst enemy.
I think the Queen could take on William. Even Diana listened to her and the Cambridges have lost too much ground to being perceived as lazy -and after all, a large part of Diana’s legacy is her work. A major defense from W and K supporters is they would do more if asked by the Queen and Charles. But Elizabeth won’t say anything unless she absolutely has to though, so things will first have to get a lot worse.
The disaster is if they wait for William to become Prince of Wales -he’ll promptly insist that all he’s doing is making sure he doesn’t interfere with his father’s agenda as King, and he’ll have access to Duchy of Cornwall money. If there’s going to be change, it has to happen with Elizabeth in charge.
@Natalie Yeah, they really are their own worst enemies.
@LAK The knowledge that Will understand s the power of Di really warms my maniacal icy heart. I just love good drama. I imagine Wills night guns will be to have a photo op (the cellphone kind of course, this isn’t 1988) outside the. Taj Mahal. Recreate the bench pose but with him looking lovingly in his wife’s eyes, while the kids play in the background. Its perfect! It says “remember when my dad hurt your princess, my mum” and “my mum, your princess, would be so proud that I didn’t end up a sh*tty husband, like my dad” and “I am happy in the way your princess, my mum, wasn’t. Don’t take that away from me.” Make it so Carole.
I sort of thought removing the spending ability from Kate would be Charles telling his son to support his own wife by working either as a normal citizen or earning his keep in the Monarchy.
And #poorjason. He’s got to spin gold from straw. There’s only so many ways he can promote William and defuse his procrastination for both his copilot job(s) and his duties to his country.
It’s all hitting the fan now and to defend his actions is to be in support of people living off of others while giving nothing back.
@ Imo
Why would it be bad for Charles to expect W&K to pay for their own clothes? How is that an unfair ‘punishment?’ They want to play at being normal. Normal people pay for their own clothes.
Ann_00
Perhaps you skimmed my comment. I found it odd that only Kate’s access to the goodies was mentioned and not William’s. The original poster clarified her view and I concur with her. I’ve never quite understood why Charles pays for their lifestyle.
Imo
Maybe William’s finances aren’t covered as much as Kate’s because so much of his life is secret. His whereabouts are rarely confirmed and he pops up with random sightings of not where you would expect him to be.
And if his sppending was covered it would only look bad.
At times i’ve thought the coverage on Kate’s spending shopping has been as deflection of William’s activities. Much like the Pic of Harry smoking in an article about William’s refusing to work.
“Second, he can simply let it be known that this is the life his mother wanted for him – people will see that as Diana’s last stand and again the sainted dead mother will surely win that PR war.”
I don’t think he could claim that particular line of reasoning. Diana made it sound like she hoped the monarchy would skip over Charles to make William King. And she was proud to proclaim the whole “I am the Future King’s Mom” bit while speculating that Charles would make an ineffectual King. If her ghost is watching, she’s probably all “WTF, William. What are you doing? You’re screwing up my entire plan. You were supposed to outperform Charles!” She wanted the public to view William more favorably as a King-like figure than Charles, but with 650 engagements! a year it looks like Charles’s legacy will turn out alright when he drops dead.
Well William is a grown man.
Okay. And? Even more so, it shouldn’t be a choice. It’s a duty.
So he can refuse if he wants to .
A grown man acting like a defiant teenager who can’t be arsed to do the bare minimum of his responsibilities. Responsibilities that come along with countless privileges that he isn’t shy to use. Charles really needs to step up.
He’s a grown man who lives off his dad’s money.
“So he can refuse if he wants to .”
His family business has duties, whether he likes it or not. Charles needs to lay down the law on this and bring in Queen Elizabeth if necessary.
If he truly wants to be Normal Bill and make his own legacy, then he needs to step down, get off the taxpayer dole and support his family with his own wages.
I think he’s an overgrown adolescent, not a grown man.
RIGHT?! Like why does he have a choice… this is his responsibility. I would’ve brought the Queen in and told him what is what.
These kids have been babied for too long as a reaction their mother’s death — and when they were much younger that made perfect sense, but now…c’mon.
Exactly. He’s not a teenager in mourning anymore. He is an adult with responsibilities. He needs to man up and stop acting like a petulant child.
How long can he be the mourning son? Can the average person just step away from real life (a job) to mourn for years? If so, sign me up. I cared for my parents for years and lost both in a span of seven months (this year). Three days off (if the employer allows it), and back to work we go.
He needs a huge reality check.
@Christin – I am so sorry to hear that. Virtual hugs to you.
Sorry for your loss Christin
I’ve lost a prent and couldn’t imagine losing my other. Especially feeling that horrible pain all over again without time to heal.
My sympathies to you and your family.
I guess my emotions are really raw right now, but I do not understand this apparent coddling after nearly two decades.
When TQ passes, will he use grieving as an excuse to get another decade of passes? As in, she was such a support system to me after Mother’s death….
The other part that baffles me is why he does not use his position every moment he can to support causes. That would be the most fitting tribute to his mother. We all have our faults, yet I believe her interest in helping others was sincere.
@ Christin – I’m sorry for your loss. My sincere condolences.
Christin
Myself and others here that have lost a parent have all asked the same questions.
Why doesn’t he live his life in a way to honor his mother? Not dedicate his life to her memory, but honor her in little things that would make her proud.
Maybe ask himself honestly if Diana would be proud of his actions or disappointed?
Not use the memory to excuse behavior they likely wouldn’t approve of.
For all Harry’s faults he works deeply with his mothers interests and carries himself like she did in her work.
Someone leaked this story to the press, rumours are that this is just the tip of the Iceberg of How Unmanagable William really is behind the scenes. He is a mess according to one reporter, a friend of mine had lunch with in London a few months ago. The Palace has been keeping “The William Problem” off the pages of the press, because they are hoping he will grow out of this, push back of Monarchy and Royal Duties, but it’s been several years and waiting for him to grow into it , and he has not been working.
What William does not understand is, he is NOT the Monarchy.
He also thinks he knows better than his father and even the Queen in how to go about the future and believes the public will not raise a peep if he just barely works and disappears to be what he calls NORMAL.
I think he’s doing the LONG Goodbye to his future role, but he hasn’t got the baallssss to do it yet!
I believe he will step down one day, regardless of how Kate might feel about it,
Frankly, if that’s true, he may have some issues with his mind then. I don’t see any scenario that he steps aside. The higher powers wouldn’t be thrilled about Harry — especially since his paternity is always in question.
Harry’s paternity is not in question. Only the tabloids consider it still open. There’s moutains of evidence to prove his physical traits. And better yet a fudged timeline on when Diana carried Harry to when she met that man. Toss in how Charles and Diana acted like lovebirds during Harry’s conception…
No question. Harry is the son of Charles.
I would say it’s a pretty safe bet that Harry’s paternity was quietly checked by the courtiers a long time ago…lol. Everyone suspected Diana, but she was no fool – she waited until after the babies to start playing around at the same game her husband had been playing since the beginning of their marriage.
Harry looks to be Charles’ genetic kid. Since he hit his late 20’s Harry has really started to resemble Prince Philip, especially around his eyes and the lower half of his face. He just doesn’t look anything like his dad, which happens sometimes.
Would Carole let William step down? She worked so hard to get her daughter into the family — imagine how disappointed she’d be if her daughter didn’t get to be Queen (Consort).
@perplexed,
Even Carole doesn’t control William but I’m pretty sure she’s going to be very present as a soother and support system to William and Kate as they move up the royal ladder, so in that sense your point is well taken. As you stated, Carole wants her daughter to be Queen Consort, and also for the throne to be around for George to occupy, and she’s going to try her level best to achieve those goals.
I’m curious as to how he is a mess.
I don’t think Carole would allow William to ever step aside. Although he may not stay with Kate forever. In the Daily Mail, there were pics of him meeting a Joss something woman – and I have never seen him look happier than in those pics when with kate. If my husband greeted another woman like that and then clung to her like glue all night, as the story claimed, I would be p$ssed.
@Jib – that was Joss Stone, a quick google reveals quite a history of big hugs and adoring glances between them. Recall the similarly close encounter with Taylor Swift last year at a charity fundraiser that Kate also conveniently declined to attend.
* stirs pot, sits down *
Carole may have to just deal with William being pushed out. William may not be given a choice. The gray men and his father may decide he is a non-starter.
Joss Stone is big in conservation work and she seems likely a genuinely sweet person. She looks that way with most people.
When I was a child and my dad asked me to do something, he clarified it with “I think you misunderstood. It wasn’t really a question and you don’t have a choice.”
I have the impression that PW is “behaving” himself while the Queen is alive, but once she passes Charles is going to find he has a HUGE problem on his hands that he won’t be able to control.
I think the opposite.
Once the Queen passes Charles might leap into action. The Queen saw what scandal did to the monarchy and her family from within. She’s lacked action with any boat rocking. I wonder if letting William go on this way is her hoping to let this lazy attitude run its course and not alienate him from the family?
But when he becomes POW and still hasn’t stepped up I bet and hope Charles finds a way to get through to William. Shaming doesn’t work. Leaving him alone doesn’t work. Maybe it’s time for tough love?
I think tough love is going to have to happen. He’s in his mid-30s, and it will be challenging enough for noticeable change to happen this late in the game.
The longer it is allowed to fester, the harder it will be to treat later.
Tough love doesn’t work with William anymore. They all warned him not to marry Middleton, so he went ahead and married her. He likes doing the opposite of what he’s advised to do.
A better tactic would be to offer the position to someone who actually wants it and can be passionate about the causes.
Exactly.
…and there’s more to come out about William if he doesn’t start buckling down and taking on more. This is just an early preview.
People aren’t telling the half of it, on what is going on behind the scenes with him.
IMO
I would be happy to take it over. My only request would be to meet Idris Elba (keeping it relative to the charity). I would then ask Idris if he had any good ideas about what the Trust could do to help under-voiced people in Britain and then I would sit and listen, drool and take notes of course. I see the Idrishare Theatre which produces plays staffed and acted by young people with cameos by actors over whom I drool.
I just found my dream career.
Lol Bluhare
Even secret charity meetins with Idris all in the name of fundraising brainstorming….. Mmmhmm
Me! Me! I’d love to do it. (See how hard is that?)
@overfirstave – I’d like to hear your thoughts on what you think else is coming about sir willy won’t-work
Why should William be forced to take over his father’s private foundation? It’s not part of his royal duties. And why did Charles set up a separate foundation for William and Harry if he intended for one of them to abandon it for his foundation?
William’s disinterest in royal life is appalling, but he should not be expected to shepherd his father’s personal legacy. He should, however, be expected to shepherd his royal legacy as many have already noted.
Personally, I think Sophie would be the ideal candidate to run the trust. With her PR skill and commitment to charitable work, she would more than secure Charles’ legacy and it would give her a well-earned prominent role in Charles’ reign.
I agree with you, Megan. Yes, I do think he should step up and help his dad but he’s under no obligation to do so. I just roll my eyes at the “WK want to make their own mark” statements. At what, exactly?
I understand that Edward and Sophie, who is very close to Prince Philip,are to become Duke & Duchess of Edinburgh in due course and would take over the Duke of Edinburgh awards
Agree. And you know if the Queen is complaining a bit about her knees or back…..she is probably hurting a lot. She is old school who doesn’t complain-just gets on with it. What a travesty that she is out there at her age, more than pulling her weight and has done for so many years but her young grandson wants to play “normal”.
I’m Canadian and not a monarchist but I have great admiration for TQ’s work ethic. Maybe they need Prince Philip to have a word with Willie? Oh to be a fly on the wall if PP gave Willie a telling off. I’m still chuckling about the “take the f*cking picture” thing.
Spot on
+1000
(on changing the story to Prince Harry!?)
Sad and desperate Petulant/ Jason, carol cannot and the meddleton family paying to spy on 30 something Prince Harry – big deal!
How about spending quality time with royal duties for all taxpayers perks and millions to family of four – by working/serving HM/POW – promoting charities /helping the needy – giving back to the people of GB/UK.
How does he have the option to say no?!? This is your job! If you want out, then get all your sh*t out of all palaces/homes/royal family property, you are cut off financially (use your college education and military training!), we’ll see you at Christmas.
Technically he has the option to say no because the trust was his father’s project. Many royals establish their own trust, endeavors or interests. TPT is not something that was established by the monarchy and is passed down from generation to generation.
Having said that, I think William is passing up a wonderful opportunity to continue a philanthropic initiative that has turned out to be brilliantly successful. It’s not unusual or even necessarily terrible when an individual wants to go down a different road than his/her parents. However, William’s idea of autonomy begins with his level of commitment and ends when his father pulls out his checkbook.
^This. @IMO
IMO: the problem is always William’s commitment and follow through.
He always tells us, and probably his father and the palace, what he intends to do, and then nothing.
For starters, did you know that as of 2013 the Diana Foundation has been folded into the royal foundation?
Except for the odd surprising Diana invoked engagement eg the anti-bullying on this week, i’m still surprised the Diana Foundation is alive. I thought it had been folded and closed.
You and I may disagree about Harry, but in terms of the royal foundation, all the progress and work that is attributed to the 3 of them seems to be Harry’s individual efforts whilst the other 2 are off being ‘normal’. It makes me wonder how much more active the Diana Foundation would work if Harry picked it up rather than leave it to William’s half-hearted attempts.
The only thing he has demonstrable passion is himself and his needs and how to grow them.
Of course he isn’t going to take over The Prince’s Trust. As a matter of fact, he shouldn’t have to do so since it’s not a requirement, but it’s been grown from scratch to what it is, and covers a lot of the areas his own royal foundation covers barring conservation. It’s actually less work for him at this moment in time than putting together what is essentially a start up.
I’m personally fine with him not taking it over since he can’t grow his own or even his beloved mother’s foundations, but boy is he deluded about his own efforts.
However, this demonstrates again his personal motto of #whateverworkmeans.
And I really think Charles should stop pandering and paying his financial bills.
If he isn’t going to do anything royal related (#whateverworkmeans) or *Duchy related (different verse, same as the first), he should be remunerated accordingly. No royal perks and no duchy perks. His personal finances wouldn’t hold up to the lavish lifestyle he currently enjoys, even with the freebies from friends thrown in.
*The Prince’s trust receives a lot of funding from duchy goods so it counts as Duchy work.
LAK
We disagree about Harry because I believe some try to whitewash/excuse his past because he has turned out to be a warm, empathetic, hardworking royal. I think his problematic past makes his 180 all the more laudable. But I am happy to disagree 🙂
As for your breakdown of William I suggest a stack of index cards and some push pins. Anytime the Cambridges issue a statement/leak Jason should color code it and tack it to the wall. Anytime they make a move or issue subsequent statements/leaks they can make sure the PR spin is appropriately color coordinated. We Are Normal would be green and off to Mustique would be royal blue lol.
It does seem as if winning battles and sabotaging the war is a recurring theme at KP.
IMO: the problem of their PR as I see it, is that as soon as some strategy has been devised and press releases (or twitter announcements) made, WK do the opposite and sabotage it and back to the drawing board to devise a new strategy. The sabotage is such that it is impossible in the foreseeable future to visit the sabotaged plan or to find a path to rescue it.
I think they’ve reached the Harry/Anne/Sophie/even Andrew impasse where the only option after a really bad stretch of media exposure, they have to work and use that as their means of image rehabilitation.
Re: Harry disagreement….i see it very much as people lauding his rehabilitation rather than a refusal nee whitewash of his pas. Afterall, if we keep harping on and on and on about past misdeeds and saying they are the only representations of a person, we’d never laud Churchill, Angelina, Mandela, Malcolm X, even St Paul (had to throw in religion 🙂 and i’m not saying that Harry is in their league at all or even at this point, just someone who was once misguided and is moving away to a positive future, fingers crossed. And he has the global platform to be heard.
As for the rest, people do get cross when entire picture isn’t presented and the only reason an imperfect picture is presented is so that we can once again be shown what a horrible person Harry used to be. That’s what I see in the Harry defenders’ arguments. His detractors simply don’t wish to acknowledge that he has changed. When he embarked on his change, at least in public, the skepticism was warranted, but several years into it, he means what he said and they refuse to acknowledge that.
LAK
Very good points. I think Harry is a tug-of-war because some people refuse to acknowledge his personal culpability in his mistakes and some people refuse to give him any credit for the person he has become. I hope I’m in the middle. I could never be a Harry detractor/sugar because I think he is marvelous – not flawless. And as far as him not being in the league of some of the notable individuals you mentioned I 100% believe it is only a matter of time. There’s something real and special about him and it really comes through.
As for the Cambridge PR fiasco that is a tough one. At this point I think if William is going to turn the ship around it will be when he becomes the Prince of Wales. And even then the change would have to be immediate, complete, sincere and sustained. So now do you see why I have doubts lol? But fingers crossed and all that. The tax payers deserve it. Although I will give William credit for his bullying campaign appearance. He seems to have genuinely engaged with everyone and spent more than 30 minutes interacting and sharing ideas. Why is this so hard?
It’s william’s ability to stick at something that will undermine any efforts to rehabilitate him no matter how sincere he may be. The man gets bored very quickly and moves along according to his latest fancy.
Not to mention that everyone keeps accommodating his wishes every time.
LAK
Well said. The only good thing is the fact that accommodations for William and his demands have been well documented and therefore any excuses he has in the future will seem all the more incredible. But he will be surprised to see how much he has dragged down his family in the process. I don’t think this will hit him until much later.
Imo
Put me in Harry’s corner. And i’m a huge believer to not forget any part of people. If they were bad or good it all gets rolled into the person they become.
He’s changed for the best I think.
Flaws make us. Things that are perfect are lies.
FLORC, well said. I agree. In fact I am not sure I would quite trust anyone with an oatmeal “flawless” past, experience gap, to do much heavy lifting in public life.
IMO, character is built from living and learning and growing.
Liberty
Your statement is correct, of course, but feel free to read my comment and isolate the parts that concur with your own views.
LOL, sorry Imo, I was typing “IMO” = “In my opinion” versus your title, sorry for the confusion.
That said, I am in agreement with your points..
Imo
Liberty’s response was to my comment. You name has mme double checking if I put “IMO” In all caps or if it looks like i’m addressing you 😉
As someone who grew up in Cornwall, I find the ‘Ducky of Cornwall’ typo absolutely brilliant.
Whenever I go back home, I’m now referring to it as the Ducky. Thanks Kaiser!
FLORC, LAK, imo (upstream)
Well said.
Perfect, is how William wants his PR (while hiding, pick and choose duties- royal functions), and treated with ‘hands-off’/private like he is still a 20 something university student (instead of the actual husband, father, heir to King Charles).
All Prince Charles work as POW – should and must be taken over by his heir (if Petulant Will cannot then, Removed him and give the title, status/perks to Prince Henry) – those terms, the Prince’s Trust should be non-negotiable as part of the ‘heir’ package!
Pipa
It’s not bad if William doesn’t take on the Prince’s Trust because it’s something Charles made. Not an inherted duty of the POW. It’s just tragic because it’s a really great vehicle for charitable work. Harry could accept this duty and it would be fine without scandal.
Oh, Normal Bill is such a bore. He can’t even make these ridiculous levels of uselessness entertaining, can he? Even the PM has #piggate. The best he can manage is chipping a tooth while drunk.
Hey! Normal Bill! We don’t even WANT you to take over the Prince’s Trust. It’s a good charity and you’d make it mediocre. Jog on, love, jog on.
#piggate
Utterly dead.
Well, Lindy, I pay good tax money for Normal Bill. If he’s going to be useless, the least he could do is give me some decent fodder for sniggering!
I think that’s what the two of them consider Kate’s “Marilyn moments” (gah, I just threw up a bit in my mouth). Public service to a country lacking in beauty or some other utter tripe.
Well, that and trying to make sure they’re not forced to do any work for fear of another flash.
Oh I agree wholeheartedly Sixer!
was the writer of Rory Kinnear’s episode of Black Mirror there for #piggate me wonders? 😮
Charlie Brooker says it was all a coincidence, Lindy, but regardless, it gave me a crackling good laugh. Boom boom!
Comparatively speaking, Normal Bill is such an unprepossessing dilettante. No #piggate. Even his father had #tampongate.
Bill needs to step the step up!
Lindy79: that was the first question in my mind when I read about #piggate. Especially as the actor who played the PM resembled Cameron.
Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror writer) on #piggate:
“The first question people were asking me was, Did I know anything about it? And the answer is no, absolutely not. I probably wouldn’t have bothered writing an episode of a fictional comedy-drama if I’d known. I’d have been running around screaming it into traffic. It’s a complete coincidence, albeit a quite bizarre one.”
Shame, though, eh?!
I think the least Normal Bill could do would be to… oh, I don’t know. Something with a helicopter joystick?
A previous article suggested the Palace was treating Williams refusal to work as a ‘delicate point’ by the Palace. It’s not a ‘delicate point’ it’s an effing great elephant in the room that could genuinely threaten the Monarchy’s future. The ‘Firm’ seem incapable of tackling this, Charles is a notorious ditherer and the Queen tends to close her eyes and pretend it’s not happening in the hope it will ‘all blow over’ – Phillip is probably too old, too ill to be asked. I am starting to feel a twinge of sympathy for Charles. Whatever crap he’s done in the past, good old Karma’s turned up to bite him on the bum good and proper with ‘Normal’ – Fetish- Bill and his Stepford wife.
PS #piggygate has been SO GREAT!
Quite! Oh, you know. Normal Bill and Katie Bucket are, in reality, doing everything I could want them to do: accelerating the speed at which we reach the point that the BRF are so irrelevant that they just fade away into their own private castles, being pointless far from sight.
Ha ha ha, I had a sentence in my original post saying exactly the same thing, I’m a Republican they are doing us all a huge favour, bring it on Bill and Katie – oh cunning stunts that you are – but I cut it out because I end up writing huge, long, run on sentences with bad spelling.
Katie Bucket – love it.
Charles will have to take his head out of the sand and deal with him at some point – he can be ruthless and he will want to make sure that the Monarchy survives after him.
Nothing will be done about the Duke and Duchess of Bucket until TQ passes.
Oh, don’t say that, Betti! What if Her Maj goes on to her centenary or even longer? By that time, Normal Bill will be in his fifties, talking about the need for early retirement for hardworking public servants.
And we’ll still be in Groundhog Day mode, utterly ossified with the dullness of it all.
Ooh! Unless, St Corbyn of Westminster finally becomes Prime Minister in 2035 (longevity, like Her Maj, dontchaknow) and Britons are so very bored by the whole shite parade that they can’t be bothered to object when he puts a Republic Bill to the Commons? Yes! That’s my new daydream!
^^ LOL but TQ has got another 10 or so years in her still but I guess it depends on how long Phil lives. I think they are one of those couples that if one goes the other will follow soon after – have seen it happen.
Well, maybe sexy beard (wearing one of his ‘I’m serious’ cardigans) is the one to give the Duke of Bucket a kick up the flat bottom.
I think #sexybeardcardigan should stay away and #piggatePM should give Normal Bill some tips on how to go about getting a sexed-up hashtag of his very own!
Yes – we don’t want him getting ideas that growing a beard and wearing cardigans will make women start fighting over him (Rebecca/Nanny Maria might try and run Kate out of town), it just won’t do to have 2 #sexybeardcardigans. The women of the UK can just about handle the one we have. And as for the other one – i now won’t ever be able to eat Percy Pigs again (#teabaggingpercypig).
It will be hard to give him a sexed up hashtag – not sure #chippedtoothbaldbaby really does it.
Sixer: For everything you said, and the way you said it… 👏👏👏
Haha.
Sixer Betti thread
+1
Republic or no – should William, stepford the Boelyn-middletons have all taxpayers palaces – luxury perks- staff/bodyguards and not demand a return …
The Duchy should also be turned over to Prince Henry (not Bill middletons), York or Wessex.
HAHAHAHAHHA Sixer!!!! 🙂
It’s duchy not ducky. Although I’m loving the mental image of a Ducky of Cornwall.
Ha!
I think that in the near future, William will abdicate due to laziness and Harry will become the crown prince.
Wouldn’t it go to George?
Is there an age limit, lets say such a scenario happened right now and George is just two,who will take the crown?
Yep I forgot little George.
And I think if the crown prince is too young, you can appoint a temporary King or queen to rule until the child comes of age.
Depends on whether they can skip over his family is he does take himself out of the line of succession. The line of succession is enshrined in law and only an act of parliament can change it and it will be messy as the commonwealth nations will have to be consulted.
Willy boy has been out and about this past few days – he visited a school to support an anti-bullying campaign run by an organisation setup by his mother. He’s really pushing on his mother’s memory now – just goes to show how bad his image is.
It’s call a Regent. I doubt very much that William would abidicate, but then Charles could easily live another 20 years or so.
I believe William will Abdicate, he just hasn’t got the baallssss to say it yet,while the Queen is alive.
He’s done everything except wriggle out of the Palace window, to get out of Royal duties.
And I don’t believe Anything Kate or Carole can say will stop him, because They have aided him in his delusions that he wants to be Normal!
Technically, it isn’t abdication. Only a monarch can abdicate. William could remove himself from the line of succession. Whatever the current laws state, I do not think philosophically he could keep their kids in line. Laws can be changed.
“I refuse to do a job I hate and I think is useless, but I’m going to saddle my children with it”? How could anyone expect W&K to raise two dedicated heirs, when the two of them refuse and walk away from the work? The monarch could technically take the children away, but Charles has a bad-enough reputation as it is (if William waited until HM passed).
If William decided to walk, they’d have to figure out how to take the kids out too. They removed any possible future children of Uncle David’s too. Trouble is, William will not step aside. He wants all the perks just not the work. He wouldn’t want Harry to get the glory of saving the monarchy from Bill MiddleClass, Petulant Princeling. And his mother-in-law would never forgive him.
They have an enormous problem on their hands, ie William, and no one knows how to deal with him.
One of the other issues is having 2 living Kings living in the same country. Wallis and David were sent to Bermuda (to keep them out of Hitlers reach and to stop him trying to force his way into a public role – one that he was constantly demanding from his brother) and then to Paris. I can’t see the Buckets living abroad perm.
The only way around that issue it to ensure it happens BEFORE he takes the throne as once he is King he will make it difficult to get rid of him. I firmly believe that if he does take the throne it will be a disaster for the country on many levels and he will go down in history as the King who let his country and people down.
If William contemplated abdicating, Carole Middleton would have a fit “Kate. I DID NOT put in all these years of hard work for you to become the new Wallis Simpson!”.
Kate (stamping her foot): “William. I want to be Queen. You promised me. Mummy who’s Wallis Simpson?”
I’m so disappointed at how lazy William has become. Harry is the more worthy successor. It’s an intriguing situation.
I’ve never heard the reference to William as Normal Bill..hehe…
Team King Harry.
General question, but let’s say Charles decides he has had enough of Will and his excuses for not wanting to work. Can Charles when he becomes King, “disinherit” William and instead make Harry the heir to the throne ? Or even name George or Charlotte as King or Queen when they become of age?
Short answer: no. On the other hand if enough powerful people collectively decided that the future of the monarchy depended on it, anything is possible. See: Wallis Simpson.
I think this is true. If Normal Bill decides to step aside and says he wants to take PGTips with him, it will happen. Lots of hot air and column inches, but it will happen nonetheless.
Delights of an unwritten constitution. It can bend to whatever is practical at the time.
Yes.. Note the Duke of Windsor.
William can leave and be impressed upon to leave.
I personally think he would love giving it up AS LONG AS He is given a comfortable Monied lifestyle along with the money he has inherited already and he already loves Mustique and Country life so he would probably love it.
@Over – the thing with Willy is that the more u try to push him in one direction he will go in the other as he has demonstrated more than once. If he is pushed into giving it up willingly he will refuse – purely to be difficult as that’s his nature. The only way to get rid of him from the succession is to force the issue and take the choice away from him. The question is will Chuck support that – it will probably drive a wedge between him and his son but that is a collision path that Willy has set them on.
If he wants to be normal with ‘middle class’ values then go and live like that but first you have to give up your (and your children’s) place in the succession.
OverFirstAve.
If the grey men of the establishment ever come to the agreement the monarchy (aka the status quo) is better preserved without William, that is exactly what would happen, I think. He’d go but with money and luxury guaranteed.
Nope. It would take an act of Parliament.
Better yet: Can he cut him off? I don’t imagine the money he inherited from his mother would take them far, not with those 15 kitchens. Unless the Middletons step up and even they have limits.
He inherited a lot money from his mother – half the pay off she got from Charles at the divorce, who must be kicking himself for not saying he would make annual payments to her instead of a lump sum! He had to borrow off his mother to pay out.
Yes, a lot of money for you and me but look at their lifestyle. The house they’re living in was given to them by the Queen, right? Charles pays for a lot of their expenses. They keep renovating palaces and going on vacations. None of that is cheap and when you live that kind of lifestyle, a few million can go quickly.
William inherited £10M from his mother. That’s not much given his lifestyle.
IF he were to buy his preferred home, Anmer Hall, that would be a minimum £5M + tax. The renovation alone cost £1.5M that we know of tax payer money. Currently a £100K tennis court is being built on the grounds. Then there are the annual upkeep costs in the form of staff + utilities + grounds (it’s 9acres). A skeleton staff would + upkeep would cost a minimum of £200K pa.
As you can see, even if he were to buy it outright, £10M would disappear in a very short time. His annual income from his royal family trust fund, in addition to income from his Diana trust money, would also disappear very quickly.
He currently lives rent free at all his homes (London, Norfolk, Scotland), expenses are paid with a combination of Charles and tax payer money and Diana/royal family trusts. The majority coming from Charles/Taxpayers. Additionally he has rich friends throw him freebies in the form of goods or services eg his and Kate’s travelling by helicopter/private jet habit.
On his own money, he wouldn’t afford the royal lifestyle. Not even close because he would have only the Diana/royal family trust funds to fall back on.
I was reading about the home Charles has or had in the Scilly Isles. Now there’s a place (lifestyle) Normal Bill could afford!
When they lived the “normal” life in the 4-bedroom farmhouse Wales, they had four staff, a million-dollar security door, a private beach, and a gag order on the locals. And she was seen in London 3 days a week during that time.
Someone needs to explain the facts of “normal” to them.
It probably wouldn’t take him very far. Don’t he and Kate also get like a 4-5 million pound allowance each year from Charles?
If he only inherited 10 million pounds from his mother, he and Kate would last maybe 2 years before they’d have to become full-time professional freeloaders.
Pleaseicu: exactly.
The money he receives from Charles and tax payers is the majority of what keeps him in his lifestyle and that’s before you get to the freebies.
While I feel Harry is more responsible than William and people here seem to love him I do not think that is really a compliment to say he is better than William when the bar is so low. I do think that Harry likes to do his own thing rather than running the Prince’s Trust and would not take it even if Charles asked.
At this point if George does not somethow grow up to be the perfect Prince it seems like the monarchy is doomed in the UK.
Harry may like to do his own thing, but so far that has seemed to mean legitimate service, both to his charity and his military service, plus he’s the spare. Willy is supposed to be the more dedicated.
Harry has come a long way in the last couple of years and he’s better at this job than his bratty older brother. If I were Charles, I would just let William dig his own grave, and I’d do whatever I could to help Harry succeed because obviously he is much more interested and willing to do the work.
I’d cut the purse strings to the Cambridges. They could fund their lifestyle some other way. They want to be normal? They can support themselves.
@Vava – that’s a scenario I’d enjoy watching. Will is just so uninterested in his job, and it’s such a plum role.
Vava — everything you just said, everything, YES.
My comment disappeared.
I wondered if the Ducky of Cornwall is all it’s quacked up to be.
😀
Yay! Puns rule the world.
I love this comment. And it’s an adorable mental image
LOL #whateverworkmeans
It’s probably better that Will refuses to do it than agrees to take it on and half asses it. I agree that Will would be furious if Harry shoulders the burden makes Will look bad.
William will never become the king. You’ll see. He wants the privileges but not the work that comes with it. He wants to live the life of the royals from the 18th century.
You underestimate Will. He’ll become King, take the privileges, and refuse the work. King’s prerogative. He’s entitled to everything and obligated to no one.
And his PR team will grow exponentially.
It’s not 1415. If his lazy bones won’t work on the throne, I can’t see die-hard supporters of the Monarchy still fighting.
Not quite as simple as that.
I think he’ll be King, too. He won’t remove himself from the line of succession. The only way he wouldn’t be King is if some accident happens that takes his life or incapacitates him.
I don’t think William will ever become King either.
I think he has every intention of leaving the position,
It doesn’t take much deep looking to see William Does Not want this role. He is only going through the motions barely as it is and I don’t think anything the Middleton’s say to him will stop him from ridding himself of what he sees as this burden of Royal life when he gets ready to discard it, which I believe he will.
OverFirstAve.
Really enjoying your comments!
Here I disagree. William shows no intent to leave imo. He’s building a foundation that allows him to operate as he chooses. That others do work and he takes credit. If he was to take the Prince’s Trust he would have to work. So instead he’s playing the long game of building a false front. Same with the press. He’s going for any chance that allows him blanket protection or taking power from the press unless he spoon feeds it to them.
It’s unreasonable, but it’s still laying a foundation. Maybe when the excuses run out. Maybe when the press lashes out. Until then he’s milking this for all he can.
I agree, FLORC. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. He’s getting everything he wants. He thwarts everyone at every turn. He pitches a fit and gains privacy in a public places. The media has completely caved on that. He refuses to be a full-time royal and his father keeps funding him to excess. Even with the Palace PR machine pulling strings to try to pressure him, William is still getting his way.
He’ll stay, take on the money from The Duchy without running it, and continue to be a shadow Howard Hughes prince. He’ll come home from Mustique or Spain a few times a year, wave, give another one minute speech about loving rhinos, and go skiing in Switzerland.
William may plan on staying but will The Establishment allow such abuse of the Monarchy (‘front’)…
A new wife – dedicated. serious and hardworking may turn him around.
Chuck is going to have to deal with these 2 (the Cambridges) at some point – Harry is actually working on his own things and he will no doubt step up for the Princes Trust if he needs to. I wish the press would leave Harry out of the snark as he DOES do royal duties and taking a leaf out of his fathers book and following what he is passionate about (Sentebale and the Invictus Games).
What work has the Dolittles actually done for their Foundation? I suspect Harry isn’t doing anything because these 2 aren’t and doesn’t want to get stuck with it all. I wouldn’t have a problem if they had a profile doing their own thing but they don’t and at the moment are trying to jump on Harry’s coattails.
The secondary issue seems to be that they are not doing ‘in the fold’ royal work aka duties/engagements that support the Monarch.
Most of what the Foundation has claimed recently (given a little money too and taken credit for) was Harry’s private work for InvictusGames, WWTW, and Sentebale.
Yes, and I wonder if this is why there seems to a slight chill in the air in group appearances.
The users will keep using, but also, in a sort of weird guilt/envy manner, will start to ignore and berate the one they’re using, so they can keep feeding on the pretense in their own minds without rubbing up against the truth.
I wonder how much of his sons’ reluctance to embrace ‘all that is Charles’ is connected to their resentment about how awful their father was to their mother. Children, even adult children, never forget.
Maybe they should stop “embracing” Charles money then.
I’ve wondered that as well. I think Will needs some therapy to figure out his shit, reconcile the dissonance of his childhood and stop being resistant just because of past issues. If he wants a ‘normal life’ he’s got to realize that everyone has duties they don’t like but do because they have to. Trust and believe there are worse things in life than running his father’s charity.
I think it’s William who is the real problem.
Billy the Basher has hated the idea of being king since he was a little kid. Stories and videos of the early years show it. He hasn’t grown out of it, so let’s hope the Windsors planned for it.
He doesn’t have to be made Prince of Wales, Charles can invest him as POW or not. The Duchy is another matter. I think Natalie’s right, this needs to be solved while HM is still alive.
I hope HM didn’t try a 7-years-before-death tax-man end run like her mother. What if she’s already put Balmoral and Sandringham in PGTips’s name?
Exactly–I think the fact that Charles does not HAVE to invest William as Prince of Wales is a lot of leverage, because it’s a hugely public statement about their relationship. William could step aside, but I don’t think he can legally take his kids out of the succession, particularly since every nation in the Commonwealth had to recently agree to put Charlotte IN the succession. We’d be looking at a Regency–and Harry would be the Prince Regent.
And doesn’t the King have to accept vassalage from the heir to duchies? He could refuse to recognize William there, too, I think. Although I’m not sure there’s actually a precedent for that, so maybe not.
The Queen Mum is doubtless spinning in her grave over this.
Why doesn’t Charles just ignore his lazy kids and utilize some of the lesser ranked royals if he has so much on his plate.
I think he will have to – esp if the Dolittles keep pushing back.
“but William indicated he would rather not” – I might borrow that for any future occasions which might be connected to work.
“Honey, could you unload the dishwasher, please?” – “I’d rather not.”
“Miss X, would you take on that project that will involve countless extra hours and be really stressfull?” – “I’d rather not.”
“Mam, could you please do the bare minimum of royal work to at least pretend to be worth unlimited tax payer funding?” – “I’d rather not.”
hahaha!
If that keeps going, it’ll be “Parliament, would you mind voting in more money for the monarchy, please?” “We’d rather not.”
I’m definitely adopting “I’d rather not.” It sounds very polite, yet definite. I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, and plan to debut my new phrase if necessary.
Doctor: You need to eat a cup of cooked kale every day.
Me: I’d rather not. I’d *really* rather not.
Perfect.
For what i’s worth Kale chips are awesome. Pure/fresh olive oil with kosher salt tossed in Kale about 2 inch pieces. Oven 350 for 10 minutes. So Good.
If Charles thought William would even pretend to be interested in TPT before becoming POW then he doesn’t know his son. Maybe he sees how ridiculous it was to whittle down the monarchy, as well. Still, I take this with a grain of salt – Charles and QE are reportedly okay with William’s pace.
That’s from William PR office.
Rumours behind the scenes are that the Palace discusses “The William Problem”
It’s WAY worse behind the scenes tha what this article is even telling.
I think you’re right because if an article like this is out, where his own father is calling him out….it must be really bad.
@Overfirstave, curiously what does your reporter friend say about Harry?
Over
I see your point but Richard Kay is anything but a PR mouthpiece. So what’s going on? It seems like Charles is beeing passive aggressive. Coddling William yet grumbling.
I didn’t really get much on what the reporter, discussed about Harry, to my friend except that the Palace is aware that Harry has a
genuine connection with the public.
OverFirstAve.
I bet they are. Harry is a saving grace to them. A glance at the everyday workings of KP twitter before the mad rush pre vacation showed a simple message. Harry working/old photos of Kate and William working from years ago.
Oh, OF COURSE he said no. Come on, Harry. Marry well and show them how it’s done. Someone is going to have to set an example for George and Charlotte so that they don’t turn out like their parents.
I know this is not a popular opinion and I get that he is receiving a lot of money and perks but I would not want to be in his position. He didnt choose his lineage and therefore had no ability to choose a line of work he finds fulfilling or even to find a job that fits his strengths. He has grown up with all the priviledge and all of the pressure but none of the freedom. If I hate my job its easy to quit..not so much with him. You dont get to choose your royals so some will not be up to the task. His job is to go to events and to fake care about people he has never met. That would get old real fast.
Most people figure out how to make the best of the middling circumstances into which they are born. It’s far harder to figure out what to do or how to quit when you’re born into poverty, sickness, starvation, violence, addiction, persecution, enslavement or war, I’d say.
He could quit, life would go on for him and for England, or he could figure out how to make the best of his rough lot in life. He has EVERY opportunity to “choose a line of work he finds fulfilling or find a job that fits his strengths.” He has money, connections and enormous access to opportunity, far more than most.
If he doesn’t choose to exercise his privilege, that’s his business, but I’ll save my sympathy for people born into truly terrible circumstances.
PS “Fake care” about people he’s never met? What ever happened to showing empathy for strangers with problems? Extending a little warmth and compassion, and drawing attention to important social problems and medical research? Sorry, this attitude just leaves me cold. Many of us wish we were in a position to “fake care” about others so that we could make a difference.
Well said, totally agree
Spot on!
Well said Who are these people!
Vauvert
Cushy and he has NO problem taking ALL royal perks.
Actually that is not true, he does have choices: he can abdicate/remove himself from the line of succession, and refuse all the money and benefits (homes, security etc.) that comes from his father/HM/the public purse, and live off the money inherited from his mother.
The problem is that he is just lazy and wants all the benefits but without doing the work and essentially wants to live like the royals of old – be on a perpetual vacation…and in this day and age people look to their rather useless monarchs who get so many perks to give something in return. True, he did not choose this job, it came to him so easily, just by being born into the family. It’s a rather cushy job if you think about it, and one he has had a lot of time to train for. If he actually hates it that much though, he can quit.
You know, it’s possible that William is waiting for HM to die before removing himself from the line of succession. I’m sure that the idea of her grandson abdicating would really hurt her. Maybe even kill her. I’m sure William won’t do it, but it’s at least an idea worth considering.
Or, more likely, since he has never demonstrated an ounce of regard for others, has already expressed this intention, and has been leant upon by everybody else to say nothing until the demise of his grandmother.
Ugh. Put a powdered wig and a waistcoat on him, and we’d see it for what it is.
Ooh Sixer, that’s a really good point, I could go with that. It’s blindingly obvious – and has been for a while – he doesn’t want the job. End of.
You know, I was talking to Mr. Balls about this today and he told me that Wills visited the military base where he works a few years ago. Apparently, he left a very bad impression among the officers/soldiers. Everyone told him that off-camera, he acted like an arse.
Is this the kind of person that BRF wants representing the UK Commonwealth?? Charles should release him and take the money from him if he’s not going to fulfill his calling as next in line.
I think he will pass on the POW installation altogether. Either that or he will become POW and pray that Charles lives until George is in his 20s. Then when Charles dies George will be king, William will relinquish the POW title and retire.
Mr. Balls = everything.
Nope. He can certainly walk away and be more “normal” (and slowly go into shock) even if it does take a few meetings and some signatures. This isn’t the 1300s.
LAK? Would it not be possible?
But….I highly doubt the Middleshanks would allow it. All that work for no crown?
Liberty: as we have seen he didn’t take the easy way out, like marry a catholic (or persuading Kate to covert to catholicism), despite knowing for years that he didn’t want the top job.
So it is going to be the hard way. If he keeps this up, Parliament will remove him. There will be a crisis and we’ll get over it tout suite or as soon as PR arranges it, and he will slowly be faded out.
And i’d lurve to be a fly on the wall when he tells the Middletons and sticks to his guns!!!
LAK, I will be sitting next to you on that wall, watching with my 10,000 eyes!
I so wonder if Parliament is already “aware” of the problem or is still hoping…
LAK
sorry – Willy was not smart enough to think of marrying a Catholic….he was so self absorbed (so insulting to the plebs), that people were so taken with Diana son – he could DO ‘no wrong’- no work ethics -continue on his hidden/private pampered life – no one would be the wiser (lacking duties, honour/respect to HM/POW- the people).
LAK
I agree. And, presumably, since the Cornwall duchy goes to the heir of the crown, he would also be removed from the line of succession to that?
Really? What you’ve described is the every day life of the majority of adults on this planet, but which you’ve made it sound as if his disadvantages are unique to him. It’s not just him. Believe me.
There are billions of people who have none of his level of money and perks but:
– They didn’t get to chose their lineage either.
– Therefore they usually don’t get to choose a line of work they find fulfilling or fits their strengths. They do whatever job they can get, because they need a paycheck.
– They grow up with MORE varied pressures than William has had.
– They have little to none of the freedoms that William has.
– Why would you think it’s easier for other people to quit their jobs? People are living paycheck to paycheck. And if they quit, they have to worry about if they’re ever going to get another job again and if they can make it through this or the next month or even today on what little savings they have.
– Other Royals are more up to the task of doing royal duties than him, because they’ve been working at it for years or decades.
– When other people go to work, they have to kiss ass too, whether it’s their bosses, their co-workers, their clients/customers, including people they’ve never met, etc. Again, it’s not just him.
But what William has that most people on this planet don’t have or never will is opportunities. There’s a long list of how everybody has bent over backwards to help him do whatever he wants whenever he wants. But he squanders all those opportunities. As others here have said, he has no follow through. Whose fault is that? His. He’s a grown man.
So tough luck for him that his little world wasn’t and isn’t perfect enough for him. The larger world goes through far more crap and limitations than he will ever face, yet they learn to accept and cope and go on with what needs to get done just to make it through another day.
So if he wants to be like ‘the normal people,’ then he needs to man up and needs to stop focusing on all the things he doesn’t have. Nobody gets everything they want. If he thinks he should, then maybe that’s his problem.
co-sign x 1 million and I nominate anne_000 for prime minister.
so true
I admire Charles for his hard work and genuine interest in contributing to society.
William is dizzingly lazy, that’s why he married Kate, a woman so indolent she spent her entire twenties unemployed through choice while waiting for the ring. Now she’s still unemployed while servants care for her two child excuses not to move while her mostly unemployed husband pretends to work by taking helicopter rides a couple of times a month.
Why do taxpayers continue to fund them? They’re extraordinarily dull, incurious, talentless and they don’t do anything!!!!!!!!
I would have thought it was more appropriate for Harry to assume responsibility for The Prince’s Trust as it sits very comfortably alongside Sentebale, that would then allow William to take on the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, which will also need a new figurehead soon.
Duke of Edinburgh title and Awards are slated for Edward after Philip passes. He’s already taken over a lot of the work. The title won’t come to him automatically, though, it will go back to the crown. It is expected that it will be granted to Edward by either HM or Charles.
Oh, yuck! Edward and Sophie are both horrible.
I can see why the Queen adores Sophie,she works
Sophie and Edward are amazing, working royals, they support the Queen and work hard for the monarchy, they work circles around the Lazy ass Dolittle Cambridges.
Love The Countess of Wessex.
just give it to Harry, who will likely do a better job of it anyway.
Yes, he’s seems made for the role considering his experience with Sentebale.
You could see years ago there would be difficulties with William when he was complaining about his studies at St. Andrews and wanted to quit. It was Kate who urged him to stay.
Maybe in this case, it’ll be Kate who again urges him to to the right thing? I guess that’s been her job.
For Kate the right thing is for him to take the throne as thats what she and mummy want – its what they’ve been aiming for. There is NO WAY that they will let him walk away without a fight.
I can’t see William abdicating.
He seems to want to put his stamp on everything. He’s a very controlling individual.
@Citresse
I agree. I get the sense that he wants the glory, the pomp and circumstance, just without having to “do stuff” to earn it.
It was Charles who made him stay and finish what he’d started. He must have known already that William would shirk anything the second he stopped being interested. IMO, the other version was a lot of Middleton-driven PR.
I thought it was Kate who helped William with his studies, or at the very least helped him to change his major to Geography.
^^ She helped him with his studies (going to his classes and taking notes for him etc..) but it was Charles who talked him into staying by changing course. Waity doesn’t have that sort of clout with him.
Given stories of fellow students at St. Andrews, I wouldn’t credit her with helping with the studies. She was known to have to work a lot harder to get middling grades, attested to by Uncle Gary. Also they weren’t in the same course of studies as he switched from Art History to Geography.
Of course she encouraged him to stay at school. It was entirely self serving and in her own best interest. How else was she going to work on him to eventually get that ring?
I always felt that, too. . .
It was Prince Charles who talked William into staying at school, not Kate.
Charles had a talk with William over one of the school breaks home from school and convinced him.
Some of the press with an agenda to build the relationship in the press at that time, continually tried to give credit to Kate but in actuality it was Charles his father who talked him into staying with school.
William and Kate have no charitable interests and apparently no clues what to do and how to do it.
Neither Will and Kate nor Harry are known for “work” as in “workload”. They do charity just now and then as long as it is fun.
Prince Charles didn’t exactly take over his father’s charities either so he should get used to his sons not doing his bidding either.
Prince Charles shouldn’t overestimate the impact of his 72-million pounds foundation a year. If he wants continuity he should hand it over to the government – then it would exist as long as the people would want it and it would be democratically controlled.
Prince Charles should simply ask Harry to take off some of his workload from the Prince’s Trust.
Seems William is a bad son. Wonder if in the future historians will say that Kate Middketon destroyed the royal family. Never go with a commoner. Her mother, it srems has ruined Will. What a mess.
It’s way worse behind the scenes, William is supposedly unreasonable when suggestions come from even the Queens office to his and thinks HIS WAy is the best.
Example ,Kate was told to discretely shadow Sophie on her royal outings for a few weeks,months after wedding, William told the Queens office NO…He would teach Kate…and look how that has turned out. Kate barely works.
@Over. Who are your sources as what you comment on explains quite a bit about Bill and Waity.
Forget Abdication. William just needs some new clothes. And he does need some new pants. The ones he’s been wearing lately are too short.
Remember Diana said he must be dressed properly to get him to smile for the cameras 🙂
Friend is a freelancer, in the UK. She gets stories on Royals from time to time and will finesse a informal meeting (coffee, tea, lunch) with some of the royal press pack, who she has cultivated on her own for several years. Periodically one of them will meet with her ,if she has a story and she needs some fact checking. They spill things privately that they would never write in their pages. (not at this point anyway… )
God Bill you are such a brat!
Has any of this done anything to show Charles that the streamlined monarchy idea is a bad one? Come on Coach, let Bea in the game!
If he had agreed, wouldn’t William have only been a figure head anyway — delegating the real work to paid staff? Seems even easier than what he does now — take all the credit for other people’s hard work.
+1
It says a lot about William’s slacker ways that he can’t even get himself to do figurehead ‘work.’
With all his staff and others to do the actual work, and he does so little. Still playing games in his mid-30s, it seems.
I can remember Diana saying in an interview (about her sons); “I’ve got two healthy, strong boys.”
Consider that statement and the situation now with Charles questioning his legacy. It’s so sad.
Diana once said William will lean on Harry at a certain point in his life for his role. She also implied Harry would be a good King.
William supposedly told his dad when he was about 14 that he didn’t want to ever be King and Charles told him, you’ll change your mind.
Maybe William has not changed his mind yet..
Didn’t Diana once say something to the effect that it was too bad William was born first, because Harry would make a better king?
Yes. She also used to use Harry to get William to do things. Apparently, whenever William would balk at going to an appearance and refuse, she’d tell William, “too bad, just Harry will go. Harry will get to have all the fun.”
Then William was all over it. Maybe that’s what the people in grey need to do: treat him like he’s still 8 years old.
It is what charles should do: tell William if he doesn’t want to work for the Prince’s Trust then he will ask Harry.
I’m not sure what he considers “normal.” If I had worked on his schedule at his age, I would have been living out of my car, if I could have afforded a car.
Yeah, it seems more and more that he wants to have his cake and eat it too.
I think it’s insulting that he thinks normal people are all slackers who don’t worry about where the money will come from for food and shelter and other basic needs.
Well, when you’re allowed to play at normal for ten years without actually being normal…
Princess Mako of Japan has been studying anonymously at Leicester University in the UK to gain her Masters Degree in Art Museum and gallery studies.
http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2015092227314/princess-mako-of-akishino-leicester-university/?google_editors_picks=true
This is a Princess leading a normal life without fanfare – she should call Bill and Kate and tell them how it’s done.
When I first saw the photo, I thought it was Prince Philip. Charles is looking old.
I wonder, if perhaps, he hasn’t inherited the longevity genes?
A man whose personal motto is #whateverworkmeans is going to grow his own foundation??!!!!!
#whateverfulltimeroyalmeans #poorjason #lovetoseethemtrytosurvivenormal #iwontiwontiwontiwont
Nota: that cusion cover we are planning on embroidering is going to run out of space soon…all these hashtags as well as the ones about the deported Prince of Pennysylvania.
It could become a collection of small throw pillows, one for each hashtag. Small and useful for chucking at anyone who disagrees with you.
#freethepennsylvaniaprinceling
Rutherford has been very quiet. Another month until the next court date.
Think it’s all a PR set up for Harry taking over the trust….it was offered to William first etc…
I think there has been a lot of set up for Harry to take over a lot more.
I hope so.
If William stepped out of line, he could still handle the Diana Awards which he does seem to deal with at least a bit. I wonder if perhaps he could still keep the BAFTA’s, since he likes schmoozing with movie stars/celebs. Also maybe even some of the Sporting events/ outings he seems to love and he probably could keep and Tusk Trust too.
He doesn’t need to be the future heir for some of those things he does now. I’m sure it would be earth shaking to the Monarchy for a bit, but they would manage perhaps.
If he was no longer in the succession, I doubt William would do any charity work at all.
This year, the BAFTA President (William) skipped the BAFTAs and was publicly called out for it. He returned from two-three weeks in Mustique in plenty of time, he just decided not to go to the biggest BAFTA event of the year.
When William skips the BAFTA stuff, I don’t get it. That kind of work looks relatively easy compared to Diana trying to get people interested in the land-mine issue.
And wasn’t this year’s pre-BAFTA party at Kensington Palace? Where William has a large residence? Can’t even make it when it’s in the same building.
William is not going to remove himself from the line of succession while his grandmother is alive.
He is not going to step aside when Charles becomes King, it’s not about being the Prince of Wales rather it’s being the Duke of Cornwall and the resources that come with the duchy.
I predict that if William outlives his grandmother and father he will become the King of England and will serve as King and, if George wants to be King and is not a complete reprobate, I further predict that in due time William will abdicate in favor of George which will be a good thing because by then the UK will benefit by having a relatively young King accede to the throne.
Oh my! The DM top story right now.
This has been on here before. If you believe in astrology, this may be interesting. Before KM was pregnant, AstroAmerica predicted a son born on July 21-23, 2013. He wasn’t right about everything though, but he was right about that.
From his July 30, 2013 newsletter
“As the BST time is most likely correct, the son’s chart confirms the fate of the father, Prince William. Astute astro-royal watchers have doubted William would reign. As to why William will not reign, note the absence of a Mars-Jupiter aspect in his chart. I imagine he will someday fly off on holiday and just forget to return and when found and asked why, will airily dismiss his kingdom with a wave of a royal hand as no longer of interest.
At 4:24 pm BST, George is an orphan. His 4th house, representing his father, is Pisces, the ruler is Jupiter, Jupiter is in the 8th, exactly conjunct Mars. At 4:24 pm BST, his 10th house, representing his mother, is Virgo, which is ruled by Mercury, which is in the 8th, with Mars applying. If you know your symbolism, you know what this means. I do not want to go further.
Instead, imagine Bill and Kate, with the infant George in tow, are driving through the countryside one day and stop off at a small tavern for a bite to eat and when they are done, these two lovebirds forget the sleeping George and leave him behind, forever. Whereupon he becomes an orphan, his parents lost to history.”
Nota, I am sort of glad you posted this. I hadn’t read any of this, but elsewhere read about the unlikelihood of William reigning.
More than that — also note that Harry is a Virgo. Born to serve. Ascendant, Capricorn. You know that too. And Taurus moon, explaining more.
— “predominance of planets in the Western hemisphere of your chart means that you are quite flexible, capable of empathy, convivial and communicative. An excellent factor for many professional activities or for your social or sentimental life for example.” — and “tLike the Jupiterian, your Saturnian facet prompts you to seek the essential, security, and longevity. However, the difference with the former is that you will never give priority to wealth or “the bigger, the better” philosophy for the sake of power. Saturn, like Jupiter, symbolizes social integration, and it is usually considered positive to have a harmonic Jupiter and Saturn in one’s chart because of their social adaptation capacities.
Your vulnerability lies in your too serious and austere side, which may lead to unwanted loneliness and affective frustration. This generally does not last because Saturnians often hide deep down a golden heart that ends up revealing itself… -astrotheme.com
Thanks, nota. This newsletter has a very interesting article on Diane and the Cambridges. http://www.astroamerica.com/newsletters/2011-may10.pdf
Olenna, this is big! Wow. Very interesting!
Just a (boring) note on his interpretation –
He uses Jupiter as the ruler of Pisces. Many astrologers today would use Neptune as the ruler and would interpret that chart very differently.
I don’t think it is boring, although I wouldn’t say I believe any of it either. Traditionalist vs modernist depends on the astrologer, and this was done in 2013 not pre-1846. Plenty of astrologers today use Jupiter instead of Neptune as Pisces ruling planet or co-ruling planet.
Quite true. I just happen to be most familiar with it being used as a secondary ruler. I admit, one of things I’ve found frustrating about astrology is the tendency of different astrologers to use different techniques of interpretation – using different house systems, for example.
Nice to chat with someone who knows something about it 🙂
Anne, that’s why it is always a “believe it or I don’t believe” with me. Two astrologers with different training can look at exactly the same chart and come up with completely opposite interpretations. Science vs. art, either way pinning down one version will never happen. That keeps it interesting!
Yesterday, everybody was talking about the Prime Minister and the pig. So maybe no one will notice that Will doesn’t like to do work.
We’ve moved on, now it’s been claimed Cameron and wife hosted cocaine parties and smoked weed
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/606792/David-Cameron-drug-claims-Lord-Ashcroft-book
For some reason, these stories shock me a lot less than the pig story. I figured posh people like to host cocaine parties…
Oh dear, I must be a dyed in the wool cynic – nothing shocks me about these people at all.
Frisbee
There with you. I’m please to find out politicians are not corrupt, but not shocked to find out they indulge in these scandals.
Was Will and Kate’s wedding “normal” or “middle class?”
The Prince’s Trust is a wonderful Charity which does great work giving young people opportunities, such as help setting up a business. Opportunities like that are a birthright to people like William and Kate, so why should they care?
I can’t imagine not wanting to continue a legacy that my father started – something that it truly helping other people. I think that says a lot about their relationship.
Right? One would think. William is such a spoiled, bratty child.
A friend has a poor relationship with her hateful narcissist grandmother, but still manages to do all she can on her own time, without a word of thanks, for that grandmother’s foundation.
She does is because she a a good-hearted, caring, hard-working person, and an adult, with a responsible mindset.
Thus, I think this is about W’s selfishness and laziness.
I have half a mind to start The Normal Bill Foundation, to help suffering do-little rich brats who just want to relax in Corfu.
Liberty: Corfu???!!! It’s Mustique or bust, dahhling!!!
Saywahtwhen — Hahaha yes!!! ,but as they want to feel more normal, I thought that maybe all they get to have from the Foundation is Corfu! 😉
William will put the fate of the monarchy in jeopardy. Diana or not there is only so much people will turn a blind eye to. There is a growing discontent among the working and middle class….the rich all over the World are burdening the poor. So many billionaires these days and they are not as charitable as they should be. The first to be on the receiving end may be Royals like William. People can and will make comparisons to Diana …and it will not be a favourable one.
Also what charity is William invested in? I cannot name a single one off the top of my head. Same for the Duchess. Legacy my a$$.
This is my theory- Charles was a crappy father. If Diana was alive or at least hadn’t died when her sons were so young, I firmly believe they would have a better outlook on so many things. More than likely, Kate wouldn’t have had to wait so long to get the ring. Diana was big on compassion, a work ethic…Charles was always about fulfilling responsibilites and has always been a big stuffy bore.
… fulfilling responsibilites is sort of the job, and it comes with housing and food.
Kanga Baroness Tryon might have disagreed with you about the stuffiness as might Dame Kiri te Kanawa and other close long-term friends.
In any case, Harry gives the lie to the “Charles as bad dad” tales, in my opinion.
Charles was a poor husband to Diana perhaps, but a good father (albeit a royal one raising future royals) by accounts. He was raised by a tough father, and tried to turn that around with his own sons, from what I’ve read. The coddled soft W is the result.
Harry turned out okay and seems to enjoy doing charity work though. And he was the younger one when Diana died.
I think William simply has an obstinate nature and would have turned out the same way even if Diana had lived. I think Diana said that she hoped William would grow up to handle the media like JFK Jr., but I guess William is all “JKF, Jr. who?” (I’m not talking about JFK Jr’s work ethic, just his handling of the press, and I think William really stinks at that part. Even if you’re not working that hard, I’m sure there are things PR-wise he could do to still make the public like him. He’s in a better position to get the public to like him than Charles was or is. William could just go to movie premieres and still make it seem like he’s working for charity – positive PR just for hob-nobbing with Kate Winslet and the Cumberbatch dude. How hard is it to do that. William certainly is a confusing dude…)
I don’t think Diana would have wanted Kate to marry William. Why would she want him to marry someone who is completely the opposite of herself?
I think Charles should have been more strict with William, but then again, William is an adult now, so his choices are his own fault, especially since he has so many different opportunities to get his life right by others.
I think Charles must have done a good job with Harry though, because Harry isn’t a carbon-copy of his brother. If Charles had raised two whining, do-nothing slackers, then yes, I’d agree that Charles sucked as a father.
i always thought Diana would have been some hard mother in law. Yes, she was lovely and natural with people, but she also was an aristo and knew who and what she was. She may have respected a modern hard working commoner-girl after some time, but lazy directionless Kate and the “normal, middleclass” Middletons with uncle Gary… especially “second mummy” Carole? No way.
Diana knew what duty was and that her sons need strong partners in their lives. Not wives who help to run away from duty. She would never have allowed someone to “steal” the future king away from his destiny/duty.
I think Diana would have been like Queen Sofia of Spain. This woman vetoed all girlfriends of her son and he was o with it till he finally fought back for Letizia.
@ Lea
I agree with you about Diana having a sense of duty. She may have been ‘modern’ but she had an old school respect for work.
It’s a good thing Queen Sophie held out, because now Spain has someone sensible, capable, and involved like Letizia.
Anybody like her would not have gone for William. Women like her are too good for him. I think that’s why Kate fits in so well with men like William.
The Middleton’s , Carole, Kate would have never gotten near William if Diana was around. IMO
If Diana were still around William would have been screwed up in other ways and I don’t think that he could snag a Letizia or a Maxima. Now he could snag a CP Mary of Denmark type. I like Mary and think is on par with Letizia and Maxima, but she is the type who would put up with a man-child and his difficult family.
I don’t see why Diana would have a problem with Carole other than being threatened by her. Carole would have likely won Diana over by kissing up to her.
Kate was in her formative years when she met William and the woman she is today is the result of her turning herself into the woman William wants. If William wanted a wife who was committed to royal work and humanitarianism, Kate would have developed those skills/qualities, the raw material was there.
@aaa
I agree with you with one exception: I totally believe that Diana and Carole would be at war. This isn’t an attack on Carole; I believe that both of them would try to control their children lives. Even if Carole’s buttkissing worked in the beginning, their interests would eventually collide and soon a Great Tabloid War would start.
@Halina,
I completely agree that Diana and Carole would eventually be at loggerheads for the reason you mentioned and then there will be grandchildren to fight over as well, but I don’t think that Diana would bar her son from dating and eventually marrying the daughter of an ambitious, former flight attendant.
The thing that intrigues me about this hypothetical discussion is would Diana even be living in Britain? Diana was a loving parent but I don’t know if her form of closeness to William would mirror Carole’s closeness to Kate’s in that C/K spend considerable time in each other’s presence.
Immature Post of the Day: I must be eternally 14 yrs old, because when the Duchy was mentioned, I can’t get “Pass the Dutchie” out of my head now. heh.
“The Doucheys of Cambridge.”
Ha! A while back, someone posted an angry comment on a CB Kate thread, telling us to leave the “Douchess” alone. It still makes me laugh when I think about it.
The Douchess! XD
I guess I am 14 years old too.
The only legacy William is making is one of laziness and petulance. Charles needs to move on and appoint Harry as POW or head of the Prince’s Trust. It’s obvious William just wants the money and status without the work. That’s fine for the Duke of Cambridge, who isn’t 3rd in line to the throne, so remove him from the line of succession. He’ll still get the money from Charles, but he won’t be an obstacle to the monarchy anymore. Call William’s bluff and see what happens.
There are questions as to what he can legally do, unless other legal changes take place. William doesn’t automatically become Prince of Wales when Charles ascends to the throne, but I don’t know if Charles can skip over William and invest Harry instead. As it stands the eldest son of the monarch automatically inherits the Duchy of Cornwall.
Princess Elizabeth was never made Duchess of Cornwall, but was given a portion of the profits annually to fund their family iirc. Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall upon his grandfather’s death in 1952.
Sixer, bluhare, or LAK can tell us how this differs from actual fact as to who really owns what. According to The Duchy site: “The Duchy was created in 1337 by Edward III for his son and heir, Prince Edward. A charter ruled that each future Duke of Cornwall would be the eldest surviving son of the Monarch and the heir to the throne.”
How would they legally deal with a situation where the eldest surviving son was not the heir to the throne? Again, speaks to how this needs to be resolved before HM dies. Otherwise, upon HM’s death Bill Normal automatically receives £20 million annually from The Duchy whether he does any royal work or not.
Also from The Duchy site “He is in effect a trustee, and is not entitled to the proceeds of disposals of assets. The Prince must pass on the estate intact, so that it continues to provide an income from its assets for future Dukes of Cornwall.” That likely means no Highgrove for Harry. It wasn’t part of the original estate, but it was purchased by the Duchy of Cornwall.
I hope Charles finds a way to give Highgrove to Harry. I know it was purchased with Duchy money, but as the monarch, I would hope he could personally purchase it from the Duchy to give to Harry and his future family.
The moment HM dies, Charles becomes king and William gains control of the Duchy of Cornwall. Charles will have no say in the Duchy once he’s king.
If William doesn’t want Harry to have Highgrove, he could refuse to sell it to his father or brother. If Charles wants Harry to have Highgrove, he has to purchase it now with “private” funds and make plans to give it to Harry in his will.
How on earth is William ever going to be Prince of Wales when the POW motto is ‘Ich Dien’ translation – ‘I Serve’? Charles seems to have taken his motto very seriously whilst ‘Normal Bill’ is incapable of serving anything or anyone other than his own interests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Wales%27s_feathers
Anybody know the German translation for “I don’t work”?
Ich arbeite nicht
Thank you. Wonder how they’ll fit that on the badge…
Just the word “work” with the red circle and diagonal line through it.
Ha Ha Ha!
What’s German for “Who Gonna Check Me Boo?”
— I just passed out from laughing!
Give it all to Harry Hot Ginge (yes, MichaelK you pervy genius). I get that the princes want their own legacies, but The Queen has done more than enough. If you can’t step up for your dad, how about helping out your grandmother?
Thank you Lak!!!
All I have to do is find your name and I get all the info I need on the post. :-}
(So far there were 23 places you could be found.)
Isn’t his refusal to step up his work load technically treason? I.e harmful to the country/monarch (her knees and back are giving out!)
People need to not let William get away with his lack of action and caring by using his mothers name. He’s not a product of his mother’s love and he’s a grown man with a family of his own he can’t/won’t support.
William is a product of the public giving him slack because of his mother’s passing. That results in a man who expects the world to meet his demands and offers nothing back. Someone who is hardly a prisoner of his birth. Someone who grew up with blanket press protections so he can live without consequence of his poor judgement at the expense of his brother.
And a man who felt it only logical to test his wife by getting around and seeing if she’d take issue with it or not.
William hasn’t had it harder. He’s had it easier.
Oh God, this is just absolutely bang on target, yes, yes, yes to all of this. I’m sick to death of hearing excuses, apologies, reasons for this git’s shallow selfishness. He’s just a wanker. End of.
Yes.
Right on, Florc.
Agree with all who say that William has no clue what a normal life is and what it is like to not have the option to pick and choose what to do yourself and what to have others do for you.Its almost like his fantasy of that life is so off that he thinks that he can then do even less than he does now.
I remember when he was the naughty little Wombat and still his mother made sure he was fulfilling whatever requirements there are for a toddler royal. But after she died and the whole mess with Camilla and undoubtedly a dose of fatherly guilt left a discipline void.As outrageous as his behavior is in some ways there is something sad about all this too.
Maybe Charles shut cut off Will’s finances until he is ready to step up into his royal role.
That’s exactly what I was going to suggest
There’s a very easy way to make them Cambridges comply with their royal requirements – stop paying their bills! Allow them to truly see what normal life is like. They will come running back when they discover it isn’t like the movies.
Upon accession to the throne, Prince Charles can decide what titles he passes on to whom. Diana left less money to William than Harry as it was assumed at the time he would inherit more land, titles and money.
Charles has no say over William becoming the Duke of Cornwall, William becoming Duke of Cornwall when Charles becomes King is just as automatic as Charles becoming King upon his mother’s death.
Charles cannot decide about The Duchy of Cornwall title. That is automatic back to the 14th century. The moment HM dies, William becomes Duke of Cornwall. Charles could decide to withhold the Prince of Wales title from William, and he doesn’t have to give Duke of Edinburgh to Edward.
Diana’s wishes in her will were monkeyed around with by the trustees. Many of her requests were ignored, and it looks like William and Harry ended up getting equal shares.
(cross-posted with aaa)
Bad blood between father and son, eh? When have we heard that before? Ha!
So the same man who fed his son’s personal information to the press to detract from his own issues, this is the man you feel sorry for? If my dad did that, I would be loathe to work on his legacy too.