Prince William will do yet another unwatchable documentary about Earthshot

In the past week, the British media has ramped up their criticism – all of it unhinged – of the Polo series streaming on Netflix on December 10th. The critics have only seen the trailer, but they’re convinced that the series is a tacky, gauche, elitist, pathetic exercise in Prince Harry selling out his family yet again, unless Harry never appears in the series, in which case Polo is doomed for other reasons. The one complaint no one can lodge against Harry is that “no one in the royal family would ever deign to make a documentary or docuseries!” Pretty much as soon as Harry and Meghan got $100 million from Netflix, Prince William began filming his own documentaries to copy his younger brother. All of William’s documentary efforts are failures, because he chooses to center himself in complicated issues. He wastes everyone’s time by yammering about how much HE cares about the environment or homelessness or whatever Harry cares about. Well, alongside all of the insults and criticism for Polo, wouldn’t you know that William made an announcement for his latest documentary:

The Prince of Wales is to feature in a new BBC documentary about the Earthshot Prize amid a PR push on his work projects in both the UK and the US. Prince William will introduce the Earthshot Report – which will be presented by the actress Hannah Waddingham and highlight the “impact and exciting growth” of finalists – to the BBC audience, a royal source said.

In a brief trailer released on social media, the Prince says: “Our planet needs our help and every year counts, so what have we achieved in 2024?” He was filmed sheltering under an umbrella as he walked through woodland in Buckinghamshire.

The documentary will be broadcast on the BBC on Dec 15 and on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the US on Dec 18. The announcement comes just weeks after a two-part ITV documentary explored the Prince’s efforts to tackle homelessness, which was available to international audiences on Disney+.

Prince William: We Can End Homelessness was broadcast in October and featured extensive interviews with the Prince as he described how he had tried to work out how best to use his platform, having taken inspiration and guidance from the work of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Earthshot documentary is the latest example of efforts to ensure the Prince’s key work projects are disseminated to as wide an audience as possible. It comes as he gradually increases his profile on the international stage, positioning himself as a global statesman while preparing to one day become King.

A Palace source said: “We are always looking for innovative new ways to tell these stories.”

This latest documentary comes four years after ITV released Prince William: A Planet for Us All, which involved camera crews following him for two years to learn about his “personal mission to find ways to protect the natural world”.

[From The Telegraph]

One might even say that William’s navel-gazing elitism will be showcased in another make-or-break moment for the heir to the throne. If he makes yet another boring, unwatchable, self-centered documentary, people will tune him out completely. It’s worth pointing out that many people would watch documentaries about homelessness or the environment if the issues were framed the right way and the films were centered on the human stories, the relatable stories. The reason why William’s homeless documentary bombed wasn’t because people think the subject is a bummer, it’s because William is a charisma vacuum, the anti-rizzler, and yet he demands to be centered because all of this is about his one-sided competition with his brother.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Kensington Palace, ITV.

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29 Responses to “Prince William will do yet another unwatchable documentary about Earthshot”

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  1. Elizabeth Regina says:

    What irks me is how none of the winners are ever featured on the actual night of the awards. Egg has done everything but twerk and it’s still no dice from many. The programme will be another ratings fail and Meghan will get bashed yet again. It;s just rinse and repeat at this point.

  2. L4Frimaire says:

    I really don’t know why PBS, which is US taxpayer funded, needs to show this drivel. Is it to fill dead air? How many times has he done this now? This guy focuses on anything except his royal duties, and that lack of focus and commitment shows.

    • Eurydice says:

      Yes, it’s to fill dead air – otherwise there’d be 2-hour infomercials about how to increase your brainpower.

    • kirk says:

      Yes, PBS will be filling dead air. IIRC the one last year pulled in <500 views. Too bad there won't be a compare and contrast showing how much HVAC energy Willy's releasing to the sky in his substandard Cornwall rentals he's too cheap to fix, compared to the supposed energy savings that his unknown Earthspit prize winners will achieve.

  3. Tessa says:

    what a waste of time

  4. Afken says:

    The America push is fascinating, again because the media used to be so angry at any idea that American audiences were getting a slice of the royal pie. Now it’s a demonstration of “global appeal” and statesmanship. Will this documentary be available in Canada? What about Australia? South Africa where earthshot was held? How will the commonwealth nations be able to see it?

  5. Silver Birch says:

    I’m disappointed that Hannah Waddingham is participating in this. She’s such a badass, amazing woman, and this is the opposite of badass and amazing.

  6. 809Matriarch says:

    I almost forgot about the other documentary, which aired on Disney plus. Mainly because unlike Peg Supporters, I TUNE OUT the projects churned out by people I don’t like, instead of hate watching.

    I have Disney plus but haven’t watched the 🌍💩 program.

  7. tamsin says:

    If the documentary is going to show the projects of the winners and their progress, I think it’s the right idea and deserves international attention because the competition is international. That’s what they should be doing all along, instead of having the big presentation without the winners. It seems like William will only be introducing it, so hopefully that’s all anyone will see of him and the focus will be on the projects.

    • Eurydice says:

      I agree this will be good, if that’s the direction he’ll take. However, the press release is all about William – how he’s walking in the rain through the woodlands, how he’s positioning himself to be a global statesman, how he’ll be king someday, how his last documentary on the environment was about his personal mission. I think I’ll let others watch it first and then I’ll read the reviews.

  8. kelleybelle says:

    I suppose there’s no telling Will that his “beard” looks like hell, eh?

    • Beverley says:

      Peg fancies himself as being better looking than Harry. His insecurities and jealousy are so juvenile. Does he really have no clue how impotent and grasping he seems? I have secondhand embarrassment for him. That beard is awful.

  9. Jais says:

    So, if William is barely featured and the doc has more of Hannah and more about the winners, then this could potentially be better. This could answer the question about all the information we don’t know about the nominees and winners and the hopefully cool things they’re doing.

  10. Alicky says:

    Still trying to make fetch happen, I see.

    What I do love about Huevo’s docs is that their titles all start with his name: “Prince William: blah blah blah.” Yawn.

  11. Libra says:

    Whoever on this site created the term “penis with teeth”, it must have stuck somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, because when I saw this photo it immediately jumped into the forefront of my brain. Thanks.

    • Advisor2U says:

      Lol. He’s always grinning like that; with his pressed yellow teeth out in his open mouth. I wonder who told him (longtime ago) to laugh like that. It’s so fake. Uwhs.

  12. Becks1 says:

    honestly, I don’t think this would be a bad thing to do once a year – showcase what the previous ES winners are doing, how they spent their money, and go into more depth on the nominees for this year’s award (this would only work if it was before the awards show though.)

    but doing it once and bringing in Hannah W just feels like a desperate move to make people care about HIM, about William, not about the issues. And that’s always his issue – he centers himself in everything he does.

  13. Advisor2U says:

    Willy himself said that Earthsh*t is not phypanthropy, but a commercial endovour, funded by two American billionaires (Bloomberg and Besos, who, I believe, expect some of their investments into the businesses of the prize winners, to grow over time), and it is tucked away in a private, not royal foundation, so without proper accountability obligations. So the BBC, a publicly funded national broadcaster, should not spend money and time promoting Willy’s pet projects for free; not the one about homelessness, and not this one either.

    He could go to ITV or another commercial TV-networks, but we know Willy will not dig into his own pockets for that. He spends a lot of money making these self-promoting documentaries/films, but as the British royals always do, he expects others to pay for the actual promotion.

    • Advisor2U says:

      *philanthropy.

    • Eurydice says:

      Earthshot Prize is a registered charity with the UK Charity Commission. You can find the filing and financial info about Earthshot on the Commission’s website. And you can read all about the finalists and winners on the Earthshot website.

      As for people investing in the finalists, that’s kind of the point – to get their work noticed and attract money to new ideas. In general, Earthshot isn’t a bad idea, but it’s being played like a vanity project for William. If he could get his big ego out of the way, maybe the world could see what’s being accomplished.

  14. Nanea says:

    “William is a charisma vacuum, the anti-rizzler, and yet he demands to be centered because all of this is about his one-sided competition with his brother.”

    William needs to be seen in slick, shiny, professionally produced propaganda reels.

    Not as a *working* royal, mind you, but doing grown-up stuff like docus, with some empathy added, for which he possibly can reward himself with another BAFTA.

    And that’s where a new job offer comes in.

    The Welfare Wailses of Windsor are looking for a “Senior Digital Content Creator” “to deliver digital content and storytelling for The Prince and Princess of Wales” “coordinating and planning social media content creation and output to ensure a regular drumbeat of engaging digital activity on TRH’s channels”

    “Storytelling” as in spinning untruths?
    “regular drumbeat” because there’s nothing regular about the Left-Behinds’ working hours?

    And wouldn’t you kow, they even mention the Keenshot Earthflop *and* impact in one paragraph without blushing:

    ‘Working closely with The Royal Foundation, The Earthshot Prize, and the Duchy of Cornwall, TRH’s Patronages and other third-party organisations to create digital first content which showcases TRH’s impact across the UK (and Commonwealth and Realms);”

    And… one gets a more than generous vacation, because, as we all know, the Wailses don’t work:

    “BENEFITS
    The Household offers a competitive benefits package including generous pension and above statutory annual leave, daily lunch provision and healthcare insurance.”

    The whole ad, https://royalvacancies.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-2/xf-d260075df114/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/4/opp/10000204-Senior-Digital-Content-Creator/en-GB, is so refreshingly entertaining, and there are still 8 days left to apply.

    • tamsin says:

      So the King William and Queen Catherine will be the video king and queen- an endless stream of videos coming out about their keeness, and goodness, and empathy, and world impactfulness. The great thing about this is that they will not have to leave their palaces (except to make the videos) save three or four times a year for trooping, opening Parliament, and maybe Christmas to wish the peasants a merry, merry. The weekly meetings with the PM can become once a month and then once a year just to present an annual report. They will be everywhere and seen all the time and not seen at all. William could carry on with a series of mistresses. Kate could make sure to showcase herself wearing fabulous jewels in the videos. What happens to the RR. They can just churn out dozens of articles analyzing each video. They will become movie/docu reviewers. Pretty soon, they will just have actors make the videos. And digital employers will sign 99 year NDA’s.

  15. somebody says:

    “ITV documentary explored the Prince’s efforts to tackle homelessness”? Did I miss something? He made an effort and didn’t just walk around learning and posing?

  16. Cassie says:

    Robert Irwin and William have bonded over their shared trauma of losing a parent at a young age , through Roberts involvement in Earth shot .
    Also they share the same commitment to the environment .

    Robert is a bit of an icon in Australia , being the son of an icon .wildlife warrior Steve .

    He did a bit of a self promotion interview on the weekend .
    He opened up about their conversations.

    Make of that what you will .

    • Carrie says:

      Yes. Disappointed in Robert Irwin that he has got himself involved in Earthshit. How on earth do you take seriously a program about saving the environment when it has such a huge carbon footprint ? A travelling environmental show. Make it make sense.

  17. Lau says:

    Who wants to bet that he manages to put at least one scene of him playing polo ?