As Prince William’s royal tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories continues, I’m slightly more grateful that the Duchess of Cambridge isn’t along for this one. Granted, the trip would be getting so much more attention if Kate was there, but a member of the British royal family flying into this hotbed of daily controversies is sensitive enough as it is. From what I’ve seen, William seems to be doing well, in that he hasn’t made any news for any gaffes or snafus. He hasn’t started a diplomatic crisis, which is good news.
I’m including photos of William meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, and his wife Sara. Sara Netanyahu was recently indicted for fraud! But I also think that Netanyahu has accumulated so much power in Israel that no one can really touch him politically at this point. Here’s the handshake:
A yarmulke-wearing William also visited Israel’s Holocaust memorial, and he laid a wreath.
After the meetings and appearances in Israel, William met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In Ramallah The Duke of Cambridge meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. pic.twitter.com/5rpouknxb3
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) June 27, 2018
As I said, William’s doing everything according to protocol. This is possibly the most “managed” trip William has ever undertaken – he’s not being allowed to go off schedule or off-script. And he’s doing it well.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.
Doing far better than Would Be Princeling Jared.
A pretty low bar, lol, but I hear you.
Will did a very good job esp at the refugee camp.
Yes he is doing well but he tends to do better at solo events, he’s always distracted and nervous when she’s with him plus he knows that he can’t fk it up with this one given the tensions of the situation.
On a purely superficial note, he has a hot security detail with him – there is one young hottie that’s in quite a few shots with him, I wanna see more of them.
I was at a super low-key event that Prince Charles was at during his last Middle East tour and a friend and I were chatting with (…and up) his security detail, who were gorgeous. They were asking us where to go out at night, “would we be there” etc. We didn’t end up going but still…a great day at work.
Doing what he must as a future king, which means he may have to meet Trump next month. Kate too because Melania is going.
Kate’s on maternity leave, so she’s not going anywhere near him. Meghan and Harry are thanking their lucky stars they’ll be in Ireland lol.
I think (my “opinion” of course!) that TQ would *like* to get out of this travesty, but can’t (as Head of State), and Charles will be with her. I doubt William will be (not if *he* has any say in the matter lol).
I think the royals will do the minimum that they can get away with for Dump.
Someone (perhaps in here?) suggested that the protesters that will be lining the streets do so SILENTLY with their signs held TOWARD his procession to the palace, but with THEIR BACKS TOWARD the procession, as this will piss him off to the point where his head may explode! We all know that this buffoon loves attention of ANY kind, and if it’s a silent protest, well… BOOM! lol. I would LOVE that!
He said some pretty crude things about Kate so I doubt she would have gone near him even if not on “mat leave”. William is unlikely to be there too.
I hope they put the fear of god in him before this trip or worse, fear of the Queen. This wasn’t one to half ass. No news is good news so far, he’s toeing the line.
Yes I am sure it was made patently clear to him how important this trip was. Also, while I have my opinions of him, I don’t think he’s stupid and I’m sure he realized the importance himself. this trip seems highly coordinated and well executed.
Having Kate there, especially if they brought the kids, would have been a huge distraction.
This is exactly what he’s supposed to be doing in his role. The dicussion should be, why the media isn’t covering the tour. Has he received any front page newspaper covers in the UK?
He was on the front cover of the Daily Express yesterday – the headline was “Prince of Peace.” Not sure about any others.
The crowds in Tel Aviv were apparently huge yesterday and today (or the day before yesterday and today? I am confused about when he is where, which I think is purposeful for security reasons) at the beach and again when he was getting drinks with the Eurovision winner.
It’s being covered on the BBC Radio 4 news. Their correspondent, Jonny Diamond (that really is his name) was very effusive about how well Wills was doing.
I don’t see the purpose in this.
He’s the Jared Kushner of the UK. An out of touch privileged man who thinks he can smile and photo opt his way into getting diplomacy and Peace in the MIddle East?
William is outside of his depth. He is not a politician and doesn’t know an ounce about what’s going on there or its complications outside of the Index cards people prepare for him.
Word.
One journalist wrote an article on just that. The British media are making it out to be this huge deal, but even the Israeli media don’t seem to really care.
Well actually they do. There is a huge coverage in the top 3 news sites.
I’m no fan of the royals, but in these uncertain and worrying times I can see a use for them in these types of tours. This is old-fashioned diplomacy. Shaking hands, paying respects and exchanging pleasantries with both sides of a divide. We are sorely lacking in this sort of diplomacy from some of our current proto-fascist leaders and the world needs a reminder of its importance.
“An out of touch privileged man who thinks he can smile and photo opt his way into getting diplomacy”
Umm, this is what all the Royal family members do, and guess what? It works. I agree with Cerceau.
For all the talk in the British media on how this tour was going to be the making of “statesman” William, this tour is no different from his other tours, it just happens to be in a country that no royal has officially visited. One of his engagements was to look at two helicopters, another watching people show him some gadgets and today he met with the winner of Eurovision and they strolled down a street with a fizzy drink. Yes him walking with someone, holding a drink is considered work for him!
Interesting that you left out his visits/engagements in Palestine and Jordan.
William seems as glad as we are to not have Kate there. He’s his most sour form when the family is around.
He feels their expectations and self-pities himself.
they are trying to give William some political gravitas by sending him on more serious diplomatic missions like Israel-Palestinia.
I would say it doesn’t work because William doesn’t have motivation nor interest nor anything required for such a thing. I wonder if kate chickened out? Or was she absent because William is afraid she might grow bigger than him.
As much as I think Kate is nothing more than a vapid mannequin, she wasn’t on this trip because she’s on maternity “leave.” She doesn’t do anything to take a leave from, but that’s what it is. She didn’t chicken out or get booted.
Or maybe they even sent Will while she was out of commission on purpose. Don’t need her upsetting either side by saying “How interesting” to some godawful thing done to innocent people on either side of this conflict, like when she heard about children losing limbs on another tour.
Kate’s maternity leaves tend to stretch for a long long long long time despite her “work” being a very few hours a week and despite her having a lot of staff for everything including childcare.
Her youngest Louis was born April 23rd and that is a good two monthes ago.
She lives a life in luxury. I think she could go back to some little work by now.
Though I agree that it probably was a blessing that Kate didn’t get a chance to comment on anything.
Any thoughts on why William was chosen for this diplomatic trip?
I think William was sent because he’s not the monarch but he’s also not so far down the line that it is insulting to send him. He’s a senior royal and future king so there is enough gravitas to his status but they don’t expect him to say anything that matters. He hasn’t done many events that a VIP tourist doesn’t do and it’s probably for the best. Unlike Kushner I don’t think he wants to get involved in the complex situation in the Middle East.
As for Kate, well the less said about her the better. We shall find out how serious she is about mat leave if she attends Wimbledon this year, but going to the Middle East is not something she is equipped for.
I don’t think Kate was ever scheduled for this tour, so how could she chicken out? Silly thing to suggest. I guess they thought William was ready for this type of visit and he’s done fine.
Also – and I know being in the RF isn’t a “normal job” – in the UK statutory maternity leave is six months. There are also ways to adapt it (adding on vacation time, taking half-pay for some months, etc) depending on your employer so you can be off for up to a year. So the expectation here isn’t that she should be back at work (whatever that is) after 8 weeks, although I know that American maternity leave is often not even as long as that.
He looks so much like Prince Edward in the header picture.
How he manages to not get that bald head scorched in the desert….