While Prince William gave an exclusive interview and exclusive photos to this week’s issue of People Magazine, the bulk of the embiggening had to be done by third parties. William can’t talk openly about how he’s the keenest environmentalist to ever stroke a tree and he can’t be the one to say that he and Kate are a strong team and he works so hard, like a big boy. In a new excerpt from People’s cover story, it falls to Tusk Trust CEO Charlie Mayhew to talk about how William is so great and so keen. All of this should tell you something fundamental about Keenshot and what it was really about too (which I know people have already realized): it IS a vanity project and it is busywork for William. It’s not actually about the environment, it’s about how William is an environmentalist. It’s not actually about the Keenshot winners, it’s about how William gets credit for doing this keen thing.
When Prince William finds himself face-to-face with world leaders, he’s not afraid to confront them on the issues that concern him. One of William’s allies in his long-standing mission to save endangered species and conserve nature tells PEOPLE the Duke of Cambridge is forthright in his views, using his so-called “soft-power” to great effect. When the Duke met with President Xi Jinping in China in 2015 (and President Obama in Washington, D.C., a few months earlier), he talked to them about the urgent need to clamp down on the illegal movement of ivory around the world. A ban in China followed.
“William was able to go there in an apolitical manner and have that discussion,” says Tusk Trust CEO Charlie Mayhew tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. Adds Mayhew, “He’s not the sort of person to shy away from having difficult conversations. He doesn’t pull his punches.”
Mayhew has been by William’s side through much of his work on conservation and nature preservation over the years, as Tusk Trust was one of the first causes and charities William adopted in 2005. And he was with William three years ago in Namibia when the prince, now 39, had what Mayhew calls a “lightbulb moment” that led to him to create the Earthshot Prize, which rewards new ideas to help the planet’s problems.
After his having to “negotiate to get [William] up really early in the morning — we left camp at about 5 a.m.,” Mayhew says with a laugh. The team drove for hours across the desert before finally spotting a rhino. “It got wind of us and disappeared within seconds. Things like that — he realized how rare some of these things are.”
On the trip they also met locals who “had done so much to develop community conservancies in that part of the world,” Mayhew tells PEOPLE — and William was inspired to pick other projects that are doing their utmost to bring hopeful answers.
First of all,, given William’s long-standing incandescent-with-rage issues, I’m not sure “he doesn’t pull his punches” is the idiom to use. It makes me think that William is going into meetings with world leaders and punching walls and throwing tantrums. Second of all, Charlie Mayhew makes it sound like he took a fancy rich-guy colonizer trip with William to Namibia and only then did William have a “lightbulb moment” about the environment? And William hates getting up early, quelle surprise.
PS… This phrasing bugs: “When the Duke met with President Xi Jinping in China in 2015…he talked to them about the urgent need to clamp down on the illegal movement of ivory around the world. A ban in China followed.” Correlation is not causation. William still wants to take credit for single-handedly getting China to ban ivory. That’s not what happened.
Photos and cover courtesy of Avalon Red, People.
Since when is he such a huge advocate? Since when does he give a shit about anything other than himself or his rose bushes?
Since they needed a big PR push to cover up for all of that because apparently this IS a popularity contest.
In his bid to do good PR for Baldivelt the Incandescent, I am surprised they left this quote in “After his having to “negotiate to get [William] up really early in the morning — we left camp at about 5 a.m.,” Mayhew says with a laugh.
So they are basically confirming he is lazy and they had to really negotiate with him to get him out of bed early in the morning?
Since he realized “Oh crumbs, I’m the only one in this family with no big project attached to my name. I have to pick something to be passionate about. The environment? Sure, that will do.”
But, but, isn’t he stepping on daddies toes?
This is exactly it. Nearly 40 with no legacy whilst his grandad, dad and brother already had their names attached to impactful projects well before the same age. He then did what he and his wife usually do and hijacked an existing project which they over hyped but sadly did not really resonate with many people, as they could not help but centre themselves rather than the winners like the Nobel Prize does.
Was Mayhew also on the receiving line meeting the Queen at BP with Bill Gates and John Kerry? It looks like William made promises to certain people….you do this and I will do that
And since when do royals get “political”? I thought they weren’t supposed to meddle in politics. So let me get this straight: Meghan writes a letter to her government leaders advocate for paid family leave and RR lose their wiglets. Will “confronts” world leaders on “issues that concern him,” but somehow that’s “apolitical”? Royal reporters can’t keep their lies and hypocrisies straight.
I just want to say that Colin Powell should have gotten the cover🤢
Colin Powell was way bigger than People Magazine
Colin Powell was my neighbor growing up, in Northern Virginia! He was the nicest man you could imagine.
That is exactly right! Colin Powell definitely was a bigger deal than FFK that has a maybe project.
Okay. So how are the multiple 5,000+ square foot houses doing?
And the private plane flights, helicopter usage and gas guzzling cars? Shouldn’t he use his soft power on getting Andrew to talk to the FBI about sex trafficking? Also we keep hearing Will won’t allow his niece to be christened in a family chapel, what is his explanation for that?
Okaaay, so he did something in 2005, talked to someone in 2015 and went somewhere in 2018. Not what I’d call a whirlwind. I wonder who he’s been punching in between times.
Haha my thought too. He can’t keep riding off one conversation he had with one world leader six plus years ago. I honestly didn’t learn yet who won Earthshot or for what, all of the news was about his and Kate’s clothes at the event, so whatever his devotion to the cause, he is doing something wrong.
Which is definitely a problem if you want people to continue submitting ideas to your awards scheme. It’s supposed to be the Green Nobel, but I know who wins Nobel prizes, they’re talked about and written about, they get to be interviewed in NPR and such and it’s a big boost to their reputation and career. What is the point of submitting to “the most prestigious environment prize ever” if no prestige comes with it? If all the coverage is just going to be about what Prince William and his wife wore and the biggest story to come out about Earthshot is that Will and Kate held hands for their personal photographer? He is going to run this thing into the ground by making it all about himself and refusing to actually publicize or focus on the winners ans their ideas. 1 million pounds isn’t that big of a prize and it will only help you scale up your project so far, so I would think that a lot of the people who submitted ideas did so for the publicity, to get other backers, to get their idea out there so that more people will implement it. They got none of that. They got their comparatively small amount prize money and that was quite literally it.
How dense and slow must he be, to be the patron of that trust since 2005, and it’s taken him more than a decade to understand the rhinos are endangered? Do they think that’s a good look for him? Or do they think everyone who’s reading is as dense as him?
I realised while I read the article that I still don’t know who won! As @Amy Too is pointing out, a big part of the prize preparation should be to blast the winners and their projects in the media. They failed miserably at that. When a green velvet jacket, a turtleneck and a repete gown gets all the media attention, and nothing about the projects, the prize is a joke. He could have at least mentioned the winners in his “interview” and statements.
the cambridges (esp william) are trying waaay too hard to come up with ’causes’ to be associated with.
do they really think some of us don’t notice that they spent some 10+ years hiding in their palaces, not working at all, trimming rose bushes, and having eating disorders – only to now undergo this half-assed, totally unconvincing reinvention of sorts as ‘royals who care’.
it’s so transparent and laughable.
i’m f*cking tired of hearing about how william cares so much for the planet and blah blah blah. we all care about the f*cking planet, you don’t hear us screeching about it every 5 minutes.
give it a rest, please.
The correlation/causation bit jumped out at me too, nice try blower of smoke.
This doesn’t make William look as good as any of them think it does if you read it with anything less than wide-eyed credulity.
It really doesn’t make him or Mayhew look good for trying to credit William for things other people had been working on much harder and longer. It’s covered pretty well. There’s a link in the story – open letters from celebrities-pressure was put on China ahead of Willie’s visit too.
I guess since Harry’s not around for Will to take credit from, he’s willing to take anyone else’s hard working efforts and claim as his own. Not a good look at all. Not surprising though.
Yao Ming must be rolling his eyes at Will’s pr.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/29/story-behind-china-ivory-ban
My eyes may be permanently rolled back in my head.
Right so lets just forget about all the organizations that actually advocate for ivory ban and lets credit prince william instead *heavy eye roll*
For example, if paid leave passes, I’m sure Meghan will not take credit but will praise the organizations and people who have been working tirelessly for years towards this goal. William is not doing that at all. That’s the difference between the two of them.
Somebody better tell William that China built 3 times as much coal power capacity than the rest of the world combined last year. He needs to use his ‘soft power’ to get them to stop.
Dear God, he’s such a narcissist.
The man has no soft power. People will agree with anything he says (gurns, grunts) in their desperation to get away from him.
Also, the environment is a very worthy cause but why would William choose the same cause that his father is already known for. Doesn’t he want to distinguish himself with a cause that is how own?
No, he wants to inherit/take credit for Charles’ work so he doesn’t have to actually do anything.
BINGO!
As much as I can’t stand William, I can’t stand the people covering him either. I’m sick of hearing about how keen he is. Why aren’t major publications interviewing the winners and finalists? They are the ones doing the real work and their efforts need funding.
$6.1m total? Harry raised half of that in 1 day. William has been working on this for 3 years? It shows how little he actually does. With his connections this is a joke.
Lol, my goodness, William blatantly taking credit for the work of others is pure Cambridge. He and Kkkate do this frequently, because they don’t have any of their own work to show. “I said that people should really have protection against the rain, and the next day, umbrellas were sold!”
I almost wonder if the ban will prove worse for the ivory trade. By making something illicit and rare, it also can become more popular and valuable… and then harder to track.
PW should look into a U.K. charity who are working to make ivory less desired/popular instead of just banning it – because if there’s no demand for it, there’s no payoff and point to trying to get horns etc.
There’s also the fact that China has no problem issuing licenses for the manufacture and sale of their bullshit traditional “medicines” using elephant SKIN, which has caused a poaching spree in Myanmar over the past decade. And that’s not even mentioning what they’ve done to rhino populations. Let’s not pretend they’ve actually give a shit about animal welfare.
The winners have not been amplified at all which was supposed to be purpose of this event. I agree that Earthshot is a vanity project for William. I think he would have been better off throwing his support behind the Goldman Prize instead of setting up his own thing but he wants his own Invictus Games. I have one question how does anyone approach world leaders in an apolitical way? Politics is not only about political affiliations it’s about important issues. William is not going to get anywhere on this issue without becoming political.
World Leaders: not if we see him first.
Does he think he sounds powerful? This is sad. He looks so mediocre and childish. He believes he should be praised for existing and that’s not how 90% of the world operates. He doesn’t work, he doesn’t contribute and no one knows what the winners of earthshit are using the money for or who they are.
He doesn’t pull punches on conservation, but he does pull himself into his private helicopter frequently. Same diff, right?
He pulls the trigger at animals regularly too.
The whole “i had to wake up so early and then it took too many hours to even see a rhino, and then it just ran away before I could admire it” is a perfect illustration of the whole “I want to preserve the environment for George, specially” thing Will has going on. How sad will it be if even a Future future future king on expensive safari can’t just see whatever wildlife whenever he wants to. Why else would a British prince go to Africa, if not to easily be able to play tourist in the African wilderness? The princely aristocratic tradition of Brits being able to travel to “exotic locations” and shoot at or take photos of big game is being threatened! Quick peasants, what are you doing about it!?
Bingo.
So William wants us to think he’s in the same league as President Obama and President Xi Jinping? Lol
Well, it’s Friday so let me be petty. I’ve just noticed that William’s head does indeed look like an egg. Everytime I see his head now, I’m going to think Humpty Dumpty. I just can’t unsee it.
Prince Incandescent had “lightbulb moment”. LOL
Ha!!!!🤣🤣🤣
Someone on Twitter misread the People magazine cover with Prince Villain instead of William and now I can’t stop calling him that.