Here is another piece from the Daily Mail’s Rebecca English, all about Prince William’s 40th birthday. This new piece is about the changes William will make when he’s king, or whenever he has any kind of power. William is going all-in on Charles’s slimmed-down monarchy plans, mostly because William is a narcissist and bully and he doesn’t want anyone else to have power or money. This mostly reads like the rantings of a despot-in-training. Enjoy:

William will complain & explain: ‘People are simply not going to be happy with silence any more. The Queen’s approach has worked very well for her during a more deferential age, with different forms of communication. But what William is working out is how to take the best of what his grandmother has done and make it relevant today,’ says one former royal adviser. ‘And he believes the monarchy needs to better explain its own thinking, particularly in terms of its place in the world.’

It’s not William’s fault that the Caribbean Tour flopped so badly: Fascinatingly, many in his camp believe he and Kate were left open to unfair criticism of being blinkered and out of touch by the inaction of Buckingham Palace. ‘The big problem was not with the specifics of the tour — although the duke himself acknowledges that it was not a good look to agree to get into that Land Rover [a vehicle previously used by the Queen in Jamaica that was derided for looking ‘too colonial’ against the backdrop of the island’s republicanism]. They were pushed into it, but should have gone with their gut instincts, which are normally sound,’ says one insider. ‘The problem is actually an institutional one. The palace didn’t do enough in advance to publicly recognise that the countries they were going to visit are going to become republics and that their decision to do so would be greeted by the monarchy in a spirit of friendship.

The Caribbean countries are not white countries: ‘These countries are not Canada, Australia or New Zealand: they are places with particular colonial histories. Slave labourers were taken to these islands and deposited there. The idea that they now feel confident enough to seize their own destinies is something that should be celebrated. But because the palace can be so unwieldy and didn’t do that, it meant that every time anything didn’t go quite to plan it looked negative and combative, rather than conciliatory. Buckingham Palace just sleepwalked into the problem.’

The man with four houses will tackle homelessness: William is equally clear in his vision when it comes to his campaigning zeal. Homelessness will be his biggest cause, aside from the environment, and he is not going to be afraid of jumping into the issue feet first. ‘He thinks there is a big space outside of politics where he can play a role over issues such as homelessness and housing. Children are being raised in conditions in this country which are absolutely unacceptable. Where does homelessness end and housing affordability start? He really cares about this as an issue and it’s where he wants to put his energy.’

No longer incandescent: It’s also fair to say that William is becoming less of an angry young man — and more of a diplomat. ‘A decade ago, he was just as furious as Harry was with the media. But, unlike his brother, he wanted to work things through, particularly when it came to ring-fencing his children,’ a friend explains. ‘He did that in a level-headed and conciliatory way as he understands more than anyone the interest in them as a family. Once that was in place, he was much better equipped to cope with the levels of interest. It’s why many think Harry and Meghan just didn’t give it enough time [to work through].’

The slimmed down monarchy: ‘He is very close to his cousins, Beatrice and Eugenie, but these women have their own families and careers and he believes this is a very good thing. He is even closer to Zara (Tindall) and Peter (Phillips) and admires the lives they have built outside of the family. They will always all be included in family moments, but that’s very different from having royal roles,’ says one insider. He is also a great champion of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, his uncle Prince Edward and his dependable wife, Sophie. The two families spend a lot of time together privately.

On Prince Andrew: ‘He feels very strongly [that Andrew should be pushed out] and if it had been up to him he would have pushed for things to have happened a lot faster than they did,’ remarks a friend. ‘He has strong views on the Duke of York and believes his insistence in trying to cling on to a public role is highly dangerous for the institution. He would have cut him loose a long time ago if it had been up to him. He understands that when it comes to mother and son the situation is complicated, but honestly I think he just wishes he would vanish from public view.’

Not the natural person for the job: ‘In truth he’s not the natural person for the job. His grandmother wasn’t either. But that’s exactly why he is the right person to do it,’ says a source. ‘The last person you want stepping up is the one who rubs their hands and says ‘I can’t wait to be King’. You want someone who understands the significance and the pressure of what they have to do without hankering after any of the trappings.’

[From The Daily Mail]

When William was younger, I used to wonder if he was kind of an undercover republican, ripping the monarchy to shreds from the inside. Nowadays, I don’t believe that, but I do believe he is damaging the monarchy from within. I just don’t think that the destruction of the monarchy is his goal. He’s just tone-deaf, lazy and short-sighted – he’ll end up destroying everything out of spite, ignorance and apathy. And I say we should let him! It will be fun to watch. It will be interesting to see the William-at-50, “it’s all King Charles’s fault, Charles makes all of the decisions” pieces.

It’s so funny that William thinks the Flop Tour was all Buckingham Palace’s fault too. Kensington Palace organizes William and Kate’s lightweight tours and no one made Kate and William cosplay colonialists-on-holiday. Kate even got certain dresses specifically to cosplay the Queen.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Instar.