Prince William didn’t get the People cover, but did get an embiggening profile

Again, I’m surprised that People Magazine didn’t devote their cover story this week to Prince William’s 40th birthday. Justin Bieber got the cover! It’s pretty funny. I wonder if Kensington Palace was trying to organize the People cover, especially given that “royal sources” continue to emphasize that the Windsors “know they have an ‘America’ problem.” As in, the Windsors need American tourism, American money, American donations and American media. All of that American money and interest has subsided in the wake of Sussexit and the pandemic. So here we are. William didn’t get the cover of People, but Simon Perry (People’s chief foreign correspondent) did write an embiggening piece about how William has found “contentment” even though he’s still super-mad at Harry. Some highlights:

Bringing the kids out for the Jubbly: When the couple headed to Cardiff, Wales, on the morning of the Jubilee concert, it was clear to those of us there how they were gently teaching their eldest two children what it’s like to work on the royal frontline. As he lovingly placed his hand on George’s shoulders and brought Charlotte in close to talk to a young woman in the crowd, William helped them take some of the first steps that mirrored his own introduction to royal duty at a similar age.

Kate the impeccable spouse: William has been determined that his own family life be as normal as possible — and with his wife Kate, rightly praised for being a solid impeccable spouse as they face the next decades together, he has the best partner.

Mad at Harry: But it’s with deep sadness among those who know the prince, that one partnership that has been lost is with his brother Prince Harry. Their estrangement is an ongoing sore that shows no sign of easing soon and is a source of “pain and hurt” for both William and Charles, a close insider says.

Political work: He has also managed to navigate that difficult terrain of appealing to politicians and decision-makers while not overstepping the mark and becoming party-political on the world stage too — whether it’s urging President Xi Jinping in China to join the ban on the illegal trade in endangered wildlife or deftly treading a diplomatic path in visits to Israel and the neighboring Disputed Territories and, in 2019, Pakistan. “In his early 20s, I always had to pinch myself to remind me that he was still a very young man. He already had an extraordinary maturity,” says Charlie Mayhew, CEO of the Tusk Trust charity. “That, I suppose, comes with a knowledge of his destiny. He has developed into a really valuable statesman for this country and for conservation and the environment.”

Still blaming the Flop Tour on Buckingham Palace: Of course, it hasn’t always been plain sailing publicly. The couple’s tour through the Caribbean in March had an undercurrent of controversy as visits were canceled due to protests about colonialism. The Jamaican Prime Minister told William to his face that it was his intention to push for a republic. Then, there were the accusations that the royals were “tone deaf” as they stood on the back of LandRover to leave a military parade. (For their part William and his team have stressed frequently how they were listening and learning from what they were told during the tour.)

Millennial king: The future challenge for William, alongside Kate, will be to make the monarchy relevant for the millennial generation amid some of the new pressures that will uniquely fall on them as the sole representatives of the younger working royals in the family. They will have to forge a way forward while helping the monarchy adjust and understand “the social and cultural challenges of the age,” a close insider suggests.

[From People]

It’s one of my favorite things in the world when people talk about William and Kate as “the Millennial King and Queen.” Like we haven’t seen them cosplay Victorians and Edwardians for the better part of a decade, like we haven’t seen them dress and behave like mid-century colonialists longing for the “good old days.” And this: “Kate, rightly praised for being a solid impeccable spouse.” Is she though?

As for the Harry stuff… I find it interesting that Perry emphasizes that William AND Charles are mad and hurt. Because Charles met with Harry and Meghan privately and Clarence House hasn’t leaked anything about it. It feels like there is something subtle happening with William’s birthday keenery, which is an over-emphasis on Will and Charles’s closeness now that Harry has been exiled, and how they’re BOTH mad at Harry. William feels like he can speak freely for Charles. Charles isn’t publicly disputing it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar and Backgrid.

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32 Responses to “Prince William didn’t get the People cover, but did get an embiggening profile”

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  1. Concern Fae says:

    William is looking more and more like one of those aliens in a human suit from Men In Black.

    I don’t know if Charles is actively agreeing with William behind the scenes, or is just falling back into his do-nothing default. Either way it is setting up a very dangerous future. I could actually see the Tories trying to set aside Parliament and set up a government headed by King William, if it were to look like they were going to lose an election. It’s as crazy as the Trump insurrection on 1/6. But it would be as likely to end the monarchy as to succeed.

    Let’s see someone write that movie, book or TV show. Part of the reason the UK House of Cards was better than the US version is that it dared to be about the Tories while they were still in power.

  2. Ray says:

    What criteria makes one an impeccable wife? Asking for a friend.

    • equality says:

      Interesting that it doesn’t ever go the other way. Is PW an “impeccable” husband?

    • Mrs.Krabapple says:

      The misogynistic/racist view of a perfect woman. Thin, white, empty headed, spends her time shopping and looking after the kids, subservient to her husband, no professional ambitions, a doll to stand there and look adoringly at her cheating husband.

    • PunkPrincessPhD says:

      @Ray if my husband’s idea of praise was referring to me as “a solid spouse”, there would be consequences – and it wouldn’t be pretty.

      • Deering24 says:

        PunkPrincess–yeah, there’s nothing like being compared to an oak tree or table. 🤣🤣🤣

    • Christine says:

      Seriously, that is the most nothing comment ever. What in the horse hair is an impeccable spouse?

  3. Kristin says:

    I’ll say it again for those in the cheap seats: if the Windsors were so damn concerned about American money and American media, maybe they shouldn’t have devoted so much time and energy in relentlessly smearing and trashing the American dutchess. We tend to get protective of our own citizens, particularly when they’re being bullied to the brink of suicide. And here’s another helpful hint to the moron royal reporters who kept saying that their dislike of Meghan wasn’t because of her race, it was because she was American. Yeah, because xenophobia is a much better look than racism. s/

    • Beverley says:

      ☝🏾 THIS
      I tend to think there may have been a calculation that maybe white Americans would join Brits in their hatred of Meghan. But I think they underestimated the pride we have as Americans and how we may not always get along, but we WILL circle the wagons when being American is the excuse the haters are using for despising Meghan.

      You won’t be received well here, Willy Boy, not when you look down your nose at anything American. Your Earthsh*t program is no big whoop. We have environmentalists here too. Step off, Hater.

      • Truthiness says:

        💯 we will circle the wagons for Meghan and now Harry. The Cambridges need to stay home! Our reporters have no invisible contract, Andrea Mitchell has already scored on Kate. Our president is of irish descent, he doesn’t idolize Brit monarchs, he sees them for what they are and our VP is a WOC.

    • Becks1 says:

      YES. Every time they say it wasn’t her race, it was that she was American, I’m like……that’s not going over well here in the US. We saw what you did to the black American duchess. So whether it was that she was Black or that she was American……neither is a good look.

      • Blujfly says:

        It is a good way to split even the MAGAts that support the Keens. If the prevailing narrative becomes that anti-Americanism is what makes Meghan palatable they will back off. Not support her, but certainly cool and move onto to whatever right wing nonsense is the order of the day instead.

      • Beverley says:

        “ So whether it was that she was Black or that she was American……neither is a good look.”

        @Becks1, 🎯 I can’t understand why they can’t see the optics. Why would they think that’ll fly in the US? It’s as though no one in the RR, BP or KP has any critical or strategic thinking. Is no one in PW’s camp connecting the dots? I’m dumbfounded. 🤷🏾‍♀️

    • Merricat says:

      Well said, Kristin.

    • goofpuff says:

      It’s because they really are both. They are racist and anti-American. They look down on us “colonialists” but they want our money. Basically what they do to any colony, exploit them for money for the crown. Its their MO for centuries.

      They see us as their colony still.

  4. equality says:

    So Cam loses cover to Beyonce, PW loses to Bieber and there is a cover out with PH. That’s what is likely making PW “hurt”. Interesting that nothing is ever said about H&M being hurt by the RF actions. So tired of hearing how PW influenced China to ban illegal trade in wildlife. The UK and US governments had been working on that for years with China but ONE remark from PW magically made them agree? And what did they learn from their Caribbean tour? How to exclude any POC journalists from an event?

  5. Laura D says:

    If William sold magazines then he would have been on the cover. If William had done anything noteworthy during his 40 years he would have been on the cover. Let’s face it William doesn’t add to circulation figures and a puff piece three or four pages in doesn’t hide this truth.

    I still believe there will be a lot more articles in the American media about William and/or Kate between now and Earthshot. However, until he’s made peace with his brother most outlets will remain cautious about “bigging him up” too much. Far too many people watched the Oprah interview and have concluded that he’s the person who had “concerns” about his future nephew. Saying “we’re very much not a racist family” just isn’t gonna cut it!

  6. Zengirl says:

    I would absolutely love to be behind the scenes at the American magazines that cover the royals and be able to see the stats on if more or fewer magazine issues are sold now when featuring the Cambridges or Charles vs Harry and Meghan or vs any older royal coverage (Princess Diana, etc.). I would bet money that sales when covered by the Cambridges or Charles are not what would be hoped, and that their number of covers decrease over time here in the US. Or maybe that is just my wishful thinking.

    • Christine says:

      Harry has to be the biggest seller, by miles. He just had a People cover dated May 2, 2022.

      Anecdotally, I made it a point to buy Harry’s cover, and I had to search all the stands at my grocery store to find the last copy. I didn’t rush out and buy it when it first came out, so not remotely a scientific fact, but here he is on another cover a little over a month later.

      Willnot and Cannot got a cover in April, but with the title “Royal Tour Controversy”, it wasn’t a good one.

      • Zengirl says:

        Well said. I think I’ll start making it a point to buy any Harry and Meghan covers although I rarely buy magazines these days.

      • Christine says:

        I don’t buy magazines either, but I will definitely buy Meghan and Harry’s People covers from here on out.

  7. Eurydice says:

    What the RF and BM don’t want to acknowledge is that Harry and Meghan are a package deal. You don’t make peace with one without making peace with the other. But they continue to pretend that she doesn’t exist while, at the same time, putting her front and center in the tabloids. It’s so weird.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Eurydice, and they are still trying to sell the “very much not a racist family”. Riiiiiiight.

    • WallOfFire says:

      @eurydice it’s because they want her to disappear. They want her to never have happened. By being intelligent, sweet, kind, hardworking, and genuine she outed them all as fools. And they will never forgive that. It’s like like expect some kind of Dues ex Machina to come and take her and the babies away. Delusional, hateful people.

  8. Blujfly says:

    Gotta love that the one of the few people on the record kissing his behind in these articles – again and again – is the director of a British charity devoted to interfering in African affairs for which Jecca Craig worked. And of course, a former Royal spokesman is on the board. And of course, even with all that, Keen and Can’t have only attended the Tusk gala once, almost 10 years ago.

  9. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    The quest to make the monarchy “relevant” in the 21st century is an impossible one. You cannot base an institution on having a superior bloodline chosen by God to rule, and then try to claim it’s “modern.” Just get rid of it.

  10. Amy Bee says:

    Charles and William are very much on the same page when it comes to Meghan and Harry. Charles is just not vocal about it. He wants to be seen as the aggrieved father but he knows that if he leaks any information about Harry that Harry would rebut it via his spokesperson just like he did with the cash for access story.

  11. Robin Samuels says:

    every day.

    6/25/22
    Prince Charles is a coward, period point-blank. Everything Princess Diana told us about him is accurate, and he understands the relationship between him and Harry is fragile. Much of it relates to his and Camilla’s close relationship with Rothmere, and the media, especially Angela Levin.
    Even though Harry will rebuke any falsehood Charles attempts to float, He is respectful in his response. William has no filters, and Charles knows that. Also, William is playing on Charles’s lack of popularity with the general public. However, no one has told him he’s not too popular either.
    Suppose they come to NYC or Washington, DC. In that case, I will be there with my colorful placards, voicing my concern about the buried bullying allegations and reminding Kate she made Meghan cry.
    Both Charles the Coward and William the Man-Baby have skeletons in their closet; the “Invisible Contract covers them. Harry’s behaviors were never allowed in the closet. He’s not beholden to an invisible contract, which is why he’s relevant and living his life in Montecito with his wife and children.
    Thanks, Kaiser.