DM: Prince William’s ‘unexplained absence shows just how fragile our monarchy is’

So much of the royal press these days is like one big game of chicken. There are so many big stories which are left unsaid, unwritten and untweeted, until one of the royal rota breaks rank and says something mildly critical of the left-behind Windsors. That rota reporter who breaks rank is usually cited by other reporters as they regurgitate the news, all while pouring vague denials on it. In this case, the Mail’s Becky English is in charge of the rota and who gets assigned to what story and how the flow of information works to the other rota members. I learned that from reading Omid Scobie’s Endgame – Becky English has a lot of unchecked power, and she speaks from a place deep within the invisible contract between press and palace. Well, English is in her feelings about Prince William’s as-yet-unexplained absence from his godfather’s memorial service on Tuesday. English’s piece in the Mail is: “With Charles heading off for more treatment, William’s still unexplained absence shows just how fragile our monarchy is.” Some highlights:

When Prince William canceled: Just 46 minutes before the service at St George’s Chapel was due to start, a message from Kensington Palace dropped on my phone as I stood waiting in the castle’s Lower Ward for the royal party to arrive, prompting ripples of concern. William, his spokesman said, would unfortunately be ‘no longer able to attend the King Constantine Memorial Service this morning due to a personal matter’. It is understood that he personally called the late Greek king’s family to let them know he was unable to attend.

William’s spokesperson had a bad day: The spokesman refused to be drawn any further on what the matter might be, or when the prince became aware he would have to pull out. Nor would they say if it had anything to do with his wife’s ongoing medical issues (Kate is not expected to be seen in public until after Easter as she recovers from unspecified abdominal surgery) although they added in response to my question that ‘the Princess of Wales continues to be doing well’.

Completely rude: There is little doubt, though, that the decision was eye-wateringly last minute – normally anathema to the royals, who know how much work goes into organising events such as this and how much their absence will be publicly remarked upon, especially in the current climate. And it did little to calm the air of jitteriness swirling around our ever-dwindling Royal Family. I noted that William’s name was even printed in the Order of Service as he had been due to give the second reading – Revelation 21. 1-7 – in honour of his late godfather, the affable, exiled Constantine II, who died in Athens last month at the age of 82.

A mundane reason, surely: Of course, there may be a perfectly mundane reason that necessitated the prince to pull out at such short notice (and sources insisted to me – emphasised in capital letters – that there was ‘NOTHING to panic about’). But William’s last-minute absence occurs against a backdrop of both his wife’s medical issues as well as the King’s shock cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatment, making these worrying days for the Royal Family.

Oh, good, a mention of Prince Harry: While the nation holds its breath and wishes His Majesty well, we are all also deeply conscious that an increasingly heavy burden rests on the shoulders of William and his wife, not to mention their young family. It is one made all the more acute by the absence of his former ‘wingman’, Prince Harry, the self-deposed ‘spare’. Watching our unintentionally slimmed-down family walk into the chapel through the Galilee Porch today only emphasised the fragility of the current set-up.

The death of Thomas Kingston: The elderly Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were also present at the chapel despite the tragic news of the death of their son-in-law, Thomas Kingston, at the age of 45, less than 48 hours earlier. It would have been a particularly difficult occasion for them given it was the scene of Gabriella and Thomas’s marriage just four years ago. It is understood that the sad news is not connected to William’s absence.

William will be seen this week: Fortunately, I can reveal, William will be seen again in public this week. He is, I am told, ‘looking forward’ to undertaking his remaining engagements: a sensitive meeting with members of the Jewish community and other faiths at a synagogue as part of a series of visits to highlight the work of organisations trying to bring peace and relief to the Middle East, as well as a number of engagements to mark St David’s Day on Friday. His return to a more forward-facing role will no doubt bring a crumb of comfort to the millions who wish him well. But his sudden – and unexplained – absence today amid an abundance of European royals sadly reminds of us how perilously small and fragile our own monarchy now finds itself.

[From The Daily Mail]

As chain-yankings go, this is pretty weaksauce. I wouldn’t even say that this is Becky English doing anything more than registering her on-the-record disappointment that William still can’t get his f–king act together. But there’s no threat here, for now. No one is saying the big secret which the Windsors and half of the rota seemingly know already, which is “what happened to Kate/why is William’s behavior so weird/what the hell is going on here.” Besides, it’s clear that KP is insisting to English that William will leave the house (or wherever he is) to do some events this week.

Also, I tweeted this and I still believe it – William probably thought he could slack off and his cancellation would just be a minor local story, one which the sycophantic press would cover gently. What surprised Kensington Palace was just how quickly William’s absence became global news because of what English is talking about – the sense that the Windsors seem exceptionally “fragile” right now, with Kate’s disappearance and Charles’s cancer. I watched in real time as William’s lazy-ass cancellation became huge international news yesterday and I doubt William or his people were prepared for that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar and Cover Images.

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109 Responses to “DM: Prince William’s ‘unexplained absence shows just how fragile our monarchy is’”

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  1. Josephine says:

    well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions. the royal family decided to embrace mistresses, pedos, cheaters, racists, media leakers. and chase away those with commitment, a work-ethic, honesty, style, grace, popularity. hope this spells the end of the royals. they are literally rotting from the inside.

    • Pinkosaurus says:

      Speaking of consequences, I’m sure his meeting with Jewish groups is a direct result of his boneheaded attempt to insert himself in the Israel-Palestine conflict, being such a global statesman 🙄. Best of luck to his new secretary getting him out of whatever hidey hole/bunker he is in and making it through the full engagement without staggering or insulting everyone with his “jokes “.

      • Crystal says:

        I watch ILTV every evening at 830. I was pumped to see him humbled out lol but they didn’t even mention his G forsaken name. Or comments lol just us reporting on their statements about him, he didn’t even make the news in Israel lol

      • ML says:

        Or whatever is going on with Peg has him preferring everyone passing judgement on him inserting himself into a situation he cannot solve.

      • Sarah says:

        I could totally be wrong, but I think this event was announced back when the Red Cross visit was announced? He had better show up to this one. I sometimes wonder if they negotiate with him–ok fine, skip the memorial but you will do the religious leaders event.

        I think it’s equally plausible that he was too wasted to be seen in public or that he just didn’t feel like going. Either one is terrible for a person who is supposedly going to be king and representative of a country.

      • Jais says:

        Yeah, it was announced last week when he made all his big statements. That he would visit the Red Cross and Jewish groups about rising anti-semitism later in the month. Iirc, there was criticism that he wasn’t also meeting with groups about islamaphobia.

      • Where'sMyTiara says:

        As I was reading the above I wondered to myself, ‘Wonder what will hit the fan by Friday?’

        Then I read he was going to make those visits. Because his Gaza statement and last outing to the BAFTAs went *so* well… 🙄
        Oh, goodie… Yeah he’ll totally f-ck this up.

        KP’s new secretary really isn’t it, huh? Maybe they should have bought a new shovel instead.

    • Just Jade says:

      Well said. The BM rats starved themselves because of their own stupidity, incompetence, ignorance and racism. Now reap what you sow rats!

    • Dawning says:

      The chickens are coming home to roost, and I am here for it. It’s about damn time!

    • Anon says:

      Did he refuse to show up because Andrew was there? He had to have known Camilla would be. But maybe he didn’t know Andrew would? I mean they’re all pretty closely related to the deceased (Charles, Anne, Andrew & Edward’s second cousin), but maybe William realized the optics would be bad or something? Or maybe he has COVID?

  2. sevenblue says:

    The news of his absence was trending on reddit yesterday for a while. I was really surprised too that it got international attention. I think, everyone has been expecting some awful news from RF because of the silence of Kate and Will’s last minute cancellation gave the media something to report.

    • Jais says:

      It was really interesting to watch as this news just set things off on social media. People who normally don’t even follow royal news are asking about Kate.

      • seaflower says:

        Yes, twitter was all over it within about 30 minutes, with people who are normally totally disinterested the the BRF going “WTF” about Bil missing the service, followed very soon by speculation about why K has disappeared. Some of the speculation is wild, some makes you stop and think.

    • Sunday says:

      The Associated Press picked this up pretty much immediately. To me it seems like the media has an agreement (or an actual superinjunction) that prevents them from covering the specifics of Kate’s absence/Will’s everything, and they’re begrudgingly following that.

      But they have NOT agreed to cover up for all the little side stories Will keeps producing because he can’t get his act together. So, they may not be able to report on the big issue in the middle, but as we saw yesterday they are absolutely starting to tapdance around the edges of the issue because Will keeps giving them an in.

      This is all going to boil over soon, because Will can’t stick to the coverup long enough for it to all blow over. UK media might be stuffed so full of sycophants that they’ll keep the lid on for as long as they can, but US media certainly doesn’t have those same incentives. This is going to get interesting.

  3. equality says:

    So “an increasingly heavy burden rests on the shoulders of William and his wife”? Does anyone actually believe this BS with the proof right in front of them? Neither has increased their workload since H&M left, since Andrew “stepped back”, since Phil died or since QE died. That should be the polling point instead of trying to determine how popular any of them are. Who actually believes the BS that someone who can disappear for months has a “heavy burden” because other “workers” are absent?

    • Alexandria says:

      Nobody else in the world talks about “burden” for their head of state. The British royals are weird and think too highly of themselves.

      • Cara says:

        They don’t do meaningful work. They do busy work and make appearances. It wouldn’t matter if they all disappeared for a year. It really wouldn’t.

  4. SueBarbri33 says:

    I just can’t imagine what is really going on with this story. Of course, those of us who have been royal watching for far too long knew that William wasn’t going to show up to this event. He never shows up to anything willingly. It’s disgraceful. Whatever oppositional defiance he has, whatever mental health issues he has, whatever depression he might be experiencing, none of that is an excuse for missing something like this. It was William’s Godfather and the ceremony was deliberately placed in William’s own backyard at Windsor. The Spanish King and Queen made it, so why can’t William? This is a bad look. He couldn’t show up for two hours? Really? Whatever is happening with all of this is going to be huge when it finally comes out.

    • seaflower says:

      I have to admit I’m starting to wonder if Normal Bill will pull the plug on being the next King like his great uncle, or if the men in grey decide to keep him around only until George is of age to not need a regent. As someone on twitter remarked today, “the BRF is remarkably good at having problems disappear – just ask Diana”.

      • Blithe says:

        While I wonder what will happen if “Normal Bill” — without the structure that was provided by the Queen, by Charles, and even by Kate — is deemed a security risk who shouldn’t have access to the red boxes, and an embarrassment who shouldn’t publicly represent the country in any way. Only just now am I beginning to wonder if the very odd and deplorable propping up of Andrew might be in part because those n a position to know see William and his deficiencies as being even more problematic.

        Either the public relations teams are completely incompetent OR the issues surrounding William are so problematic that what seem to be reasonable ways of handling them just won’t work without becoming even more problematic. For the memorial service, why not go with their much-exploited use of the passive voice: “Out of an over-abundance of caution, William has been advised to quarantine/avoid large gatherings including vulnerable people.?” Perhaps because what seems simple to me, might become more complicated if William gets pulled in for questioning about Kingston, or if more details about Kate’s absence become publicly known? Not for the first time, I do wonder what William’s extended family and European cousins think of him.

    • Snaggletooth says:

      I am seeing a lot of people talking about William having ODD, and as a mom of a special needs son, it’s really gotten me thinking. My son has autism with some rigidity and reflexive defiance built in. It’s literally a nervous system disorder—when he perceives people as trying to “force” him to do something, his flight or fight instincts kick in.

      Our son is getting tons and tons of early intervention. He has parents who train themselves on science-backed methods for working with him (and I’d like to think we are loving and calm too). But what if his every “worst” instinct was catered too, or just left without any check? Of course he could very well turn into someone with a serious personality disorder. When I think of the hard work that we put into our son every day…I wonder if William ever stood a chance. In this way only I feel bad for him.

      • Blithe says:

        I’ve thought that with both William and Harry, their royal status might have prevented them from getting the kinds of routine assessments and interventions that are now commonplace for many kids. On top of that, add massive amounts of stress and trauma. And, as you’ve said, an upbringing where his “worst “ instincts were catered to or just left without any check”. It would take a lot to counteract all of that.

      • QuiteContrary says:

        You sound like a good mom, Snaggletooth.

      • Jaded says:

        Agree totally Snaggletooth. Harry’s dyslexia went untreated or even discussed until he was an adult entering the military, everyone just put it down to him being stupid or a slow learner. With the BaRF it’s always about putting on a believable front, not getting to the crux of the matter or, god forbid, admitting that a family member is struggling with mental health issues or disorders.

    • Where'sMyTiara says:

      I think it would be wise to get popcorn stocks laid in before Commonwealth Day.

      If he’s acting like this over a 10 minute walk to a chapel to do a reading for a relative, his blowing off (not for the first time, recall the ‘Dad dancing in Verbier’ incident) the Commonwealth Day service, in spite of media hyping it up that everyone needs him to attend, is going to be a spectacular own goal.

      Will everyone still keep schtum for Workshy then?

      BTW Harry’s lack of treatment for his dyslexia was probably down to Charles’ deliberate neglect, egged on no doubt by the crappy courtiers he surrounds himself with, in a bid to make Willy, the dull penny, shine brighter.

      Royal status, as we know, means *everything* to Prince Andrew; yet it never prevented him from getting Beatrice support for *her* dyslexia.

      Bottom line: Charles has been a dogsh*t father those lads’ whole lives.

  5. SarahCS says:

    The Kents could hold it together and go to the venue of their daughter’s wedding to a man who died two days before but yet Billy Idle has something important enough to cancel at the last minute while simultaneously being ‘NOTHING to panic about’.

    • Jay says:

      Yes, it makes the comparison even more stark, doesn’t it? Even Becky English is disappointed in him.

    • Princessk says:

      The Kents did not need to go to the memorial. Their son in law suddenly dies and they dress up and attend a fancy memorial just because they want to be seen to be part of the extended family of European royalty? They should have stayed at home and comforted their daughter. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are embarrassing. What ‘duty’ were they performing? It was nothing more than a case of fear of missing out.

  6. Hmm.. 46 minutes before the event was to start. What a putz. Was he not sober enough? Was he incandescent with rage about having to lead the parade with Horsilla? What makes Peg cancel just 46 minutes before the event? So many questions and none of them answered which will lead to those pesky theories and speculations that they don’t like.

    • Jais says:

      Yeah the last minute bailout is striking. 46 min? That’s just a strait-up mess.

      • Agnes says:

        It’s absolutely rude. It shows us who he is. Believe it. though I like to think he was being detained by Scotland Yard for questioning. In fact, my mind has been trying to write a made for TV screenplay about this whole situation since we didn’t get any blurry black and white photos of Kate on her birthday. And now a very adjacent sudden death…

    • Shawna says:

      46 minutes, not 45, mind you. What a weird detail. Supports @Sevenblue’s theory that this trended partly because the press is happy to have something to report finally.

      • Jais says:

        That detail of 46m rather than 45 tells me that Becky English was clocking him. She’ll never speak hard against William but they still are nickel and diming his minutes. They should. They’re paying him. As is the rest of the UK.

    • Kari says:

      I think you hit the nail on the head here. If it was illness, they would have just said that probably (oh, William has caught a cold/ has the flu) but they didn’t…they just said it was a “personal matter”. Since he backed out at the last minute and the service was in the morning, I think he was either way too hungover to go or he was still drunk, and either way his staff kept him home so he wouldn’t do anytihing embarassing. Something is definitely going on with Wills, and given this family’s reliance on alcohol and William’s own history of drinking (apparently he was routinely drinking wine at 13) I think alcohol issues seems like a good bet.

      • BeanieBean says:

        If he’s got something to do later this week, I guess he couldn’t claim illness for Tuesday’s bailout. Yes, we’ve all heard of a 24hr bug, but I don’t think it would have worked for William. Plus, he’s arrogant; he likely figured ‘personal reasons’ is good enough for the peasants.

  7. Inge says:

    it will be really interesting to see what he does with this planned engagements the rest of the week.

    But cancelling a memorial for your godfather, where you are supposed to do a reading, at the last minute is just rude if you don’t give a good reason.

    very suspicious also that all the RR’s went “it’s not connected to the death of” unasked…

    Something is definately going on there.

  8. Stephanie says:

    I hadn’t put much thought into Kate’s absence until it hit the 2 month mark since anyone had seen her. Now I’m seeing all these theories about what’s possibly happening on Twitter. I went down a rabbit hole yesterday lol

  9. SussexWatcher says:

    What she really means is: Harry’s absence shows how fragile Pegs really. That is the root of it all.

    Harry was expected to sacrifice living his own life to prop up the unstable, violent, secretive, cheating, volatile, lazy-ass, incompetent, (apparently) substance-abusing heir. Forever. And with Harry gone, the whole institution is crumbling like a house of cards on a windy day.

  10. Amy Bee says:

    I agree with Kaiser’s conclusion that KP wasn’t prepared for the reaction. I’m also more convinced that Kate Mansey’s story about Harry wanting to return to royal duties was made up and was the press yanking the Palace’s chain. They want Harry to come back because the Royal Family seems fragile to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if KP releases a photo of Kate at the end of the week.

    • Agnes says:

      If they release a photo you can be sure it’s one from before 12/28/24. They’re not going to show her hooked up to a ventilator and feeding tube.

      • Amy Bee says:

        No i never thought that KP would release a photo of Kate from her hospital bed. She’s supposed to home resting comfortably so a picture of her sitting in a chair is more likely to be released whether it’s new or old.

      • Renae says:

        @Agnes……you mean there could be a picture of her in a “vegetative” state (another theory on Twitter)?. Its just weird. But, I will await that pic of #CarrotKate

      • Agnes says:

        @Renae, yes I can’t think of any other reason why there’s no photos of her sitting up in a lovely bed jacket reading her get well cards. Something is seriously wrong.

    • aquarius64 says:

      At this point a photo of Kate would be suspect because current technology makes it easy to doctor the image. A live appearance will be needed.

      • Robert Phillips says:

        And then what happens if they can’t do a live appearance. Their PR people are just rubbish. Where are the pictures of William dropping of and picking up the kids from school. There are none. And I wish some reporter would go and ask if the kids are still in school even. Where are the pictures of Ma and Pa Middleton going and coming from taking care of Kate. Where are photos of get well cards the kids drew? Any or all of these would have slowed down the conspiracy theories that are circulating right now. Plus even if she is in critical condition or even dead. These wouldn’t have to be walked back. But instead there is a complete blackout from them on it.

  11. Laurac says:

    Every time William does something shady like this, we are getting one step closer to someone spilling the beans….. I predict Camilla will be the spiller of said beans.
    If Charles gets bad news, what has she got to lose? Her and her family are set for life, she is in her twilight years and the Monarchy is not her family business. She also has the best press connections. She will do for William’s Reign as she did to Charles’… she will tarnish the f**k out of it.

    • Pinkosaurus says:

      Agreed on Camilla eventually leaking what is going on. She has the connections, is a well-known gossip and likes a tipple. I’m sure her press buddies are leaning on her and someone like Piers Morgan is going to be desperate for the clicks.

      • Deering24 says:

        Ehehehehe. Lady Tyrell does. Not. Play. 😂😈😂 It’s one of history’s great ironies that she is arguably a better player at this game than most of the born-ins.

  12. Jay says:

    “It is understood that he personally called the late Greek king’s family to let them know he was unable to attend” Well, I sure hope he did – pulling out less than an hour from a service he was supposed to be part of! And I hope he gave them a better reason than “it’s a personal matter”, but somehow I doubt it.

    I think Kaiser is right that KP did not anticipate the reaction to his absence. And why would they? He’s always been able to give whatever excuse he wanted (I recall one event where he and Keen “couldn’t find a babysitter” which is just ridiculous) and his presence certainly isn’t missed. But I think if he or his comms team had better sense, they could have just said he was ill or that he’s taking care of Kate and the children. But this is a man who has never had to be accountable and it shows.

    • Mslove says:

      Peg personally asked his royal assistant to call the Greek king’s family. Peg wouldn’t dare call them himself.

      • SueBarbri33 says:

        He absolutely did not call them. Not personally. And frankly, I have doubts that anybody on the KP staff called them at all. It’s ironic to me because I remember vividly the photos of William himself becoming godfather to one of Pavlos and Marie Chantal’s children back in the day–it was post Diana, he had a cast on his arm, and he looked great. It’s dumb of him to snub his own extended family.

      • Jais says:

        Yeah, it was understood that William called to personally let them know which means they have no proof and are spinning. There has always been a lot of “it is understood” in royal reporting but I think it’s actually been increasing since January.

  13. s808 says:

    If they don’t want to discuss Kate then they need to start yanking W’s chain harder than this. Yes, they need W but W needs them too. They’re holding a lot of secrets for him and have lost a lot of money behind him too, the least he can do is his job!

  14. Brassy Rebel says:

    No, William and his people were not prepared for the backlash to his sudden no-show. But then, they’re never prepared for anything which is a big part of the problem.

    As for what the rota knows, I really wish one of the 🐀🐀 would just go rogue. Don’t they realize they could make a fortune?

    And has anyone offered a reason a 45 year old suddenly dropped dead or is this another mystery people are supposed to figure out for themselves?

    • SussexWatcher says:

      I’ve been saying that for ages, about not one single rota rat going rogue! It’s amazing to me that they are all keeping quiet about everything they know. And you know they know it all. I guess it just shows how deeply the psychosis goes within that system/culture of just worshiping the royals, even at the expense of the truth or justice or earning a living.

      You’d think someone would, at the very least, leak information for cash to some foreign press. Especially after so many of them were whining and crying about all the money they’ve lost after the Sussexes left. You know they’ve gotta be desperate. Or maybe one of them could “accidentally” publicly leak an email or something and then that will allow all the rest of them to start reporting on what’s been leaked.

      If they weren’t all such absolute piles of hard, cold, dried out, 3-day old shit, I’d be impressed at their ability to keep secrets.

      • Becks1 says:

        Maybe one of them did leak to Concha Calleja….

      • The Hench says:

        I keep thinking about this – there must be a humdinger of a story there that would make a fortune so there are only a few reasons they are not going for it. Those include that it’s genuinely SO bad that it would destabilise the monarchy and they are all monarchists at heart and/or don’t want their gravy train to derail.

      • Jaded says:

        The more this coverup snowballs the more I am convinced, as you state @The Hench, that whatever is happening will push the monarchy into a tailspin. Charles’s reign has so far lurched from one gaffe to another, but this is not a gaffe, it’s a freaking disaster, a house of cards that is teetering on collapsing. There’s only so much kicking stuff under the carpet they can do until before it all starts spilling out.

  15. Mimi says:

    Well, Kate and William wanted the spotlight all for themselves, so now they will have to deal.

  16. atlantababe says:

    there are so many (funny) tweets and memes going viral today about kate’s absence and the secrecy around it. this whole thing is blowing up in their faces.

    some are even begging swifties to investigate and locate kate.😂

    • sevenblue says:

      Well, swifties are busy at the moment with framing Joe through manufacturing AI edited videos of him mistreating Taylor. After the album launch, they may have some free time to find Kate.

  17. Mooney says:

    I’m really laughing right now. They always said that the monarchy is a thousand year old institution and isn’t going to change or go away anytime soon. Specially the derangers and their saccharine ” thank God wails is born first” and “the future of monarchy is safe hands of Catherine” etc etc. How fun it is to watch them with 🥚 at their faces (pun intended) 😜

  18. Becks1 says:

    46 minutes before the service was supposed to start – thats beyond “last minute.” that’s when the guests are starting to arrive, etc. It was a huge snub not just to the Greeks but to the other royal families assembled there.

    And I agree that I don’t think he thought his absence would get that much notice. It’s notable what happens, press-wise, when the rota don’t cover for him. Yesterday they were’t throwing him to the wolves or threatening him or anything, they just…..weren’t covering for him and reporting the facts, such as they were. he was supposed to attend and give a reading, he pulled out 46 minutes before, it wasn’t related to Kate, Charles or Thomas Kingston.

    That’s leaving a lot of room for people to draw their own conclusions and it feels deliberate.

    • Harper says:

      I suspect some aide told him it would look bad and be noticed, but Burger King also knew the Kingston death was set to be announced and that would shorten the news cycle on his ghosting. Finally saw a commentator on UK tv this morning saying William thinks he can get away with anything.

    • Jais says:

      I’m still aghast that William thought this wouldn’t get much notice. I know it’s an incompetent clown show over there but still. He’s done fuck-all for the past few weeks which makes every event that much more scrutinized. It’s not even rocket science.

  19. LC says:

    Well, the moral of the story for me is, don’t marry someone you don’t love. Charles and now William. It causes big problems. In those pictures William looks trapped and miserable in the cage of his making. And they take every opportunity to denigrate Harry, who married for love.

    • Robert Phillips says:

      The saintly Queen forced both of them to get married. They had to get married and produce heirs. The monarchy isn’t a family. It’s a business. And it destroys the people in it.

      • Lauren says:

        But they didn’t need to get married or have heirs there are literally hundreds of people in line for the British throne (including the Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Spanish royal families). If Charles never got married and had kids then Andrew, QEIIs favorite, would have remained the spare.

      • Christine says:

        She told William he needed to propose or cut her loose, if I’m remembering correctly. He should have walked away, his own parents are the cautionary tale for exactly the marriage he is in!

  20. Naomi says:

    genuine question: when did this idea of wiliam being an alcoholic take seed? he was swaying at that ceremony a couple weeks ago, but before then, i don’t think this was anything anyone on CB really discussed? was it a talking point that I missed? appreciate any insight, because ‘william is an alcoholic/drunk/substance abuser’ seemed to come out of nowhere (from my perspective).

    • Becks1 says:

      I think its been alluded to for a while (or outright stated) that William has always been a drinker – which doesn’t mean alcoholic. A lot of the negative press coverage from 15-20 years ago about Harry was just as true, if not more true, about William. so we have that background. and there has long been speculation that he has a drug issue, just bc that would explain a lot of the “we have things to say about William but won’t” comments.

      Then last month (I think?) Mike Tindall made a point of announcing on his podcast that their nickname for him is One Pint Willy, which just seems like a weird detail to share, right? so it made some of us start thinking drinking was a bigger part of his life than is talked about.

      Then there was the public swaying, how ill he looked, etc. so obviously none of us here know for sure, but all of a sudden a lot of things started to add up.

    • TN Democrat says:

      William’s drinking has been discussed since he was a teen. His father allowed him to set up an unsupervised, private nightclub with a full bar in the basement of one of the weekend homes (nicknamed Club H) while William was a teen (and drag younger Harry into the mess). Harry repeatedly got thrown to the press to cover for William’s antics even as a teen/young adult. Pics of William plastered are harder to find nowadays, but used to leak periodically (even after his marriage). Charles encouraged his sons to be friends with Camilla’s children. The wife of one of Charles’s best friends questioned the influence of Camilla’s son (who was a reportedly using cocaine). Camilla responded by spreading rumors that the friend’s son was a drug user and forced Charlie to ultimately ghost his friend. There has been periodic, seedy rumors about how Keen’s family really financed their lifestyle. William and Kate used to regularly get slammed in the press, as Kaiser has pointed out. It wasn’t until Harry began dating Meghan that the press became pro-Will-not. (Around the same time as tRump rose to infamy). The money really needs go be followed and the weird media/social media favoritism of fascists needs explained to people who believe everything they see online.

      • Jaded says:

        It was Charles’s residence, Highgrove, hence the Club “H” name. I’m an old so I remember the press leaking stuff about the amount of heavy partying that went on there, so Tindall calling William a one-pinter rings untruthful.

      • Mrs. Smith says:

        Quick reminder that Cam’s mouthpiece, Piers Morgan, was the one who brought up W’s ‘drinking at 13’ story last week out of nowhere. Cams is priming the pump with her tabloid pals and W is just stumbling into the rota web by blowing off an important appearance at the last minute. Imagine Cam’s glee at so many unforced errors. Even Becky English is taking him to task? It’s like watching a train wreck.

  21. Eurydice says:

    Not only did this make the international news, but Lainey commented on it and she avoids the royals like the plague.

    • Kate (Not Middleton) says:

      Lainey had some absolute TEA back in the day when Meghan Markle was seeing Prince Harry and joining the fold. Kate couldn’t be bothered to show MM the ropes or be friendly to her and left her to her own devices.

      How’s that working out for her?
      Kate could have had an ally!

      And now I think she is facing the ultimate oust…all her (non) hard work down the drain.

      • Eurydice says:

        Yes, Lainey is where I first started following the H&M story and also Andrew and the “dead rapist pedophile.”

        And Kate…sigh…a mean girl, short-sighted with a limited mind. Well, she’ll always be the mother of the future king, for whatever that’s worth.

      • Rizzie24 says:

        Lainey had the tea because she worked on a talk show with Ben Mulroney, whose wife was extremely close to MM.

        When Mrs. Mulroney had a bit of a racism scandal of her own, not only did Lainey and Ben have a public falling out, but so did MM and Mulroney.

        Unfortunately, that meant Lainey no longer commented on the royals very much, nor was she getting the inside scoop to share with the rest of us.

  22. tamsin says:

    This episode reminds me of the time William skipped the Commonwealth service to go on a lads holiday in France I believe. He was not forced to attend the service. It also reminds me that William decided to attend a service at the last minute that Harry and Meghan were scheduled to attend. I think Harry and Meghan had attended the dawn service for ANZAC day. William could barely keep his eyes open as I believe Louis had just been born. I guess he didn’t want to cede the stage to Harry and Meghan more than he had to. I think it was 2018, and Meghan was engaged, but not married yet.

    • I’m actually glad you brought this up, because I swear that I always thought that he was drunk or on something that day. His behavior came off as weird and irratic (I remember upon arrival him rushing straight to Meghan to embrace and kiss her while ignoring Harry completely, which seemed to visibly catch her off guard) while H&M’s behavior came off as tensely diplomatic, as if they were trying to handle the situation as delicately as possible. I remember being absolutely baffled that so many people were defending his nodding off and attributing it to his staying up all night taking care of newborn Louis: as if that in any way is a realistic scenario, based on who this man has continously shown himself to be.

  23. Tish says:

    46 mins? They simply couldn’t get him presentable in time

  24. paddingtonjr says:

    While the king of Norway, who has been sick leave since January, managed to show up to the memorial, Wills couldn’t manage to walk down road to pay his respects. The only Windsor blood relatives were the Yorks – this is the best the BRF could do for family? Other European royals are being heralded as modern reformers, representing their countries well on the global stage, and skillfully serving as calm lsymbols of strength and unity through various national crises (war, COVID, etc.) and then we have the BRF: a king who married his mistress, a prince who has credibly been accused of the rape of an under-aged trafficked girl, an heir who rarely does anything and appears drunk or drugged when he does make an appearance and his wife who doesn’t do anything and has disappeared from all sight and mention. Yea, England😆

    • FlamingHotCheetos2021 says:

      Like, even the Thai king with his fake-tattoos-and-too-small-crop-top pap-shots and the infamous mistress-feeding-his-dog-cake-while-wearing-nothing-but-a-g-string pap-shots and making aforementioned dog an air marshal and using a Boeing 747 as a garden ornament is NOT looking as bad as the Windsors right now.

      I would say it takes skill to look this bad but the Windsors have no skills so I guess they’re managing this based on pure talent.

  25. Bettyrose says:

    If there are any Jewish Brits here, I’d be really interested to know your feelings about the BRF and whether there’s value to William connecting with Jewish groups in the midst of a global rise in vocal Anti-Semitism.

    • MaryContrary says:

      I follow a lot of British Jewish accounts on social media. There was a whole lot of eye rolling over his Gaza statement last week. From what I can see, King Charles has always been very supportive of all religious groups in the UK, including Jews. I do remember Kate’s photo project with Holocaust survivors was really well received. I think at this point with the huge increase of antisemitism any support is welcomed.

  26. LadyE says:

    “He is, I am told, ‘looking forward’ to undertaking his remaining engagements: a sensitive meeting with members of the Jewish community and other faiths at a synagogue as part of a series of visits to highlight the work of organisations trying to bring peace and relief to the Middle East”

    Are you joking?? I just….wtf. These people CANNOT be serious. Of ALL the things that this man, clearly going through some issues, clearly *unable* to act normally in conversations about sensitive topics, is going to…what now???…meet with the Jewish community to discuss peace in the Middle East????? The guy who last week joked about how fun filming a rape scene must have been? That dude? Really?

    KP- Please do not inflict this nonsense on any member of the Jewish community, members of ANY faith, or anyone working for organizations trying to bring peace and relief to the Middle East. Please just don’t. This is so unacceptable.

  27. Keke Swan says:

    “I watched in real time as William’s lazy-ass cancellation became huge international news yesterday and I doubt William or his people were prepared for that.“

    NOT PREPARED FOR THAT!? That’s a level of cluelessness that I can’t even fathom. The king has cancer, the princess has vanished off the face of the earth, and you think you can skip a memorial… AND NO ONE WOULD NOTICE?!

    I really hope it IS nothing, because fun as it is to snark, I really wish harm on no one, but if the monarchy falls, it’s going to be because it got pushed—by Wills. This guy… SMDH.

    • Eurydice says:

      William’s new Diplomat Guru Private Secretary has been on the job, what – 2 weeks? How’s that working out for him?

      • Blithe says:

        Dang! DGPS hasn’t even collected his first paycheck yet! Seriously, I wonder if he had any real understanding re: what his new job might actually entail? William wrangling does not seem to be a safe path to either career advancement or personal peace.

    • Jais says:

      Yeah, that’s where I’m at. How could they possibly not expect this? I know we call them incompetent but this is on another level to the point that it feels more willful and just not giving a shit.

  28. Mary Pester says:

    Let’s think about this for a minute.
    William is supposed to be the next king, but he is so disrespectful to other Royals and grieving families that he gives 45 minutes notice that he’s so stoned /drunk he won’t be coming.
    “Ya sorry folks, tied a bit of a bender on so can’t make it, I’m of back to bed after a fry up, so carry on without me, apologies and all that”.
    How bloody disgraceful, and how even more disgraceful that not only are the press treating this as nothing major they are actually trying to think of excuses for him!!
    Yes he’s going to give us something to write about in a day or so, so let’s print a nothing burger about Harry!
    By the way, there was a secrecy blip last night. I was watching sky news at midnight and on the press preview they were making excuses for Billy idol and the chap,can’t remember his name (plumbs in his mouth though) said, well we have to remember, William has so much on his plate, Charles and his cancer and his wife “IN HOSPITAL NOW”, curiouser and curiouser, Heather is back a week on Sunday, so maybe hot tea will be even better then. Yes Easter is coming, but maybe something sooner!!

    • Agnes says:

      I’d like to place a bet she’s still in the ICU, hooked up to ventilator, feeding tube, air compression stockings, sedation pump, the whole nine yards.

    • Shawna says:

      That tallies with the weird verb tenses of yesterday’s articles (especially that one remarking how hard it must be for the kids because their mother IS in hospital).

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Mary Pester, well, it’s always possible that he misspoke, or they had to do a second surgery. Or this was deliberately said to put people off the scent. These people are truly incompetent when he comes to communications.

  29. QuiteContrary says:

    This whole drama gets curiouser and curiouser.

  30. Unblinkered says:

    I’d say it’s simply that W couldn’t face his relatives en-masse like that. The European royals will all know the truth about him and KM, and he’d have had to bow and scrape to all the kings and queens present.
    His newly appointed government imposed Private Secretary hasn’t made an iota of difference, he’s out of control.
    Appalling.