Prince William is tall and he’s been athletic throughout his life, playing polo and swimming and playing tennis. He doesn’t have his brother’s natural V-shape with broad shoulders and a slim waist, but there is absolutely no reason for a prince with his means, athletic body and access to wander around looking like unmoisturized ass in frumpy and ill-fitting clothes. That’s exactly what’s happened though. William’s inner awkwardness comes spilling out at all times – the pants are too tight or the wrong fabric, the moose knuckle is too prominent, the jackets are rarely cut the right way. In middle age, he’s become obsessed with slim cuts and and knit ties and it’s gross. He tried out a trendy cardigan last week, which made him look like he raided his wife’s button closet. My point is that Huevo needs professional help in many different ways. I’m in near constant disbelief that he has no one in his life telling him to moisturize his dry-ass skin and that he should use a good night cream. Apparently, his valet isn’t doing it. That’s the focus of this lengthy piece in the Telegraph – William’s valet is taking on a bigger role these days.

Huevo’s new valet: The Prince of Wales, perhaps deterred by such public displays of expert opinion, has for some time demurred over the question of employing his own valet. No longer. In the past few months, he has bitten the bullet and agreed to hire a helping hand to assist him with such tasks as getting dressed. “He is going to play a bigger part [now],” says Dickie Arbiter, a Royal commentator and the former press secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Huevo will have more to do & more to wear: With this comes an increasing number of occasions when he will be dressed in ceremonial garb: uniforms that require a second pair of hands. As first in line to the throne, there are more diplomatic visits overseas; more attendances at funerals when foreign dignitaries die. “People might say, ‘why does he need someone to look after his clothes?’ but uniforms take a lot of care,” says Arbiter. “We’re approaching the season when he’ll be in and out of uniform quite often, and he needs help looking after that uniform.”

William wants to keep it professional: If he has now surrendered to the need for help, the Prince is understood to be nevertheless keen to maintain a boundary between himself and his gentleman’s gentleman. He doesn’t want a confidant, he wants a consummate professional, it would seem. “It’s really different to the Charles and Diana era,” says a source. “Valets and butlers then became almost a replacement for their friends and family. The Royals would go home after a difficult meeting with the Queen and vent at them. William doesn’t need or want that. He has a stable family life and proper friends he can message, plus advisors he can talk to. He doesn’t want or need an extra person involved in any private problems, or another sounding board.” Nor does he want anyone else living with him at Adelaide Cottage, his and the Princess of Wale’s four-bedroom home on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

William can’t count on Kate for help anymore??? In the past, the Prince of Wales reportedly took style advice from his wife, occasionally accepting assistance from a personal police officer ahead of an event, or using the services of a valet from another household. But the Princess’ operation and recovery, in tandem with the King’s cancer diagnosis, underscore the Prince’s need for someone on hand to play a more permanent role; to maintain uniforms and prepare for ceremonial events. “It makes sense he’s taken one on, rather than having to scrabble around looking for one when he needs one,” suggests Arbiter. “He likes his privacy but at the end of day his job is very public and he’s got to look good…[He’ll now have] a greater visual presence and someone has to take care of those visuals.”

The new valet: The valet himself has not been publicly named, but is reported to be in his mid-20s and to have worked for the Royals previously as part of Elizabeth II’s close circle of staff during the Covid pandemic. He is said to have subsequently worked for a sheikh in a Gulf state before returning to the UK and entering the Prince’s employ. By all accounts, the Prince will instead be at pains to maintain a tight lid on things, following the fallout for his parents of keeping staff who were either too close or too numerous. “There will be a clearly defined line of demarcation,” says Arbiter.

Charles used to employ four valets: “You can certainly see why William has taken the line he has in resisting [a valet],” says the royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams. “There’s little doubt William would prefer to have done without a valet for as long as he possibly could because he didn’t like the aura that came with having someone to do something he felt he could do himself.” His image, in contrast to the King’s, is that of a hands-on family man, and Fitzwilliams suggests the optics of employing one’s own valet might well have put the Prince off. “William does not want an extravagant or pampered image,” he says. “He knows for the future this would not do him any good. The King grew up in a totally different era.”

[From The Telegraph]

Note: we first heard about this new valet last September, when we were told that William hired his first personal valet over the summer. You would think that we would be able to see the valet’s work since then, but other than that cardigan last week, William’s clothes have mostly looked the same. They keep emphasizing that Huevo needs help with all of the uniforms he has to wear, and I buy that, and I would also assume that the valet has been told that his job is mostly to do with the uniforms and not William’s dailywear. Because his dailywear is still awful. Say what you will about Charles, but that man has always been impeccably dressed, and it’s funny that his sons struggle so much. I mean, Harry doesn’t struggle anymore – that man figured it out when he met Meghan. William won’t ever figure it out though.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.