Here are photos of Prince William in Cornwall on Thursday. After he had what seemed like a very brief visit with the Duchy of Cornwall housing planners, William kicked back at the beach. It looks like it was a lovely day in the beach community, so I would imagine the beach was already pretty crowded. William got to pretend that all of those people came out for him, that they were waiting at the beach for the Duke of Cornwall to acknowledge them. He tried to pose like Harry would have: leaning over to talk to kids, grimacing through a brief beach volleyball foray, smiling creepily like a princely Tom Ripley. The beach photo-op was probably always part of his schedule, actually, which is kind of funny. This man only does work when he gets to day-drink, hang out with celebrities or get some sun at the beach.

Meanwhile, People Magazine keeps parceling out their bizarre, Huevo-focused cover story this week. Previously, we heard Kate’s illness has put “enormous pressure on William, both as a parent and inheritor of the family business. It has brought all kinds of challenges. He [has handled] it with calmness and lack of drama.” Over the past week, these are the new talking points which have emerged: William is calm, steady and drama-free, contrary to what we all witnessed of his clownery for four months, and William is centering himself in Kate’s health ordeal. Well, here’s more from People:

Prince William is keeping his inner circle tight during a challenging chapter. A family friend tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story that the Prince of Wales, 41, “is not leaning on too many others” amid his wife Kate Middleton and father King Charles’ cancer diagnoses as he focuses on his family.

Another close pal says the Prince of Wales is relying heavily on the “nuclear family unit” of his immediate family of five and Kate’s supportive family: her parents Carole and Michael Middleton and her siblings Pippa and James. Insiders add that Prince William has also developed a closer bond with his father Charles. As for Princess Kate, “you can let down your barriers when it’s your mother,” the royal insider says.

Kate Middleton is outside of the public eye while receiving cancer treatment, but a close source says there’s a palpable sense of “positive vibes” and an “optimistic mood.”

As Prince William looks to the future, he refuses to dwell on worst-case scenarios.

“Kate is going to get better, and he is all about helping her to get there,” says a source close to the royal household.

[From People Magazine]

“Positive vibes” and “an optimistic mood” is more than we’ve heard for months. I mean, the best case scenario here is that Kate is generally fine, she had surgery and she’s getting preventative chemotherapy and she has tons of help and her doctors believe she’ll be fine. Why does it feel like the best case scenario is not what actually is going down though? Also: William and Kate… need more people in their lives.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.