Last week, Buckingham Palace briefed royal reporters about their D-Day anniversary plans. The D-Day 80th anniversary events in Normandy have been a particularly fraught date on King Charles’s calendar, and for a while, it sounded like he was going to skip traveling to France. Last week, the palace confirmed that Charles, Camilla and Prince William will all travel to Normandy, with Charles and Camilla attending the main memorial event on Omaha Beach plus the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer. The palace is sending William to the Canadian commemorative ceremony at Juno Beach, although he’ll reportedly travel to Omaha Beach and join his father too. As I said, this was all announced two weekends ago in a straight-forward manner. Guess who’s trying to make it All About Huevo? People Magazine published this suspicious piece: “Prince William to Step in for King Charles at Special D-Day Commemorations in France.” Trying to make it sound like William is going in his father’s place? Oh, Charles will not like that at all.
Prince William is stepping up as an international statesman. The Prince of Wales will represent his father King Charles at a key D-Day commemoration in Normandy, north-east France next week.
William, 41, is set to be the senior U.K. figure at a gathering of 25 world leaders at Omaha beach, Saint Laurent sur Mer, on the 80th anniversary of the landings on June 6. The ceremony will honor the estimated 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops who landed at the beach on D-Day.
As well as being alongside international heads of state, William will join D-Day veterans and attend the the Canadian commemorative ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, hosted by the Canadian government, Buckingham Palace has announced.
William expected to travel to France solo, as his wife Kate Middleton, 42, is still not undertaking public duties as she undergoes her cancer treatment. Charles, 75, and Queen Camilla, 76, will be in Normandy for the celebrations but will be at a separate event marking the British memorial.
The event is the latest step for William in his burgeoning international role. As heir to the throne, he has to navigate the difficult terrain of appealing to politicians and decision-makers while not overstepping the mark and becoming party-political on the world stage. In the past, he has urged President Xi Jinping in China to join the ban on the illegal trade in endangered wildlife and deftly taken part in diplomatic visits to Israel and Pakistan.
“William, 41, is set to be the senior U.K. figure at a gathering of 25 world leaders at Omaha beach” – no he’s not. Charles and Camilla are going to Omaha Beach AND the British memorial, at least that’s what the palace announced. I find it hard to believe that Charles would make his first “international” trip since being diagnosed with cancer and NOT want face-time with world leaders (who will be gathered at Omaha Beach). Plus, Charles does not trust William in these kinds of situations. It sounds like Kensington Palace is doing their own embiggening campaign around William’s trip to Normandy and Huevo is playing fast and loose with his own international statesman credentials. William really is a very sad figure. Nearly 42 years old and he still makes his staff call up reporters and make wild claims about how he’s a big-boy international statesman!
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Prince of Wales (centre) attends the dawn service in commemoration for Anzac Day at the Australia Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 25 Apr 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales speaks to guests during the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 11 Mar 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales speaks with students of the Matrix Project, during a visit to St Michael’s Church of England High School in Sandwell, West Midlands, to learn about the award-winning student-led initiatives available to pupils to support their mental health and wellbeing Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Sandwell, United Kingdom When: 25 Apr 2024 Credit: Oli Scarff/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- His Royal Highness visits Fistral Beach, which is widely regarded as one of the best surfing beaches in Europe. Here, The Duke will meet representatives from local organisations who are working to promote safety in the sea and across the beach area, ahead of the forthcoming summer months Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Newquay, United Kingdom When: 09 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, during a visit to Fistrall Beach in Newquay, to meet local organisations who are working to promote safety in the sea and across the beach area Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Newquay, United Kingdom When: 09 May 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, breaks ground for the new facility during a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Isles of Scilly, to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom When: 10 May 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, breaks ground for the new facility during a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Isles of Scilly, to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Isles of Scilly , United Kingdom When: 10 May 2024 Credit: POOL/Cover Images
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, breaks ground for the new facility during a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Isles of Scilly, to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Isles of Scilly , United Kingdom When: 10 May 2024 Credit: POOL/Cover Images
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, breaks ground for the new facility during a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Isles of Scilly, to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Isles of Scilly , United Kingdom When: 10 May 2024 Credit: POOL/Cover Images
Uh oh competing palaces. It’s like WWE wrestling. In this corner Peg the useless will take on Chuckles the clown and fight for control over the D Day events. Who will win? I say a dark horse will enter and take Peg down,
Now you’re just getting my hopes up.
Or a bleached crayon yellow haired harridan – Camilla.
Whom many believe has spent the better part of her life time – when not sowing seeds of destruction, hatred, mistrust and chaos – cosplaying a horse.
When not cosplaying a pirate or a woman of worth and depth. Neither of which are very good.
One of the brilliant commenters here said Camilla was whorse. I love that term.
Yes Horsilla but WHorsilla.
At the age of 42, William has no leadership skills or attributes. A petty and selfish man is a dangerous man to put in charge of any aspect of government.
Between this and the conflicting stories about when Khate will be seen again, it looks like a certain bald other brother is pushing back against BP’s recent control of the narrative. And we all know that Huevo has no self-control and has horrible PR instincts. Frankly, I’m looking forward to what comes next.
The competing palaces actions on most days is a sad pathetic joke with real life harm to some people.
I find it particularly heinous that they are behaving this way about ceremonies to honour the thousands of men (and in some cases, women) who gave their lives in this battle for freedom!
I can’t even say what I think about this level of selfishness, narcissism and ugliness (my mother would wash my mouth out with soap).
They are not royal, no matter what they and the so-called media try to pretend. The media should focus on the real life issues that so many people are dealing with these days but they are all in cahoots for a despicable cause.
Yeah, this is exactly where I am with all of this. I’m really furious, because the WWII generation is coming to an end, and this is what the future will see as “honoring dead war heroes”.
In 100 years, there are only going to be people who have read about WWII, probably The Diary of Anne Frank will still be in the 8th grade curriculum?, but the news? They are all going to frame this as the “British royals” being the only living link to WWII, if the U.K. doesn’t get off their ass and bring this farce to an end.
It will be some future heir, pretending he’s a global statesman, because the world is so apathetic right now that Trump and Chuck and TOB are actually “world leaders”. It’s enraging, you are absolutely right.
This stupid family gets to keep bumbling on, FOR CENTURIES, because “tradition”.
“A big-boy international statesman!” How I lol’ed. Huevo is a Trump-level toddler. Someone buy him a ferret for his chrome dome. Well, at least we now know who’s been feeding People with lies about Kate being seen out and about. Where IS Kate, William?
I’m imagining William’s dome ferret having tea with Kate’s wiglet gopher on the many days when there are no official duties scheduled, like a Beatrix potter spinoff, or frog and toad.
Why bother with a ferret when he has two very real guinea pigs at home that would suffice?
I just refuse to believe that man has a pair of high-maintenance small animals living under the same roof he sleeps under. Categorically refuse. I’d believe he threw a guinea pig in anger before I believe he’d let his kids keep something squeaky and needy in the house. He doesn’t even keep Kate in the house…
But William and Kate only throw cushions, they never throw lamps. I cannot imagine someone writing that statement and thinking it sounds good. What happened that they had to insist they don’t throw lamps. Your statement about the guinea pig and Kate is perfection.
Agreed. William doesn’t like the warm fuzzies, not pets, wives, brothers, children … his only regard is for alcohol and Exclusive Gentlemen’s Clubs. He’s a cold dbag
Nothing says “international statesman” like having your father order you to go on a trip for the family firm. Also nothing says “international statesman” than making a trip all about yourself, regardless of how many people were wounded or killed fighting a fascist dictatorship.
How about just showing up to wherever The Statesman™️ is supposed to be, do the job – and let the public decide if it met the international standards of statesmanship?
Announcing beforehand that the Incandescent Egg will need embiggening is just sad.
As an American, I can’t understand why People Mag insists on carrying water for the royals. You’d think they’d have some secondhand embarrassment about Pegs’ obvious self-aggrandizement.
It’s likely that his Wicked Stepmother is planning some payback for Pegs trying to one-up Chuckles. He’s got it coming.
they have a lot of space to fill
Camilla is sitting there with her gin and tonic, lighting another cigarette and cackling. She’s muttering “Willy, you are about to go through some things”. She then makes a list of her favourite muck rakers and proceeds to set her plan in motion.
I’m really disgusted by this sycophantic American coverage. WTH did we fight a war of independence if we’re going lockstep with the garbage British media and not doing investigative journalism. But it’s People magazine, what do you expect? Give the statesman his lollipop and call it a day.
The editor of People magazine is British.
He left the post 2-3 years ago. An American has been at the helm ever since.
Just 986 more times to repeat “Will is a global statesman” before it becomes true. So says Will’s “special friend”, the Green Fairy, who he meets with very regularly, and who has also definitely seen Kate out and about.
When you say “the Green Fairy”, I think of absinthe. Which, going by what we’ve seen lately, I suppose might indeed be a “special friend” to William.
Other than the coverage of the Sussexes in Nigeria, People has gotten so boring. Now they are just parroting the same garbage as the Daily Mail. I used to always catch up on People when I get my hair color touched up every 12 weeks but I haven’t read an issue in at least a couple years. It used to have actual reporting, even if it was generally positive in tone. Now, shrug, who cares about this nonsense embiggening? I don’t even bother with People posts on Apple’s newsfeed because they aren’t going to have anything new to say.
Lately I’ve been flipping through various versions of Vogue instead. The ads are generally bonkers.
Oh great, Peg has to make small talk with the Canadian D-Day veterans. That should go over well. Not.
How unfortunate for Canada that the royals have decided they are the kids table of the D-Day remembrances. Hopefully they will also send some of the elderly working royals who know how to behave with appropriate dignity and understand this is about the veterans and lives tragically lost.
Canada and the veterans deserve so much better than the Prince of Pegs. But maybe he’ll show up with some new embroidered airplane slippers (perhaps Spitfires) to entertain the elderly troops. The veterans will demonstrate dignity while Pegs mimes shooting a machine gun at ghostly landing troops.
oh man KP is really coming out strong this week, huh? More international statesman nonsense.
This is the kind of article I would have expected to read when he was 20 or 25, not at 42. He’s the Prince of Wales, he’s technically been a full time working royal since 2017, and he’s (again technically) been doing royal events while also in the military and air ambulance for, what, two decades? (based on KP’s timeline and statements here, not necessarily what we know happened.)
And he’s just now becoming an international statesman because he’s attending a memorial service in France, similar to others that he has attended before??
William is really really desperate for people to take him seriously and when you’re that desperate its never going to happen.
He will never be taken seriously and frankly never was. Chuck, love or loathe him, was – he has always been very good at the job, esp when he was representing his mother. There was none of this ‘will he, won’t he’.
These stories are Peggy lashing out at both his father and brother – he wants what they have but doesn’t want to put in the work.
Give poor Pegs credit, he really has come up in the world! from wedding usher to international statesman all within a week!
Very statesmanlike to brief the press twice weekly on how much he hates his brother
Come on, he’s a Coronation Street International Statesman.
So, if that’s the petulant egg’s new moniker, what are true statesman, like Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Pierre Trudeau, Nelson Mandela? Gods? Supreme Leaders? Calling that odious man anything but a tosser is truly ridiculous.
Wow wow wow. William’s peeps just strait up lying to People mag. Saying he’s taking his dad’s place at Omaha when in actuality his dad will be at Omaha. I CANNoT WAIT for the inevitable clap back.
I’ll bring the popcorn XP
Must have lost his brain cell if he really did say it. So easy to disprove.
Wasn’t there dome panic a few weeks ago over which of the royals were attending at all, and Charles committed before William? Charles, who is ill and elderly, whereas William is neither? And now, almost 43 whole years after his birth, he not only has decided to go, he’s getting claps for being a global statesman? Wow.
Charles is throwing more than pens right now because you know he has been briefed on those nonsense. He and Camilla are going to maker sure William get little to no face time with world leaders at D Day 80, especially when that event will get international news coverage.
What a pathetic man. He does not have the respect nor the intellectual acumen of those who will be in attendance at this event. The best he will be able to do is to be seen in photographs with world leaders because he brings nothing else to the table.
Yes! This! Shades of Ivanka Trump and the world leaders meeting.
I love how this is framed as “stepping up” another word for KEEN… meaning…we’re not quite there yet and hope this time what we throw at the wall sticks.
This “international statesman” crap is so exhausting.
Last (not) seen “jogging” in Central Park! So beloved, no one recognized him or took a photo.
I had no doubt that he would be at the D-Day commemorations because of all those world leaders who will be in attendance.
The guy can’t make a basic international appearance without being embiggen? I mean, how seriously pathetic. Dude, please, stop! You’re not inventing the wheel here, It’s been done.
Our Prime Minister will be on Juno Beach, June 6th. I’m sure he will be cordial to William but William will not be the focus of attention. If he thinks he will be he is in for a sorry disappointment.
I hope that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentions Harry in glowing terms: “You must be so proud of your brother for his service!” Willnot’s head will explode!
“The event is the latest step for William in his burgeoning international role.”
This made me LOL. His burgeoning international role? He doesn’t even have a burgeoning domestic role. The only things about Huevo that are burgeoning are his rage and his futility.
I’ve said it above, last week everyone was very proud of big boy willy for being an usher at his friends wedding.
Solid photo selection here! There’s something slightly tragic and telling about that photo of him in front of big signs asking “Am I Enough?”
That photo is rivaled only by the one of William looking so pleased at the little hole he’s dug.
They’re not gonna let him talk, are they?
I bet he walks up to the real world leaders and talks about how great he is also.. he definitely seems like “that guy”.
I always appreciate any opportunity to compare William with the European royals, who will also be attending. Mostly because despite being the youngest by about a decade he doesn’t o
Look it and manages to look stale
Who is he kidding. He’ll be too lazy to read the boxes and keep on top of state paperwork like QE2 & KC3. He’ll just get some poor courtier to speed-read them for him.
He’ll be someone’s puppet King because he is so lazy and incurious.
Ha ha ha ha, knowing Xi, he probably was thinking “Go play with your sandcastle in that corner, you men-child.” while meeting Will, the not globe statements.
I literally laughed out loud at your headline. William a statesman my ass!
Let me fix this for you ” William is about to make a desperate fool of himself on an international stage.”
“International statesman.” Sure. I bet William thinks that as soon as the column describing him as such was published, he actually became a statesman. He is a sad figure. Poor thing, the hardest thing William ever did was to be the first to emerge from the birth canal.
Well, I hope he gets a grip before he gets there. The world leaders are there to commemorate the men and women who died during WWII. That’s where the spotlight will be and should be. I think that the brf has shown us that the UK military isn’t a priority to them, so if Billy Idle tries to this about him? Let’s just say EVERYONE will know what kind of statesman he is.