Prince William attended Pope Francis’s funeral mass on Saturday in Vatican City. William was not seated or placed in any kind of central position, unlike the actual world leaders, diplomats, kings and queens. William also chose to wear a dark navy suit to a funeral, which is a bad call. This was effectively a state funeral, and there are dress codes and protocols – all of the men in attendance should have worn black suits and black ties. William and Donald Trump were two of the most prominent men in attendance who chose to wear navy. Figures. William’s choice to wear a blue suit might have been his form of “protest,” because according to the Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle column, William didn’t want to go to the pope’s funeral. Wait until you hear why:
Prince William, packing his black tie for Pope Francis’s committal, should have attended his first state funeral in January, that of President Jimmy Carter. But my source whispers that the heir to the throne wasn’t keen on going. The King mobilised Prince Edward instead, leaving William at home on what happened, totally coincidentally, to be Kate’s birthday. It seems he was equally reluctant to obey the order to go to Rome on Saturday until his father pulled rank. Surely it had nothing to do with his beloved Aston Villa playing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley?
[From The Daily Mail, print edition]
Interesting sidenote for people tracking the Mail’s coverage – the Mail stopped publishing the Hardcastle column online in March, out of nowhere and without mentioning why. The only reason why this story got out was because people literally took screenshots from the the paper. Anyway, I knew it was funky that Prince Edward got sent to Jimmy Carter’s funeral, and it makes sense that William tried to put up a fight about going to Francis’s funeral. But Aston Villa is playing! How is William supposed to keep up in the AV fan forums now??
Interestingly enough, the Scottish Daily Express also had a piece about William’s unwillingness to travel on behalf of the crown. They cite the Mail’s piece, but they also say that palace aides have been “concerned” about William’s “reluctance to travel abroad unless it is for an initiative he himself is personally involved in – or enjoys.”
I’d also like to point out the complete and utter lack of conversation about why the Princess of Wales did not attend the funeral alongside her husband. This was a day trip, and given Kate’s 2025 vacation schedule, she does not mind traveling (unless it’s for work). Most royal husband-and-wife teams went to the pope’s funeral together – Queen Letizia and King Felipe, Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene, King Abdullah and Queen Rania, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Hello Magazine made a pathetic excuse for Kate’s absence – “Her absence, though noted by many royal watchers, follows both official protocols and family commitments, HELLO! understands.” Meaning what, Rania, Mathilde, Letizia, Charlene and Mette-Marit are all breaking official protocols by attending a pope’s funeral with their husbands??
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- prince William during Pope Francis’ funeral mass, Vatican City, 26 April 2025,Image: 992501876, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Francesco Fotia/AGF Foto/Avalon
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- prince William during Pope Francis’ funeral mass, Vatican City, 26 April 2025,Image: 992501893, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Francesco Fotia/AGF Foto/Avalon
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- Italy, Rome, Vatican City, 26 April, 2025 : A view during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square. He will be buried outside of the Vatican in a simple wooden coffin at the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. In the photo Prince William,Image: 992516012, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: **** World right excluding Italy ****, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stefano Carofei/Agenzia Sintesi/Avalon
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- Royals, World leaders and the faithful attend Pope Francis funeral mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Saint Peter’s Square Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Rome, Vatican City, Italy When: 26 Apr 2025 Credit: Marco Iacobucci/IPA/INSTARimages **UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Royals, World leaders and the faithful attend Pope Francis funeral mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Saint Peter’s Square Featuring: William, Prince of Wales with Matteo Salvini, Ignazio La Russa and Giorgia Meloni Where: Rome, Italy When: 26 Apr 2025 Credit: Marco Iacobucci/IPA/INSTARimages **UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
William looks very rough in those photos. Edward should have been sent. Surprised the preparing the school runs excuse was not used for Kate .
Anyone but Willie would have made a better representative for the Windsors.
Looks like Willie didn’t get his photo-op with Trump either. The Trump-Zelenskyy photo is one of the best political photos of this year so far.
The Hardcastle column isn’t attributed to a particular reporter/columnist. It comes and goes over the years. Literally any of the papers’ contributers/editors can write a piece under that name, without identifying who they are through a real name or alias. It’s another way to gossip without facts and named courses.
I agree, it’s a powerful photo.
Could William’s scruffiness be partly because he dyes his hair but not his beard? This would create a jarring visual effect, even if it’s subconscious and you don’t register what you’re seeing. I mean, I’m not 100% positive he dyes his hair, but his beard does have a fair amount of grey and at least the recent photos I’ve looked at since I started wondering about this don’t show any obvious grey.
Sorry, meant to say the remaining hair on his head doesn’t show obvious grey.
A big deal was made about William hiring a valet to help with his attire.
Maybe he needs to fire that valet and save his money. William’s attire clearly has not improved since hiring that valet. 🤦🏽♀️
UK royals used to be viewed as the top of the ladder royals. Now seems every other royal family has eclipsed the UK royals. They look so dowdy, old, sickly. If the press in countries with the other royals were English language publications, we most likely would be getting more English coverage of them. They’re all more vibrant, young and exciting royals than those in the UK who are just lackluster and uninteresting.
That Hello quote did mention ‘family commitments’ for Kate, so…. School run, it is! 🙄
Yup! School run on a Saturday 😆. Kate only goes if she can be the centre of attention and can raid the royal jewels. She and Will, regardless of their vanity, must feel really insignificant at events like this. On the world stage, they hold no presence or purpose.
Metta-marit is suffering from chronic illness and she showed up. Kate can go skiiing, she can show up. Utterly pathetic.
People are so used to Lazy not doing anything. At least the European married-ins knew the deal. So did Meghan. So did everyone else but Lazy. Whatever happened to the “we pay, you pose” mantra? Have the rats given up on the Lazies?
Mette marits illness has been a moving target, like her fear of flying that stopped her from work travel but never prevented her travel for fun. Daniel of Sweden only has one kidney. It is beyond the average lifespan of a donor kidney but we don’t get announcements out of Sweden that he cannot work.
Right now she’s mired in her son being revealed as a serial rapist and psychopath. We get a convenient announcement that her illness is worse. It didn’t prevent her and haakon from going on a foreign holiday over easter while Sonja was in hospital with shortness of breath and concerns over her new pacemaker.
Mettemarit may be very sick, or she might be using her illness as an excuse. Two decades of excuses out of her mean she gets less benefit of the doubt.
Mette Marit legitimately has pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that can change from day to day depending on the type/amount of medication she’s taking for it. Some people can manage it for years, some can’t, but it is incurable and unless she gets a lung transplant she will eventually die. She was only diagnosed in 2018, not 2 decades ago by the way. A good friend of ours died from it last summer. His health was up and down for years depending on the amount of corticosteroid and other drugs he was on, but he managed to travel to California several times to visit his daughter and attend her wedding. Some days he had to be on oxygen, others not. He finally got on the list for a lung transplant but the disease suddenly progressed rapidly and was compounded by a ruptured bowel because the drugs weakened his digestive system. To say she’s using it as an excuse to detract from her son’s mental health issues is reprehensible.
Didn’t our newly anointed Mother Nature say that she needs “plenty of sunshine”?? Looks like there was plenty of sun at the outdoor mass. She could’ve soaked it all up and stored it like a camel.
Exactly! Also, I hope Billy Boy slathered on the sunscreen! Or maybe not. Let him walking around with a painful & peeling pate.
I am of the opinion that Peg and Can’t do not live together and have agreed on certain things like she does not travel with him ( unless it’s a vacation and they need photos to prove they are a “happy family “) because that is what he wants. He wants the attention solely on him. As for the blue suit wearing: I understand and read that the invitation said to please dress in black with black ties. I did notice some Saudi’s wearing their normal dress but it was black. Peg and trumps little rebellion to wear what they please.
The disrespect shown by those two toddlers was off the charts! Disgusted!
Those are not Saudis But the clothes look alike.
But don’t they want people to think that they do live together? Attending a funeral together when every other person’s partner is there would probably help that case?
It’s probably best that Kate didn’t attend, though. Eye-fucking the cameras and grinning at the Pope’s funeral would’ve been even more wildly inappropriate than it was at Philip’s.
@Miranda, I definitely thought the decision was about the photos rather than their mess of a relationship!
International media isn’t going to photoshop her pics like British media does!
A mail journalist criticising William, Wow!
At least somebody was having a good time. The man next to William seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself.
William strutted around .. no doubt Loving the attention~ look at MEEEE
And like classless Trump pulled the same stunt of not respecting the dress code
Classless Toddler
That, and he was photographed schlumped over, sleeping, WITH HIS MOUTH HANGING OPEN!
What a f*%king disgrace!!!!!!
Where are the photos?
That is so disrespectful if he was going to behave like that he would have represented the country better by staying home.
@Jaded: Here ya go!: https://www.newsx.com/world/did-donald-trump-fall-asleep-at-pope-francis-funeral-internet-has-a-field-day-after-photos-go-viral/
His navy blue suit stood out but he was saved bc of trumps brighter blue suit and blue tie.
NYT had a photo montage thing about all the heads of state that attended. It highlighted the monarchs from Norway and Spain among others. It highlighted Macron, Zelenskyy, Biden, other world leaders.
It did not highlight William at all. Poor global statesman.
The fact that it is even being speculated in the DM that he didn’t want to attend bc of Aston villa is a horrible look for him. We get it, you love soccer. But this is your job and as the future head of the COE, attending this funeral is definitely more your job than your uncle’s.
It’s so clear he wants all the perks for zero effort.
I know we were joking about the AV match yesterday but when even the Fail seizes on this, Willie’s future as head of state is fucked.
He seems to be wearing a navy suit with a black tie? What a strange choice!
This is actually one of the accepted dress options for a state funeral — navy suit, black tie. Charles wore the same in 2005 to John Paul II’s funeral.
@Josie, I thought the dress code was “please wear black and a black tie”, not “please choose between blue and black with a black tie”, no? Why, the constant excuses for William are just baffling!!!
The dress code was a dark suit. A black tie would look better with either a black or a dark grey suit. Trump definitely got it wrong but William could have looked better. I find it interesting that Meliena got it right, and Trump didn’t, or didn’t he care.
There’s video of William coughing in his left hand as he descends the stairs, clasping his hands together, then shaking an official’s hand with his now-germy right hand. It’s gross. But he wasn’t the only one wearing a navy suit with black tie, it’s one of the acceptable forms of dress for these events, and so it’s not noteworthy to me.
@Josie, say what you want but out of the 100’s of heads of state and dignitaries ONLY PW & Trump wore blue. To me that is noteworthy.
@ecsmom, there were many attendees in blue suits and black ties, and also President Biden wore navy blue with a blue tie. The AP has several photos showing the crowd, and it’s easy to see in the bright sun that many of them were in navy blue. William seems determined to be a much less active PoW than his father (understatement) but there’s just nothing notable about his suit at the funeral.
King Abdullah was also in blue.
Trump is one of those who got it wrong. No surprise. He should’ve had a dark tie. But the protocol put out by the Vatican prior to the funeral stated that a blue suit was fine.
Can’t see which row he sat at? Trump, Zelenskyy and Felipe of Spain were in the first row.
The rats do like to make a lot of excuses for this lazy couple. Maybe Lazy is in Mustique already, getting in touch with nature.
As for Willie, how does Chuck pull rank? “I am the king – you obey me or…?”
Or what exactly? Tell the rats Willie refuses to attend? There’s no financial incentive for Willie to attend anymore.
His brother would have done better than him? “I’ll tell the rats Harry would have done his duty.”
I can’t see what stick Chuck could flail Willie with. Maybe carrots though…
Bulliam the Incandescent was relegated to the third row, seated next to the outgoing German Chancellor (=head of government) Olaf Scholz. The German President was in the first row, together with other heads of state.
King Letsie of Lesotho, among other heads of state from African countries, was sitting in front of Willnot in the second row. That must have hurt the “Africa is mine, Harry” Royal Racist.
There’s a delicious irony there that the King of Lesotho was placed in front of him especially after the Sentebale debacle. Someone in the Vatican consciously did this 😏 I wouldn’t be surprised if Pope Francis had a hand in the seating arrangements too.
That third row relegation shows to the rest of the world (and the grey men) that the influence of the Windsors is much diminished after QE2’s death and this is the fate that will befall King Willie, the third row global statesman 😂
I can’t be arsed to track it down today but in the pic I saw yesterday William appeared to be in at least the 5th row. And assuming Trump was front and center, William was far off to one side. I had to laugh as the NYT had a pic.where one could search.for notables and specifically for world.leaders and monarchs. William wasn’t on the list!
Well, one is a king and one is still just a prince. The BRF seems very into who bows to or sits/stands in front of whom, so he needs to follow protocol.
Ummm…. Why are y’all saying an actual king getting precedence over a prince is a snub to the prince? It’s giving ” oh but they’re African …”
William isn’t a king, head of state, or head of a church yet. All of the world leaders and diplomats should rightfully be sat ahead of him.
I don’t think the Vatican cares one iota about British royal family drama, let alone enough to make seating arrangements around it. Most people actually don’t care about this stuff.
BLUE??? WTH?
I knew he didn’t want to go. Ki was hoping he go MIA. He’s the worse. He will never be king. He’s wasted space🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
He’s a grifter, so of course he doesn’t want to work. What is going to happen when he’s King and no one tells him no?
Side note – I keep getting FB ads for Zara Tindall as the new “ambassador” for Fairfax and Favor (never heard of it). She’s modeling their clothes. Where is the outrage from the ROTA?
Zara must be desperate.
He’s so lazy and pathetic, of course he didn’t want to go 🙄🙄🙄😂😂😂
Aston Villa lost by the way, 3-0. Oh dear, I think Willy may have given them some bad karma. 😏
😂😂😂 Willie’s “patronage” of AV isn’t really doing the club any favours.
Also worth noting, yesterday was Melania’s birthday but she’s an adult so she did what was expected of her to travel with Trump for this because that is the head of state job. Juxtaposed to Kate for the Pope’s funeral, but also Carter’s funeral, which was on her birthday.
Forever fascinated by the media just not touching this at all.
Also, I think some of the uk media is editing his pics to make his suit look darker because of the blue thing with Trump.
IIRC, Kate was in the Alps skiing on her birthday, so too busy having fun to attend Carter’s funeral.
Dumpster fire relies on extremist catholics to help him stay in office.
Melania claims to be catholic, no way was that pair missing this event. They got pride of place which dumpy loved.
Dumpy used this event to attempt to crush Ukraine in behind the scenes talks after the event.
I did wonder if Melania was supposed to be Catholic with all that lacy black veil get up.
@blogger – Melania is Catholic.
They change their arguments to suit who they are trying to protect, because when there was backlash for Charles planning his ConAnation on Archie’s birthday, the media and haters were justifying it as it’s just a birthday and it’s not as important as Charles’s big day. Yet when a grown woman can’t fulfill her job by attending a funeral because of her birthday, suddenly birthdays are something that can’t be postponed or celebrated later. It’s okay to make a child’s birthday about his grandparent but a huge political figures funeral is suddenly interrupting a 43 year old woman’s special party hat day.
I agree that the media seems to be doctoring the color of his suit at the Pope’s funeral. Even the photos above show his suit in various hues of blue in each photo. The lighter and more vibrant shade of blue being the top photo, where the contrast of the blue suit and black tie is most glaring. It seems very intentional since the royals have had a protocol for mourning and funerals since the passing of the late Queen’s father when she was out of the country. The fact that both he and Trump chose to intentionally disrespect a holy figure like the Pope by wearing obvious blue suits to his funeral makes me question if it was something they planned together as some sort of message of solidarity between the two of them? There are so many similarities between both of them like the types of women they married and the people they surround themselves with and the links between the people who support them in the media and politics can’t be ignored. The ongoing emphasis on their last meeting with each other was bizarre but when we see who supports them and the push to make William seem like a great future king and Trump like he’s worthy of a third term, it makes more sense.
Billy Boy & trump are not calling up each other to see what they’re wearing to the funeral. 🙄
Melania had a lot of genuine respect and admiration for Francis which is more than can be said of her husband. She also dials her glamor down to zero when she’s at the vatican. At least one of the Trumps knew the assignment. She’d be better at the economy too because she doesn’t start stupid unwinnable fights.
It’s clear William knows that you wear black suits to a funeral because he wore black while mourning QEll, when he wasn’t in military clothes.
Melania cosplayed mafia widow. I suppose at least she didn’t wear her ‘I don’t care…’ jacket. Her husband chewed gum and scrolled on his phone as well as having a snooze. Joe Biden looked spritely, and sharply dressed as usual.
He could have chosen it deliberately because he “doesn’t do god.” Or as a protest against being sent to something when he would rather be at the football.
@Anna Maria Maybe Melania was practicing? Or fantasizing?
Let’s stop acting like Melania is a good person. She is not. Shes married to a monster and uses her less offensive image to downplay his evil behaviour.
If she respected Francis so much she would be stopping the deportation of immigrants without due process and she would be working to stop the death penalty, which no pope has ever supported.
She did the bare minimum but compared to her orange husband that looks like a lot.
Melanie is an awful person but she looked fine and respectful at the funeral. She wore black, she wore a mantilla. I think she wore lacy gloves? and that was a bit much but she followed the dress code more than her husband did.
She followed the prescribed papal funeral dress code. Women were supposed to wear gloves and a head covering. Pretty much all did. Brigitte macron was one of those who didn’t. Same with Mrs Zelensky. Lots of women didn’t wear gloves actually. Though they may have been optional. So Melania actually did something correctly for once.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/news/dress-code-popes-funeral-fashion-analysis/#:~:text=The%20dress%20code%20for%20a,of%20pearls%20around%20the%20neck.
Some say a Melania double was used!
No double. She would’ve had the sunglasses on. 😎
William is so awful, he should just be grateful that he was able to go to Pope Francis’ funeral. It was a historical moment.
He won’t get as many mourners at his own funeral, that he can be sure of. Unless the people finally rebel and he becomes the new Louis XVI.
I suspect he’ll be a well-shielded & sozzled puppet king while George & Charlotte are farmed out to work.
Interesting – but this is typical with these 2 in that they have to be made to do their duty. He got dragged on both occasions he travelled abroad to watch AV play in Europe so yeah he was made to go and yeah he looked hungover. Poor baby his easter bender was interrupted by work.
Will be interesting to see how he does as king and how his subjects respond.
“The king is missing. Again.”
“The king is on holiday. Again.”
“The king is doing the school run. Again.”
“The king does fuck all. Again.”
Rumour or not, if the royal sycophants who prop up TOB are writing that he wanted to skip a funeral to see his beloved football team, it’s a problem.
I’m guessing football. But the troll isn’t the most important person and it takes hours.. All that is garbage for willy. Of course he doesn’t want to go
Harry doesn’t show up for one of Meghan’s event and all of a sudden there are divorce rumors. But Lazy McSaint of Cancer Patients who was on her 3rd or 4th vacation this year can’t travel with her husband to attend the Pope’s funeral? Where are the screeching and howling about divorce from the royal rats?
I figured since this wasn’t a tiara event, we wouldn’t see her.
Too many other women there who’d catch the attention of the cameras – Letizia, Melania etc – and Lazy doesn’t like competition.
I think she’s been forbidden to wear tiaras since the debacle of the Temu tiara at the coronation when women were told specifically NOT to wear them.
I figured all the natural light and crowd would make it harder to edit her photos to her liking.
I could believe this and it calls into question the KP narrative about William’s desire to become a global statesman.
Today we have Billy Idle trying to wriggle out of a genuine #GlobalStatesman event in the Vatican, while Harry is in Australia to commemorate firefighters. Says it all really. Don’t get me started on William’s navy suit.
I misread Australia, sorrrrry!!!! Doh!
Hello magazine’s photo of William managed to make him look like he was wearing a black suit. They, like all BM I guess always push the “William the Statesman” meme like clockwork,, calling his appearance at the funeral a “massive diplomatic undertaking.” In a headline, they state that Harry attended a “glitzy” event while William was doing his royal duty, no mention of the reason why Harry was at said glitzy event: “Prince Harry, 40, was seen attending a glamorous Beverly Hills event, the Living Legends of Aviation Awards, while his brother Prince William represented their father, King Charles, at Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican City.” They also had to explain why William (and Starmer) was not seated near the other European royals- alphabetical listing.. Anyway, it seems William the Statesman did not get seating that reflects his “massive” role in the world. Just a cursory look at the BM embiggening William for doing his basic duty makes William like a child being overly praised for encouragement. William is not only lazy, but totally stunted in development emotionally and intellectually. I think Diana must have seen the direction of William’s character development. I remember reading that one of her friends quoting Diana saying that she loved her son but sometimes didn’t like him very much. Wish I could remember the source.
Re: alphabetical order doesn’t compute in the photo.
Albania and Belgium would be somewhere in front. Instead we get Estonia and España in the front row, and Germany with Willie in the third row. Estonia doesn’t have a monarchy so this is not a European RF bullshit. If so, where is Denmark (and Belgium) in the front row?
If Germany is Deutschland, Olaf should be in the front row before España or if in English alphabetical order, then Felipe in the third row as “Spain”. Unless they’re doing Latin of course and I can’t be bothered checking out the Latin equivalent for the European countries.
Also Zelenskyy as Ukraine is in the front row 😂
IOW the rats like to twist and turn the seating arrangements to make Willie’s relegation look good…but the GLOBAL STATESMAN IS IN THE THIRD ROW. FACT 😂
The Windsors under Willie have the rats writing with their smoke and mirrors but the Vatican seating arrangements don’t lie over their diminished influence. 🤣
I’m sure they’ll come up with something else like the Catholics must be seated in front then we’ll have PapalFuneralSeatingGate. 😏
I read that reigning Catholic monarchs were seated in the first row in alphabetical order. Everyone else was seated in alphabetical order according to the French spelling of their country’s name (French is the official language of papal diplomacy). Trump was not supposed to be in the front row–Etats Unis would have been further back (indeed, Joe and Jill Biden were in the fourth row)–but apparently, there was some “discussion” and he was plopped in the front row.
Well my German TV commentator said it was in alphabetical order in French, as this is the diplomatic language.
So it would allemagne et angleterre.
And the highest ranking German was President Steinmeier who was seared at the front and so Olaf Scholz sat in the third row.
William’s father is not head of state of Angleterre, he is head of state of the United Kingdom which in French is Royaume-Uni.
@Blubb: Royaume-Uni, not Angleterre.
Fascinating, I have never heard of Royaume-Uni, I learn so much on this site!
Ukraine is Ukraine in French though.
Catholic monarchs get precedence over the Uk because Henry VIII decided to create his own church and ditch the pope. So the head of the Anglican Church or his representative won’t get top billing.
It is possible that Charles might have gotten something a bit better as monarch but part of the blue suit nonsense is because they only seem to wear black at family funerals.
The real question is why Kate could not do the day trip. She has plenty of black dresses for the occasion.
They still have a Nanny.
I remember reading somewhere (could be apocryphal, I guess) that the royals always travel with a set of black formal wear, just in case. Elizabeth was in Kenya when her father died, but she stepped off of the plane in proper mourning wear. William was announced to go to this funeral several days ago and has both a dedicated valet and oodles of money and time. If he had wanted to wear a black suit, he could absolutely have had one made. Same with Kate. They simply did not want to.
Not to be bleak about it, but both William and Kate are next in line to the throne behind an elderly king who is still in treatment for cancer. If they don’t already travel with a set of mourning clothes on their many vacations around the world, then they should start doing so.
I find it hysterical (and notable) that William was seated so far back from world leaders. Everyone knows he is a lightweight. It’s also very odd that Kate wasn’t there. Very odd.
He’s not a head of state yet (if ever) so I guess they put him behind all the actual heads of state. Whatever the reason, I’m loving the third row for him. Princess Missington is a disgrace.
The monarchy has a true crisis on their hands with this one. He’s been in a free for all and downward spiral since Harry left. He has even less identity and motivation than before. How is that possible. He also seems to be in a deep depression and/or under the influence of something; constant weight loss and inability to get absolutely anything done. He’s always been an absolute lazy carcass but there is a defiance and doubling down on being adamant about doing fuck all.
It’s also fascinating that whatever financial deal was brokered for the Middleton’s will have Kate sidelined for the foreseeable future and no one questions it. How does a future queen miss the Pope’s funeral. Absolutely wild. Complete and utter disaster; these two deserve each other.
It is notable that he does much, much less as Prince of Wales than Duke of Cambridge, and that was already an extremely low bar. William just appears to drift through life, refusing to do anything, no matter how much privilege he has.
How insensitive of all of you to expect William and kate to work on a weekend or during the week . How can you think it’s appropriate for people of their statesman and royal status to do such a mundane thing like attending a pope funeral . Have you people no sense of decency or decorum and compassion? Shame on all of you who expect two tax funded full time vacationers to cut their life of luxury short on a weekend after no work for 4 weeks plus and go to a funeral where all they have to do is sit .
And sit in the sun with no shade at all!
She loves the sun and needs to be out doors for her recovery. This trip should have been a no brainer for the princess of wales.
LOL!
We are despicable. 😏
Let me see…
Forgot to do his laundry…
Burned his finger on the iron…
Didn’t have time to sew the hole in the knee…
Waist got too tight since the last time he wore them…
So many good excuses for not having a black suit ready, except…
Toddler tantrum didn’t work this time!
Got his petty revenge by wearing blue.
And disrespected the Pope.
For shame.
I can quite believe that William tried to get out of it. After all, he’d already announced he was attending, in other words he was “keen” to attend. Therefore, operating by the Keen Principle, he probably felt that the announcement itself was as good as the deed.
He’s still “learning”. It’s his first papal funeral after all. 😏 And hopefully his last.
His showing up is totally an embarrassment but the Palaces like to spin it otherwise. I *almost* feel sorry for the grey men. How the hell do you prop up such a lazy, useless Dauphin?
Shoulda had Kate with him. She never puts a foot wrong! 😏
The suit thing is confusing. There was a report that said the request was men could wear black, grey or navy. Also the king of Jordan wore a navy suit and from the photos it looks like others wore navy.
But yes, this does not look good for the global statesman.
since it was both Will and tRump it is an easy thing to complain about. I too would have worn a black suit, but if the guidelines gave options, it isn’t all that pearl clutch worthy.
I disagree that it isn’t as pearl clutching because of the possibility of a flexible guideline. The media has talked ad nauseam about royal protocols and although I don’t believe royal protocols about the protocols they attacked Meghan with because with each of them there are photos that show other royals doing the exact same thing without being accused of going against protocol, I do believe in the royal protocol that royals are expected to travel with black clothes in case they are traveling when someone passes and they need to be seen in mourning. There possibly being flexibility in possible colors to be worn at such a holy event doesn’t mean that he should have gone outside of the expectation of honoring the Pope by wearing the most appropriate option of a black suit. The mere fact that the media doctored the color of his suit shows that it wasn’t an appropriate colored suit for a funeral. The top photo shows that his blue suit was closer to the blue colored suit that Trump wore and it’s obvious by how Trump stood out from everyone else, that his choice of suit was to make it about himself instead of about the Pope.
The guideline said navy blue and black tie, and William did do that. That said we know he has black suits. The king of Jordan seemed to dress the same.
Orange man flouted the entire thing with a blue suit that was clearly not navy blue. And he slept during part of it.
Both William and Trump always wear blue suits. So I don’t think they were necessarily being petulant. I agree that black would have been a better choice, though.
@Euyridice – Regardless of the colour of the suit (dark and sombre is expected) it is customary for men to wear a black tie at funerals. William WAS wearing a black tie as far as I could tell but there were several other men not wearing a black tie, Trump and Biden included. I doubt if Willy even has a black suit in his wardrobe, especially on short notice as he was expecting to go to a football match instead. The only funerals Willy has attended have been for his own family members and he has usually worn a military uniform. He still has a lot to learn ……
Sure, it’s customary. My point is that the official guidelines given out for this specific funeral have been reported differently, so I’m not going to knock those who followed guidelines by wearing a color other than black.
William knew that he was attending this funeral in enough time to have worn a black suit. Besides, there is a royal protocol that all royals travel with black clothes in the rare occasion that they must mourn someone while they are traveling away from home. Are you implying that he knew enough to travel with a black tie but not a black suit to go with it? He doesn’t normally wear a black tie, so why would he have that available but not the black suit that would normally accompany a black tie? He wants to be seen as a global statesman so he needs to carry himself as one. The Queen would have never arrived at the Pope’s funeral in a blue dress, regardless of what colors were allowed. Trump was being Trump and trying to standout as much as possible. He managed to wear black to President Carter’s funeral, so this was a choice to standout as much as possible with a more vivid color from everyone else.
Biden’s suit looked black though. Next to Jill who was in black it was similar in colour. I think the black tie was for the navy blue suit people.
Biden is a practising catholic and admirer of the late pope. He wouldn’t breach protocol for the funeral.
He has a lot to learn??? He should know it all by now!! He grew up in this family, he’s in his 40s, he’s the effin’ Prince of Wales!!
But he’s a gLoBaL StAtEsMaN!!!
I saw magazine on stands with Kate William and George on cover saying the parents were preparing him to be future king. Is there any hope for George now.
The working schedule the Wales expect is simply not replicated in the real world. There’s no job at any level that allows for any day you want to be free, every weekend, every evening. Let alone relatively early in one’s career, as they are. The relentless narrative about them that this is somehow normal, expected, and putting their family first should be deeply grating to anyone that has ever had to receive a salary to pay their bills.
Whether this man is lazy, I don’t know, in any case you don’t see much work or results and yet a lot of holidays and pleasure. As long as nobody in this country objects? Since he has a lot of his own money through his counties, it looks like a rebellion against all sorts of things from previous generations, and what I also notice is that he lets the press spread a lot of text in his name. If he hasn’t said it himself, I’m very surprised he’s letting it happen, if he’s saying it all himself and just needs a mouthpiece, I’m surprised too, because a lot of it makes him look very stupid, weak and petty. Other than that, let him do what he wants, the family will have to face the problem at some point and so will the country.
Laughing that they wrote he didn’t want to go bc of a football game. Imagine it’s true but surprise they even said it. And honestly, seeing the pictures of all the leaders at the funeral with their wives. And William solo. I mean…why couldn’t she do?
Edit-why couldn’t she go? She healthy enough.
@Jais – Too short notice, dontcha know? After all, Willy was expecting to go to the football.
I find the explanation that he must have wanted to stay home from attending Jimmy Carter’s funeral ( which happened to be on Kate’s birthday)… dubious. Somehow I don’t believe that he was desperate to celebrate his wife’s special day.
But wait…didn’t that funeral coincide with one of the Wales’ secret ski trips? Did they have to send Edward to Washington because the POW was overseas, relaxing in a chalet? Is that what Eden is getting at here, and I missed the hint? Hoo boy – I think the rota might be unhappy with the Wales.
Maybe that’s what the
Yeah, that is definitely it. They were on vacay at the time & they interrupt their holidays for no one and no thing. Whether skiing or sunning in the Caribbean, that was why they didn’t go to that funeral. As for this funeral, I’m guessing Kate & the kids are on another holiday somewhere (I swear these kids get so many vacations from school!).
The worst part is that the funeral was in the morning and slightly over an hour so he could fly back to the UK right away and in time for the match. Against Kate could have done this too. It was a day trip for them.
On the live coverage by the daily mail at 9:25 by Nick Pisa:
“Prince William is among the mourners attending the funeral and he will arrive this morning on a King’s Flight before heading back to London straight after, so he can watch his beloved Aston villa play Crystal Palace in the FA cup semifinal with his family.”
Not sure that’s typical of a global statesman but here we go. Is the King’s Flight bribery for him to go?
Family means bringing George
@Moondust: that’s in an actual article?? I’m gobsmacked over the ‘he rushed right home after THE POPE’S FUNERAL to watch TV with his family’. Yikes!
@BeanieBean I had the same reaction. Can’t believe they wrote it. Too bad it’s part of the live coverage therefore no comment. Well maybe on Twitter but I don’t have an account.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14642749/pope-francis-funeral-vatican-live-updates-donald-trump.html
Gawd. How tacky not to wear a black suit and to look so hungover at a generational event. Moisturize, drink some liquid IV and wear black to a funeral, WILLY. He is being mildly criticized and slightly mocked, but not harshly. What uber nasty tales about the Sussexes will he leak next week to cover his ineptide? His entire repertoire of Sussex leaks has been covered in recent months. How long until the international press force the rota to report on the elephant in the room? Willy wants the money and privilege, but not the job and has no work ethic. His marriage is in the toilet and he has the faded, sickly appearance of an addict. He has leaked nasty stories about the Sussexes for nearly a decade to cover his laziness and sleazy behavior. Lort. One international paper publishes one proper investigative article about him and the house of cards he has built will crash around him. Even the rota will burn him.
I have a question. If Willy becomes king while George is still underage, is he going to have the control of the money from two duchies, Cornwall AND Lancaster along with the sovereign grant? If yes how will he justify this level of laziness?
My theory on his looks: After Kate and Charles’ health issues he was put on a diet and made to quit certain foods and booze. He lost muscle, hence the wrinkles. He is more irritable as a result.
Gemini: interesting question
As Charles was heir with four it would be interesting to know what happened with the Duchy of Cornwall until he came of age.
I don’t think the monarch gets both Duchies, as it is for the heir. Maybe they save the money??? Or it is used for the heir, school etc? I don’t know but I would like to know.
Google is your friend:
Upon Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne, the then Prince Charles began receiving £209,000 from the duchy, with duchy authorities stating that it was spent towards his “maintenance and education”.[1] In 1969, the government acknowledged that his duchy income was “considerably in excess of his current expenses”.[1]
@gemini; this question came up right after Charles diagnosis of cancer. The answer was, if the heir to the current monarch is too young to inherit the Prince of Wales title and the duc hies that go with it, the money reverts to the monarch until the heir is 18.
His mother gave Charles the prince of Wales title when he was 10 in 1958. The investiture of Charles as prince of Wales was in 1969
No the transfer goes to george automatically. He is just restricted in doing things like sell land until he is 18.
There is a group that does the real work for the duchy regardless of the current Prince of wales.
I think the monarch runs the duchy only if there is no Prince of wales and Duke of Cornwall. When George VI was monarch there was no Duke of Cornwall.
Cutting out the booze doesn’t make a person lose muscle.
Cutting out the booze can lead to losing lots of weight, though. My neighbor stopped drinking and he looks to have lost 30+ pounds. (I don’t know if my neighbor had a drinking problem and it’s not something I’d ask, just that I’d observed him drinking a lot, probably too much, in the past and he volunteered that his recent weight loss was due to cutting out the booze.) I wonder if William stopped drinking as part of whatever deal people think was worked out.
Well he didn’t get to go see Aston Villa play and they still got absolutely obliterated by Crystal Palace 3-0 and it could have been 6 or 7-0 ! Aston Villa should just beg him to stop supporting them because he’s just as much bad luck from a distance.
Also he must be so mad because King Felipe managed to attend the Copa del Rey finals last night lol.
At least Felipe and Letizia know how important it is to turn up at sporting events that are a source of national pride.
Perhaps Willie should be demoted to King of Aston Villa. Don’t want to burden the poor dear with such a heavy workload of king of so many countries and dominions. Baby steps for Willie!
Aston Villa is probably like “Your majesty, we don’t deserve your undivided patronage! Have you considered West Brom? Tottenham? Why should we be the only recipients of your, er, special gifts? In fact, have you ever considered other sports? We’ve heard wonderful things about Pickleball!”
Please not Tottenham, they have suffered enough this season, they would sink immediately.
If Harry was around he could have gone and William gone to football.
Harry would have made to run hither and thither so that William’s reluctance to do duty would be less obvious.
Had they remained Harry and Meghan would be the designated travelers for all and sundry, unless some fun was involved, while Will and Kate remained at home doing school runs for their college age children.
There were loud cheers for Zelenskyy. Trump must have been so annoyed.
And there’s a meme going around in which Zelenskyy chidingly asks Trump if he owns a black suit.
I don’t understand why Willy wouldn’t have worn a black suit to err on the side of caution. But then he doesn’t care.
William reminds me of those 3rd generation rich people that take to the ground and demolish the family business bc of how incompetent, entitled, arrogant they are.
Ding ding ding!
I have long thought this of William. It’s sad, and he’s burning it all to the ground because it’s always been there, and his family assumed he’d understand the value, but he doesn’t.
Apart from his crying over the lost match, he doesn’t like to take part among real statesmen, because he sees how tiny he is there. Despite his birth and the crown awaiting him, he is a nobody. Apart from a courtesy greeting, no one talks to him, greets him as an acquaintance, is not interested in him. Because why should they be. William does NOTHING, is not interested in ANYTHING, has no knowledge, does not read, knows nothing about the world, or even Europe (his statement and wars). What are leaders, kings, princes supposed to talk to him about? Each of the above works, acts (but not on paper, but for real) in international organizations and programs, debates in the UN, in parliament, and on top of that, European royal families meet privately at occasional parties, birthdays, the BRF is not there. It seemed to them that they were so great that others did not deserve the honor of their presence and in their buffoonery did not notice that the British Empire has long since ceased to exist, IT DOES NOT EXIST. All that’s left is dust and a bunch of slackers who care less and less about anyone.
It’s interesting about Willnot refusing to go to Carter’s funeral on January 9. Kate was papped skiing in Courcheval in early January (her first ski trip this year, not the second one). It’s never been clear if Willnot went with her (although another skiier said he saw the pair of them lunching at a restaurant), or what the exact dates were.
It’s a distinct possibility–likelihood?–this was Kate’s birthday ski trip, and William refused to go to Carter’s funeral because he didn’t want to cut his ski trip short. Shades of skipping BAFTAs for Mustique.
Who know who was part of an on foot funeral procession in 1963? JFK’s funeral. Prince Phillip along with other royals as well as heads of state
This kind of “reporting” is usually aimed at Harry and Meghan. It looks like Hardcastle is trying to be edgy, I wonder if it will cost him his job.
Kings fly means he came by helicopter, yes?
I don’t think helicopters have that long of a range— I would guess a private plane.
A. William wants Kate to be forgotten
B. Kate is actually ill.
C. William and Kate are actually divorced.
This is the only thing that makes sense to me. Would Kate say “ I don’t want to go”. I don’t think so. Even if Kate was a little ill I still think she would go.
I’d have been surprised if she’d attended – firstly, Melania Trump’s presence who is taller and better looking, and the other female royals all better looking. And, secondly, the European royals will absolutely know the truth about her marriage and her illness. She avoids all such occasions and always will.
Kate was never going to go. Nor would’ve Camilla if Charles was still POW. Going back to at least the Victorian era the British representative (even if the ambassador and not a royal) is always single unless it’s a private funeral like King Constantine (Tim Laurence accompanied Anne). The only exception for a state funeral was when the Queen attended king Baudoin’s funeral and Philip accompanied her. I have no idea why this is but it’s the tradition.
Kate wasn’t going to go because she is not comfortable with world leaders in settings that aren’t expressly stage managed by her team.