As we discussed on Sunday, Prince Harry stepped out at the Living Legends of Aviation event on Friday, specifically to honor the California firefighters and aerial crews who saved Southern California during the fires earlier this year. Then, on Saturday, Prince William was forced to attend Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome and Vatican City. Apparently, William tried to avoid attending because Aston Villa was also playing on Saturday. This side-by-side comparison of Harry and William both being out and about within a 24-hour period was obviously seized upon by the British papers, who tried to make it sound like “William does solemn duty while Harry parties with movie stars.” The Telegraph’s headline was just that: “Harry speaks at LA awards as Prince William attends Pope’s funeral.” Which is unfortunate, because the Telegraph’s piece was actually kind of nice, with LLOA attendees praising Harry for turning up to honor the firefighters even though Harry has “very much shied away from these types of events since he moved to California five years ago.”
So, basically, the royalist media was working overtime to compare William favorably to his brother and embiggen William as a “statesman.” This was William’s reward for being dragged kicking and screaming to a state funeral. From the Daily Beast’s Royalist column:
Prince William took a major step into his future life as a global statesman Saturday, attending the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome on behalf of his ailing father, King Charles III. The gorgeous ceremony in St. Peter’s Square unfolded under blue skies, drawing a cornucopia of world leaders in an extraordinary display of global power. In a crowd that included kings, queens, and heads of state, the Prince of Wales’s presence marked a significant milestone in his evolution.
King Charles, who is undergoing cancer treatment, decided not to travel.
Time, then, for William to assume more duties.
The guest list at the Vatican was a who’s who of world figures: President Donald Trump was unexpectedly given a front-row seat at the funeral mass, as was Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (the two managed a brief meeting before the service). Nearby sat France’s President Emmanuel Macron alongside European royals such as King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain.
Be in no doubt: William’s appearance was a dry run for his future role as king, and the 42-year-old prince carried himself with the necessary gravitas and diplomacy, all welcome signs of his growing confidence on the international stage.
The experience will serve William well in the years ahead, as Charles’s health issues mean the Prince of Wales will likely have to step up sooner rather than later.
This is the way the press communicates with a 42-year-old heir to the throne: you’re such a big boy, such an important global statesman, you deserve all of the praise for skipping a football match for this, but (whispering)… you know you’re supposed to do a lot more of this, right? I also glanced through the Telegraph’s coverage of William’s appearance in Rome, and they just gave a list of all of the people who were seated around William at the funeral mass, then declared that the funeral appearance was “a major milestone in the Prince’s developing role as a global statesman as he continued to build the personal, international relationships that his father and late grandmother had before him.” Then the Telegraph mentioned that poor Peggy had to miss the Aston Villa match.
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**
The bar is in the Earth’s core for this lazy git.
Awww, the big boy left his home and went out. Isn’t he sooooo great? He’s just a cute widdle snuggle uggums of a prince, isn’t he.
I swear, if anyone talked about me doing my job in this way… I’d know it’s way past time to get my resume out!
🥱 sure thing Jan.
If Willie is the best global statesman Britain has to offer, Britain is in the shits.
So the press are actually praising him for actually turning up to something, probably under duress. That’s where we are now.
He turned up. Wow.
Such a low bar.
Wait!!! I thought just yesterday that Peg was made to go kicking and screaming but today he is being praised for doing his job. The little man child must have read yesterday’s article and started throwing pillows so today he got them to praise him for going. My head is dizzy from the extremes from one day to the next lol.
Does just showing up to a funeral make someone a statesmen? It’s his job to go and sit and represent, yes. It’s just giving statesmen a bad name.
Looks like it. Not only that but “global” with all these international dignitaries.
The rats must know how badly Willie has impostor syndrome and the need to make him feel better about his third row relegation as befits a global statesman of his stature 😂
Given his BAFTA awkwardness, just wondering what kind of small talk Willie can actually discuss with the likes of Macron? “I went to Paris to see an Aston Villa match?”
‘global statesman’ is cracking me up because its so obvious its a clear talking point put out by KP for reporters to use when discussing William. and its just so pathetic bc it screams “I’m important too!!!!”
I think its clear that he refused to attend Carter’s funeral and someone – Charles? – put their foot down about this one.
When you are 42 years old, have trained for this job your whole life, but you still require public praise for your “growing confidence” lol.
“Charles’s health issues mean the Prince of Wales will likely have to step up sooner rather than later.”
They’re doing way too much to push William as ‘statesman’ following that trip considering how abysmal he looked among world leaders. I think 🤔 Charles is probably worse off than the palace would like the public to believe but the media seems to be aware of the gravity of his current condition.
Aww, look! Peggy’s a big boy now!
“…the 42-year old prince…all welcome signs of his growing confidence on the international stage.”
LOL. Before he was 40, Harry, as the spare, had acquired enough “gravitas” and “confidence” to step pretty seamlessly into private life with the same significant international presence as he had as a RF member. That could/should have been Will by this point, but Harry was the one doing the work Will should have been doing, hence Harry’s now the one with the experience to shine on the global stage. This is just another “so keen” article of the type we’ve had for years about Kate. Will’s made it very clear this year that he doesn’t care about doing the work, just about how it looks (i.e., compared to Harry) – and how it looks is increasingly silly for someone already in his 40’s.
This is so sad. If William was working on a regular basis the press wouldn’t have to prop him up like this.
If he wants to look stately and like he belongs, he should try not slouching.
William became eligible to ascend to the throne when he turned 18, at 42 he has growing confidence? The BM, the Firm and the Government know he’s not ready for the Crown. I’m beginning to think William is an imposter and Harry is the rightful heir.
“took a major step into his future life as a global statesman ” If going to a funeral is all that is required to be a global statesman then I expect most of us on this site would qualify.
Did Charles get heaped with praise for attending funerals as the POW? I wonder if some world leaders or vatican leaders arranged for Trump and Zelenskyy’s front row seating and facilitated their meeting. I know it had nothing to do with PW.
What a whiny titty baby. You know he threw a fit because he would be missing the footy. He probably spent the entirety of both flights on the Aston Villa subreddit.
He was such a statesman that NO ONE approached him or spoke to him. The big boys were busy with state affairs and discussed among themselves. William was not one of them, no one needed him there or invited him. Who needs a guy who does nothing, brags that he reads nothing and talks nonsense about the wars in Europe. They ignore him at every meeting. There is nothing but a diplomatic greeting. Here, even that was not there, because the statesmen had important things to discuss.