Just days after Prince William officially left his RAF position this September, he announced his “post-military” plans. Those plans did NOT involve “becoming a full-time working royal.” Instead, William announced his plans to take a “transition year” in which he would once again avoid full-time royal duties by focusing on “conservation and endangered species.” Since September, we haven’t heard much about that though, so I kind of thought that William’s press office realized that William’s “gap year” at the age of 31 sounded a bit… “off” and they were trying to figure out a new way to say that he still wasn’t going to take on more royal responsibilities. Just FYI to the royal press office: I don’t think this new effort was the best choice. Apparently, William has decided to enroll in a 10-week “bespoke” course at Cambridge.
Meet the newest, most famous student at Cambridge University! Prince William is set to go back to school for 10 weeks in 2014, Kensington Palace announced on Monday, Dec. 30.
The Duke of Cambridge, 31, has enrolled as a full-time student in a bespoke program in agricultural management at Cambridge University, organized by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership. According to a statement released by the Palace, the so-called “executive education program” begins in early January and runs until mid-March.
During this time, Prince George’s dad will attend seminars, lectures, and meetings designed to “help provide the Duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the United Kingdom.” All told, he’ll have 18 to 20 hours of lectures per week. A dorm room will be available should he need to stay the night.
The Duke is also considering a number of options for public service. Earlier this year, in September, he completed his run with the Royal Air Force, after more than seven years of full-time military service.
“Bespoke” says to me that Cambridge is working with William to tailor this program for William and William alone. This is like a really fancy version of a post-graduate “auditing” a semester’s worth of courses, I guess. The thing is… it’s only for ten weeks and William is smart to want to learn more about agricultural management, because one day he will inherit The Duchy of Cornwall, one of the most extensive (and mostly farm-intensive) estates in the world. Prince Charles changed the way the Duchy has been managed, and I believe Charles made the Duchy all-organic and mostly sustainable. It’s profitable too. So, on that side, it’s a smart choice for William to want to learn more about this stuff. On the other side… his wife just had a baby and it’s past time for him to become a full-time working royal.
A few more stories about William and Kate and their family… let’s see… there’s a story going around the UK tabloids that the Queen specifically requested that William and Kate NOT bring their dog Lupo to Sandringham for the holidays. According to a source, “The Queen made it clear that Lupo was not on the guest list.” There’s been a lot of dog issues within the royal family, as it seems that every royal family member brings their dogs and those dogs beat up on the Queen’s Corgis. Allegedly, Kate and William left Lupo with the Middletons.
Speaking of the Middletons, Will, Kate and George (and Lupo) are going to spend New Year’s Eve and beyond with the Middleton family. That’s a pretty good compromise for Will and Kate, much better than how they did it last year. This year, they spent Christmas with the Queen and the royal family, and now they’re spending NYE with the Middletons. That works. Apparently, the Middletons are going to throw a big party and Pippa and James have invited a lot of people too.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News.
Oh start working you two spoiled Royal nincompoops!
How many reasons is enough?
How hard is it to do some charity work especially when Waity just turns up, twirls her hair, look like a dumbass and giggle like a buffoon.
These two are just embarrassing in their lack of work ethic.
Really? Seven years in the military right after university for William is an embarrassing work ethic?
William barely worked for the RAF — a lot was made of his rescues in order to promote his image.
LadySlippers is correct. A very tightly controlled PR game because these two don’t have a work ethic. Showing up at charities and at the palace is barely work. One blogger has it right: they should both roll up their sleeves and get to work. Maybe going to a shelter during the holidays would have been great but I guess they were too busy with George, since they don’t have nannies….
It’s amusing that that’s impressive to you considering how much time he actually spent ‘working’ while at the RAF.
I guess I can’t fault him for seeking more education, especially if it is going to be of benefit down the road when he does eventually take on more responsibility.
Truly – and it’s only 10 weeks. Can’t knock a person for trying to be more educated.
Just consider how many unemployed people in the UK would kill for such an opportunity, which by the way would not be “just another qualification” but an actual opportunity to go back to work and can’t afford it. He on the other hand, can afford educating himself in his free time, while doing something productive.
Found this thanks to a royal blog. He did “work experience” in 2005 on a farm, living in luxury at Chatsworth. Then he moved on to banking, and finally to Sandhurst for military training. Why didn’t he learn these lessons the first time around 8-9 years ago when a gap year was appropriate?
http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2005/10/05/princewilliam/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-365040/Take-butchers-Its-Wills-shop.html
“William is on a placement at Chatsworth to learn about managing a country estate.”
So do we expect him to duck out on Kate Middleton and the baby for another few months in 2014 to do more financial training during his bizarre gap year? Will this “full-time” course stop him from flying off to Mustique and Switzerland/France in January and February?
He needs an excuse to go on spring break so that’s why he signed up for a mini MBA.
My2pence:- I remember that course he took at Chatsworth and other such estates. And for the same reasons. This is essentially a refresher course, but i do love how it’s being presented as something new.
I guess something needs to be found for William to do during his gap yah! that also legitimately keeps him away from his new family.
LAK
If William is caught spending a lot of time away from his family by getting a place closer to the school I wonder if Kate will move back in with her parents or if Carole will get her spot in their KP apartment?
Here I was thinking George breathed new life into his wanting to spend more time with Kate.
Florac, you are quick to judge: remember the wonderful pics of them walking hand-in-hand to church.???? You could just feel the love. (gag)
Florc – The entire statement as detailed in this article implies he will barely spend any time over the coming year with Kate except when doing official stuff like that tour of NZ/Australia.
of course alot of it is intentions as they always do to seem busier than they are eg look at the description of Kate’s busy schedule pre-Christmas that has apparently earned her 10wk break as well until the tour.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/451150/Prince-William-to-become-a-full-time-student-again-for-10-weeks
So, it’s likely kate will be back at her parents home then… or carole gets her little spot in KP. William is just awful it seems.
It’s not at all a bad idea for him to get some training on agricultural management since most of his income will come from that. It’s hard to tell if this is a program for one, though, or an established program with other students. Not that it matters all that much, I suppose, but I would feel odd if I were the only student in a course!
I have a feeling that the Middletons throw a fun party. I’d love to be a guest! Maybe they will announce Pipster’s engagement…
This bespoke course sounds like utter tripe.
There are loads of agricultural colleges that do a BTEC in agricultural management and it gives you lots of useful hands on experience so you really know the business.
Why doesn’t he get his hands dirty and start hanging out/apprenticing with his papa who actually is involved in the running of the business he will inherit? Geez, this is such a no-brainer. He has a ton of people who could advise him and help him familiarise himself with his future duties.
But noooo, he has to take some uppity fluff course to keep the critics at bay while he continues to swan through life like the profligate, sorry excuse for a man he is.
Cambridge is one of the best universities in the world; any person serious about education would probably take the opportunity to attend a well-known university like that over any other college that offers the same courses.
@ Bwarf – even for agriculture? Cambridge is a world class institution, but I guess I don’t think of it as a big ag school, especially, as Maven points out, he could just as well spend 10 weeks at his dad’s (how would you say it? Duchy? Land? Farms?) land learning the ropes of that specific management style and then go on to take specific courses.
Truly. Maybe we could talk him into Texas A&M.
I’m just finding the phrase “full-time working royal” wildly amusing. I’m not saying their various charity projects aren’t meaningful or appreciated, but COME ON. This guy did the only JOB he’ll ever have to do when he squeezed himself through the right birth canal (and even then, the work really wasn’t on him). Nobody’s ever going to sack his royal arse, saint or slacker. That’s a luxury ACTUAL full-time working people don’t have, so comparing it to a real-world job? Not quite.
Dogs beating up on the Queens corgis (clutching my pearls). We must put a stop to that. I always heard the adorable Queen corgis would gang up on other breeds, which is understandable the castle is “THEIR” home.
Pass the smelling salts!
(…all joking aside, I could swear that I read at one point that someone’s corgis–either the Queen’s or someone else’s–killed one of another royal’s corgis? Hm).
I think one of her corgis killed one of Beatrice’s or Eugenie’s dogs. They are not friendly from what I’ve read. I think Lupo is. They bring him places off leash and around children.
Thankfully, Beatrice’s pup survived the Queen’s overly pampered vicious little thugs!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2190577/Queens-corgis-maul-Beatrices-dog-Balmoral-Terriers-ear-nearly-bitten-attack.html
I think the Queen was advised to reduce/ stopping adding to the number of dogs she owns a few years ago after an incident with the QM’s dogs. Too many in one household and they’ll start to develop a pack mentality, which can cause problems when other animals are introduced.
FWIW, corgis and dorgis (daschund/corgi mix – *adorable*) are usually very even-tempered dogs, but I could understand why the Queen would probably want to avoid introducing other animals to them after previous problems.
That’s what I think too! It’s much more likely the Queen’s 5 or 6 corgis are ‘herding’ guest dogs all over the place, and Ma’am is tired of all the hullabaloo!
Well, that’s good. I think maybe I read an initial poorly researched report when it originally happened that had the poor dog mauled to death.
How I remember this I do not know, but this is the story about one dog attacking the other:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3345585.stm
🙁
i love the word ‘hullabaloo’. I don’t know why, but it makes me giggle.
Hullabaloo is a word that’s like foreplay for the mouth — it’s just sublime.
*sigh*
“foreplay for the mouth — it’s just sublime” – LadySlippers
Geez, now I know how I want to celebrate New Year’s Eve! 🙂
Oh dear me, I’m ever so pleased you two don’t think me a positive flibbertigibbet for all my euphonious tomfoolery! I’m a bit tittlebrained as it IS, after all, New Year’s Eve!
Sloane Wyatt: Keep those words coming. Love it. 🙂 After my GCSEs, i spent the summer reading the dictionary/thesauraus in a bid to know every single word therein. Sadly, age and vodka have put quite the dent in the memory banks. I love seeing these words though.
Oh Sloane, you do so know how to make me swoon!
😉
Yes! I’d always heard that the corgis were the terrors.
Good Lord! He really is a do nothing duke.
Again, doesn’t Will’s seven years in the military, much of it as a search and rescue pilot, count for anything? Sheesh!
He almost lost his wings several times for not meeting the required amount of flying hours and the only reasons he didnt loose them is because exceptions were made for him because of who he is. He never worked for the RAF and all of his rescues were played up (despite him not even being the captain) for good PR. In fact this time last year he was scrambling to meet the minimum amount of flying time for the year which was a mere 15 hours.
Not really when you find out that he almost lost his wings because he wasn’t flying enough hours.
BTW, it’s extremely rare for a pilot to lose their wings over lack of flying hours as the hours are very easy to obtain. Assuming the pilot feels the flying is a priority.
I think it is so interesting how the media tries so hard to make them interesting. They really are not.
I know. It gets really annoying.
Well, every article about William and Kate on this site gets more than 100 comments. Also, it was reported that magazines with Kate on cover sell very very well. Few days ago I saw Google report for 2013 and it showed that Kate is one of the most googled person in the world. So I would say they are pretty interesting. Like it or not. Agree with it or not. Doesn’t matter. If they were not interesting, press would ignore them because all media editors want are clicks on their web pages and good selling of their magazines.
Mare, at least half of these comments are about how annoying they are. That’s because people don’t have the opportunity to tell that on their face.
That doesn’t mean that they’re inherently interesting; it means that the press knows that they can talk them up to sell copy. Two different things.
This is someone who has access to this type of education without needing a formal classroom. He could have full timed it royal and then met with and read about and discussed these ideas with people like HIS FATHER , leading thinkers etc.
Will hates being tied down? Sure looks like he’s running away again, smartly for 2.5 months so no one accuses him of out righ laziness . How nice of him to leave Kate with the baby , how modern.
^^ this. Plus, It’s 2014 dude. Well into the era of continuing education for all. I bet even Cambridge offers distance learning options.
I’m pretty sure they do, I know Oxford does. But only for certain courses. So I don’t know Cambridge’s system.
Oxford FTW!!! haha I only say that cause I’m about to go there. 😛
Lexi: Congratulations. What are you studying?
@Lak: Thanks! Studying Modern Languages and Linguistics. For my modern language focus I decided on studying Italian. Thought about Spanish but…I already speak that, want a new challenge! Incredibly nervous but very excited.
The fact that his new accommodation is apparently solo is what struck me about this announcement. That and the fact that we’ve heard all this before when he took his first gap year.
But the solo accommodation is only IF he chooses to spend the night. (Loved the wording and implied emphasis)
And why wouldn’t he –isn’t that a long schlep from his any of his homes?
And it will still be kitted out as though he were there every night!!
So they are living their lives with separate-togetherness, Kate really is William’s Camilla… She can dote and mother him, but only when it suits him.
It certainly sounds as though he’s taking every opportunity he can to get away from his wife, and they haven’t even been married for three years. Not the great love story the media wants us to believe, is it?
Dear William, I have always cut you a lot of slack. I remember when you were a chubby baby in hand-smocked outfits. I loved your mother, and you lost her so young. In spite of the privilege you inherited, I’ve always thought it would be difficult to have your future decided for you, and to live under a microscope. But this. A gap year at 31? No. You are supported by the good people of the UK. They pay, directly or indirectly, for your homes, vacations, clothes, cars, food, wife and child. You are 31. Get. To. Work. Signed, Over It.
Perfect! Now, let’s start a petition!
Oh Dahling — you always do give people too much slack.
*slides glasses back on nose and looks sympathetic*
Isn’t that why Gerry or Geoff *waves hand not really remembering name* stayed so long??? Even after the *whispers* the unspeakable happened????
Oh, thank you, dahling, not everyone appreciates all I tolerate on a daily basis. The incompetence and heartless thwarting of my simple little rule that everything be perfect all the time. Sigh. But you always understand, dahling, because I know you suffer the same frustrations yourself from time to time.
Oh, you’re thinking of Genry. I had to let him go. Kept insisting he be called Henry for some reason. I need a pick me up just thinking about him, dahling.
Spare the rod, spoil the servants Dahling. You are just too nice and tolerant for your own good.
Did you want your pick-me-up in pill or liquid form?
Now this is getting ridiculous by each passing day. First we had a gap year for a31 year old man with a child and now a “bespoke” course. What the hell this bespoke even mean? Also why on earth he is staying at student accommodations when Queen and Charles’s estates are maximum an hour away from collage and it’s not like he have anything else to do that an hour long drive will be inconvenience to him. The costs of making the regular student accommodation safe enough for him will be huge but of course the down to earth William doesn’t give a crap about tax payer’s money.
Bespoke = custom made or tailor made.
As someone said above — there *are* fantastic ag programs at other unis in the UK. I don’t wonder if he isn’t doing this at Cambridge due to his title….
It’s blatantly because of his title.
Not to be rude (although, why the hell not?) but I highly suspect Prince Charles, and Prince Edward in particular would NEVER have been admitted to Cambridge if they weren’t part of the Royal Family.
Edward got a C and two D’s at A-level FFS, when it’s very well known that the academic entry requirements for Oxbridge are straight As! Hell, Cambridge ask for A*s now!!
*sigh*
Sorry. That’s the result of going through two horrible application cycles via UCAS and seeing how much further Mum and Dad can get you than plain old grades. Thankfully nepotism has all but been phased out when it comes to entry to Higher Education (in the UK, at least. I hope, anyway.)
Anyway, it’s not as if it’s a genuine degree programme. I think it’s along the lines of the business course Naomi Campbell took part in at Yale(?). He’s just being snobby when there are plenty of very well respected agricultural colleges that offer BTECs in these sorts of subjects, as others have mentioned.
Then he’ll be able to say he’s a Cambridge grad….
Amelia
It’s exactly the same how our Presidents (in their youth) and children of Presidents get into very good colleges here without having the academic skills to get in on their own.
Money and titles. Those 2 things will open many doors.
Chrissy
If i’m understanding this correctly William will be a Cambridge Graduate in the same sense that Tyra Banks is a graduate of Harvard Business School.
@Amelia
You’re thinking of Tyra Banks at the Havard Extension School, not Naomi Campbell.
Also, nepotism has not at all been phased out of the UK higher education system. We don’t call them ‘legacies’, as they do in the US but plenty of families get their children (mainly boys) into major public schools and Redbrick universities simply through the fact of their great grandfather having matriculated there.
Aw crap, thanks MsT_Shady (great name, btw).
Shows how much I pay attention!
Amelia – that was tyra doing an MBA for entrepreneurs. A friend of mine was actually in the same intake as her – that wasnt a mickey mouse course at all.
William is thick as 2 short planks so 10 weeks will probably be enough for him.
And on a separate note, that last pic of Kate is terrifying – the bony skeletor hand clutching her stomach like that gives me the heebie jeebies.
All private universities in the United States reserve space for alum’s kids who don’t meet their admissions standards. They call them legacy admissions.
The US universities justify that system as a revenue-generating necessity. And it is, the largest private endowments are at the prestigious private universities that favor legacies because over the generations, legacies leave behind a lot of money.
In the UK, the majority of educational expenses are state-funded. They aren’t supposed to favor legacies for their name or their social position…
@Amelia
Ta very much! Glad I didn’t come across as strident.
I’m at Birkbeck, hoping to eventually take an Msc at UCL! Small world eh?
@ Amandapanda
As much as Tyra is my homegirl, she was NOT on the MBA course either. Tyra has been caught out numerous times for overblowing her brief attendance at the Business school. Wikipedia has all the relevant links to news coverage on this;
In 2011, Banks enrolled in the three-year-long [40] Owner/President Management Program (OPM) at Harvard Business School. Admission to the program, as described on HBS’s website, “is a selective process based on professional achievement and organizational responsibility. We look for professionals who have demonstrated business talent and leadership potential.” [40] Banks graduated from the Executive Education Training Program in February 2012, earning a certificate.[41][42] Tyra has come under intense criticism for implying she was a Harvard “graduate.”[43] A biting article in Jezebel referred to her statements on Harvard as “disingenuous,” and called upon her to “stop lying” about Harvard.[44][45] Harvard’s own newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, was critical of Tyra’s public statements about “attending” Harvard.[46]
He could have taken this course at the Royal Agricultural college which is 15mins from Highgrove.
Amelia: How is your new course so far?
But isn’t that the super duper party school???
Really good, thanks LAK! Lots of contact hours to fill my week with, which I wasn’t really expecting for a Masters, to be honest. I heard horror stories that some people were just left to their own devices for the better part of a year, but our tutor’s fantastic. Doesn’t seem to mind us popping in and bugging him in his office periodically either (read – at least once a week).
I’ve just begun to make a bit of headway on my dissertation now, I’m hoping to work out all the bugs and tricky bits soon so I can leave my summer relatively free for bike racing.
Hope you’re well, and Happy New Year!
Amelia, What are you getting your masters in and where are you getting it?
I’ve looked at going to get my masters in the UK as it’s SO SO SO cheap to get a degree there vs the expense here. Right now I just can’t afford any degree…
MSc in Social and Cultural Anthropology from UCL 🙂
Funding can be hell, though. There are awards available from research councils but they’re generally only available to MPhil and PhD students rather than taught degrees.
I’m not sure what the fees are like in the US for post grad (I’m guessing not particularly healthy for the wallet) but mine are £8500 for the year and Student Finance England won’t give funding to people looking to complete a second degree or post grad, so no tuition/living cost loans for us. I work part time in a bike shop which has helped to cover my living expenses/rent/Oyster for the past three years since I studied in London for my BA also, but I caved and took out a loan to cover my tuition.
It’s a pain in the arse, but I’m already in debt to student finance, so I may as well add a bit more on top for kicks.
It’ll all be worth it anyway. I hope. I worked full time in a museum for a year after doing my BA working with some of the antiquities so post grad qualification should really help with moving up in that field.
But if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just run off abroad somewhere for five years until my student debt is wiped out to stick it to Nick Clegg for raising tuition fees ^^
What subject are you looking to study? Just bear in mind that tuition fees might vary for international students 🙂
I wondered about that too LAK – when I think of agricultural studies, I must admit that Oxbridge aren’t top of the list.
Mairead: me too.
Amelia: That’s the way to go. It’s amazing that we only know each other on CB because i spend so much time in and around UCL because every one i need for work purposes has offices around there.
Wow, it’s a small world! How do you like hanging around near the Godless scum of Gower street? :p
Happy New Year! (…in fifteen minutes.)
Oh how brave and trailblazing of him! Yawn! Good grief!
‘Bespoke’ means the Cambridge programme is tailor made for the Do Nothing Prince and will serve to keep him out of any real course work that his fellow students are actually graded on.
Sorry Sloane, I wrote my comment before reading yours.
And what stumps me is there *are* ag programs at other schools. Is ag something Cambridge even known for? I get associating with his title all that but surely other schools/programs in the UK wouldn’t love having him there too? Wouldn’t the smaller, less patrician unis also help him relate to people???
I get it. Prince Carl Philip of Sweden (Sweden’s do nothing prince) is also doing this — and I think the topic is similar. Not only that, I think Victoria (his older sister the VERY busy CPss) also took some classes…
ETA: Another commenter has said Cambridge does have a well-known program for this already. Good to know.
Actually prince Carl Philip did finish a three year bachelor’s degree in agriculture. He took a while to complete his course requirements and there were stories in the press about his lackadaisical approach, but in the end he did finish it and it was a bona fide course. Not someone tailor-made 10 week nonsense (=attend some random lectures and no exams).
Honestly, this feels like outrage for outrage’s sake. This is an actual, pre-existing program at Cambridge that a lot of big companies send executive employees to do. Maybe it’s “bespoke” because it can be tailored to particular subjects for each student, but this isn’t something random being created just for him. I think it’s a great idea — he already has an interest in conservation issues, and now he’ll be learning about land management in preparation for one day running the Duchy.
Esti, I would agree with you if he were already a hard working person. But that’s NOT what he’s known for so it looks like more slacking.
Esti
William has a strong history of doing anything to avoid the hard working, dedicated side of royal work. He’s the future so the family and press keep him protected.
You have to make a lot of assumptions to think this isn’t another attempt to avoid his actual duties.
I just don’t understand what you think his “actual duties” are. When he does military service, everyone here complains that he’s not *really* doing that job because he gets time off for Royal stuff. When he makes Royal appearances, everyone here complains that they’re too fancy or too sporty or to Africa-focused. Everyone’s still yelling about his “gap year” but since he left the military he’s stepped up the pace on official appearances and enrolled in a relevant educational course, and now people are complaining about that, too.
His entire job of being a Royal consists of showing up to charities/events and, once Charles takes the throne, managing the Duchy. No, he doesn’t make as many appearances as the Queen or Charles — but he’s not the current monarch or the first in line to the throne, so that makes sense. If you just don’t like the concept of a Royal family, that’s a completely reasonable complaint. But as long as there is one, he seems to be doing the job.
Esti, The requirements to keep your wings are for safety reasons. It’s the ABSOLUTE minimum required to keep you and everyone else safe while flying. Reserve pilots are able to keep their wings it’s that low and yet — William almost couldn’t do it. Even with other duties no one else in the Royal family risked losing theirs. You know what the minimum requirement is and you work around it. The hours, if committed to it, are low and easily done (you need a minimum set of hours per month to be logged).
That’s what you’re not getting. It’s low and very achievable if your focused on keeping yourself and everyone safe.
Esti, I agree that if it’s an ag course, it could help him run Cornwall.
But it’s way too soon for him to be taking this course. It will be 10 or more years before he is in charge of the duchy. That means some ag management principles he learns today will be obsolete, and the rest he will have forgotten.
So yeah, he’s only doing this to circumvent his duties and more importantly he needs an excuse to go on spring break.
When people ask the question,’What do you think he should do since he is the heir’s heir and therefore not really needed?’ I always say that Charles created his own role and duties. He could have been partying and vacationing for the past 60 odd years.
Charles’s situation is no different from William except titles they hold. They are both the *right* heartbeat away from the top job. What they make of their time as they wait is up to them. William’s situation is better than Charles because his wait WON’T be 60+yrs assuming the monarchy survives that long.
Charles has created a brilliant job *for himself* while he waits. William is not showing any signs of doing the same. It’s not simply that he is lazy. He has never shown any interest other than vacationing and partying and favoured sports like football and Polo.
If the monarchy were removed tomorrow, Charles would still have his farms, architectural concerns. Harry would have the army and his charity. All his aunts and uncles and cousins working the royal beat have picked things that interest them or that they can easily continue with should monarchy be abolished.
Further, all his supposed royal duties are inherited. Not simply the procedural things like assisting the Queen, but his charitable interests as well. His charities are inherited from his mother or Charles or Philip. And the reason he looks so disengaged whilst carrying them out is because of this.
It begs the question, what is the purpose of William?
Esti
To respond to the one bit I didn’t see covered well by everyone else..
William did take time off from his RAF duties for Royal work. However, I was referring to the many times he just didn’t show up for his duties and was caught at random bars or on vacations while never giving notice to his superiors.
I remember it was covered well here when William was caught on cellphone videos and pics of him partying at a local bar during a 2 week span of claiming to be busy with RAF duties. This stuck out because his team was rescuing his neighbors from a flood while he skipped out.
HUGE boost to what LAK stated.
Every Royal has to treat their duties as if they are a franchise of a much bigger brand — which they are. They have a lot that is predicated by their own interests and initiatives. They need to create a Royal role for themselves — each and every one. No one has it just handed to them save the Sovereign.
And this William is a junior Royal or only the heir’s heir is pure BS. First, William is VERY much a senior Royal — that is determined by the Order of Precedence. And second, Edward has almost NO chance at being King, yet he and Sophie are busting their butts with Royal duties. Anne, has even a smaller chance of being Queen as she’s lower in succession than Edward and his kids, yet she virtually shames almost her whole family working her tail off.
So let’s just throw out the bad excuses, eh?
Another “here here” for LAK. Despite being a republican (lower-case r), I have great admiration for Prince Charles’s hard work in conservation, heritage and the Princes Trust.
Edward/Sophie and Anne have to work precisely because they have so little chance of being King/Queen. If they aren’t working, what the heck is the point of them? William, whatever else you want to say about him, has a distinct and defined role to take on in the future. His future is already defined, whereas the roles of the rest of the peripheral royals are not defined and they therefore have to do a lot more work to justiy their presence. Just my two cents.
I agree (as usual) with LAK.
LNG,
You are incorrect. As LAK stated, Charles didn’t have a role and flayed around for awhile trying to find one. He created The Prince’s Trust and overhauled the Duchy of Cornwall — neither of which were required of him…. And once he found his groove — boy oh boy did he go to town. Bravo to him too.
None of the Royals have a ‘point’ or any pre-set role. And that includes Philip. He had the extra problem of people throwing roadblocks in his way, and yet, he’s a powerhouse in the BRF.
Philip, Charles, Diana, Camilla, Anne (very much her father’s daughter), Andrew (even Sarah), Edward, Sophie, and Harry (not to mention all the real junior Royals) have had to CREATE their own role. Within the BRF in regards to their duties. William has not done that which is why he gets criticised. And I think is a perfectly justifiable criticism too.
I honestly don’t know why I even bother reading the comments on these posts, let alone commenting myself. There are two or three people who are allowed to have opinions, and everyone else must agree or be told they are wrong. I’m here to engage in a discussion and I am stating my personal opinion based on my own assessment of the facts (and really, most of the “facts” we’re dealing with here are just educated guesses, since I’m quite sure no one here is calling up the Queen to get her real opinion of Wills and Kate) .
Anyway, my opinion is that William has a lot less to worry about with regards to his future role than other peripheral royals, especially given Charles’ desire to streamline the number of working royals. Unless the monarchy is abolished, William has a role, like it or not. He WILL be King. I’d say that the role of King is pretty well defined, but I suppose I’m incorrect about that too. William has the leeway to take some time to define his role (whether because he’s lazy or because he’s taking his time or what have you) because he doesn’t have to worry about his future position (again, unless the monarchy is abolished).
I think Edward/Sophie/Anne and the rest of the bunch have to create roles for themselves and make themselves indispensable in order to secure their place, something William doesn’t have to do. I don’t disagree that many other royals have worked hard to create their own roles, I just think that they have a lot more vested interest in doing so.
LNG – Please don’t feel that your opinion isn’t valued. It’s great to hear a different take on the same ‘facts’ we are all looking at. It’s also great to hear a more pragmatic interpretation of the same facts as opposed to regurgitating facts and figures to a point that others are alienated. I do post a great deal on these royal threads and i sincerely apologise to you and everyone else if i have posted so much that you feel you can’t make a contribution. I genuinely love to hear from other royal fans and see different opinions. And to be honest, my own opinion has been changed by many posters here. I do occasionally get frustrated when i disagree with a person’s opinion, and sometimes that comes through in my posts, but i hope when i post a rebuttal it isn’t rude to whoever i am disagreeing with.
Back to the point your post, I think you make a great point about the lesser royals’ need to work. I stand by my point that William, despite his pre-determined path, hasn’t shown any signs of making it his own. Right now he stands for nothing and that is always a bad thing as far as royalty is concerned. The opposite is true as well, but i think in an age where we require value from everything, he is in danger of devaluing the monarchy out of existence.
In many ways i think The Queen also stands for nothing because alot of what we see of her reign is a continuation of innovations by her parents and grandfather rather than herself. She was lucky to come to the throne at a time when no one questioned the value of royalty. She’s survived by doing nothing beyond a few tiny adjustments.
Perhaps William will be lucky and following in the footsteps of his father/grandmother will work out as well for him as it did for his grandmother.
Please let me add to what LAK said, LNG. Please post. Differing opinions are what make the world go round. I’ve changed my opinion based on what people have said here and, get this!!! I even changed LAK’s opinion on something!!! I think it was only once, but I did it!! It was so long ago, I barely remember, but I did it!! No, it didn’t make any impression on me at all. 🙂
LNG, you are more than entitled to have an opinion and I third LAK and Bluhare in that I hope you continue to post. I agree with you on this matter – I think William does have a more defined role than most others in the royal family. In fact, I think that its that defined role that is his big problem – he seems very wary of it.
I freely admit that all my comments are pure opinion ; ).
LNG
Yes post! No bullying or meangirling intended. Opinions are always welcomed. Some ople here know the real facts of the situation and of course facts override opinion, but opinions bring a new frame of thought to the table. So keep posting!
Is it “bespoke” (about the most overused word ever in regard to royalty) or is it an actual, honest-to-goodness standard program?
I don’t know. William just comes off as rudderless, wandering from activity to activity whenever the fancy strikes. Now, that may be pure perception and he may be a genuinely hardworking, focused young man, but he doesn’t appear that way.
I think the RF has a very hard time controlling him. He is strong willed and lazy and lacks direction.
Amen sista.
But people don’t want to see it though.
If it’s true that he doesn’t like royal duties, and I think it probably is, why doesn’t he just step aside and become a private citizen?
He has what $22 mil he inherited from Diana which would be enough to continue to live the high life. Plus should the $22 mil be inadequate, his royal blood means rich folk would prop up his luxury living for the rest of his life.
A lot of people ask this question and the simple answer is — he can’t.
In order to remove *anyone* from the Line of Succession requires a new law to be passed in the UK and all the Commonwealth countries. And the current law to remove gender is being held up already. I don’t know why they didn’t make it more comprehensive then, when it was on the table.
He also has royal family trusts as well as inheritances from QM.
To think he could have married a catholic and spared us all the woe-is-me tale.
A lot of ladies have covered this well, but i’m tossing in my 2 cents.
This whole thing just seems like complete BS designed to look like he’s accepting his responsibilities when in reality he’s slacking.
William took his RAF duties only somewhat seriously. If he cut his vacations and unannounced, random time off periods from the RAF during his service by 1/4 he could have accomplished this.
I imagine this “bespoke” course isn’t covering anything he couldn’t have learned from taking on more royal duties along side his father who is currently in the position William is taking a course to learn how to do. Not to mention Charles has done great work nd hasn’t driven it into the ground. It thrives(sp?) under him.
And I truly seen no real reason that he can’t be a full time royal and take this custom made course. It’s fitted to him perfectly. If he wanted to work and do this he absolutely could.
William has had all the opportunities and resources to get his act together. Yes, he’s a future King and that must be a horrible weight on his shoulders, but he’s 30 now so sack up or ship out. I can’t believe Harry is constantly working military, personal charities, and royal work while swimming against the current, but William can’t handle more than 1 role at a time.
End Rant.
I do need to bring up that William almost lost his wings while in the RAF — that is **very** rare and paints an extremely piss poor picture of William. Hardly a full-time pilot…
I wonder if the RAF counted his taking the helicopter out to land it in Kate’s back yard as flying hours since they called it a training exercise later anyways.
It is amazing that the keys to the kingdom are thrown at his feet and he’s failing to even pick them up.
Any time up counts — so yes, that would have counted.
Guys, this is soo Downton, him managing the estate, you’ll see in season 4. Would love to see if they get a pig-farm too, lol.
FFS, they can’t do anything right in some people’s eyes.
Frankly, I think sounds like a fantastic idea. He needs to learn modern sustainable farming & agricultural techniques to his *gasp* job. And I think it sounds like a really interesting topic!
Not true.
There are a variety of ways William could have handled this to ensure that he balances his Royal duties with increasing his knowledge.
The catch is and always has been that William has been very vocal about NOT wanting to be Royal as has his brother stating the same thing about William (even as an adult) . And honestly, I am in 100% total agreement with William. He should not have to do something just because an unfortunate accident of birth. However, my complaint with William isn’t that he doesn’t want to be Royal or forced to do something he doesn’t want to, my complaint lies with his passive-aggressive tactics in order to get out of doing stuff. He could have been working diligently in order to modernise the BRF’s outdated inheritance laws so he, or anyone else, could step away if he (or they) wanted to (there are a variety of things that still could be changed to make it better).
So getting back to my earlier comment — it’s his surprising lack of balance that I disagree with. As is he continual work-shy ethics.
William does not refuse the privileges of royal life, only the obligations of it.
He’d make a good absolute monarch.
I actually disagree Juliette. There are plenty of perks that go with just being a peer.
10 weeks isn’t very long for an agricultural studies/science post-grad course though. Hopefully there’ll be enough time for him to weigh up the benefits of once vs twice-daily milking and learn about the intricacies of set-aside (a almost uniquely EU invention where farmers are paid not to farm part of their lands). Frankly you’d need 10 weeks for the biodiversity legislation and management.
Here in the US farmers are paid not to work lands as well.
I didn’t know that Lady Slippers- that’s really useful info. Thanks! 😀
What privilege! The idea of having the exquisite minds of Cambridge at my disposal, for a “bespoke” curriculum is enthralling. I would die of happiness. If I were Kate, I would insist on experiencing this elite educational advantage too. I feel sick with jealousy… Honestly, I had no idea that Cambridge did things like this for royals.
Besides the fact that he seems thoroughly dissatisfied with the entire notion of becoming King, I do not see a single drawback to the lifestyle William enjoys. The unbelievable custom-tutoring from elite scholars, the fancy free cars, the privilege of detailed security devoted to protecting your privacy, the castles, the all-expense paid vacations that occur so frequently… Even the royal duties: meeting foreign dignitaries and attending fancy balls. None of this seems like a negative thing to me, not at all.
Better get your skates on. Harry is still at large. You might get to do all that…… 🙂
Yes! The Prince who takes himself less seriously so that he can actually enjoy himself while carrying out royal duties and find happiness and purpose in his work.
@Juliette
That’s what makes Prince Harry so attractive to me. Just looking at pictures of him, without knowing anything about him–I’d say that he is averagely attractive, in a really ‘bland’ way. He’s decent enough looking–he’s not ugly, but one look at his face won’t have you dropping your panties for him.
But it’s the fact that he’s dedicated to his work, that he looks like he enjoys playing soccer with those kids in Africa, joking around with Queen Elizabeth–calling her Granny, and so on–he seems like he’s so fun to be around, a great friend–probably extra freaky when the lights are turned off.
William—he could’ve been like that, to me. I’ve seen pics when he was younger–he was HOT. I don’t know what happened, but he looks like he’s a forty something with a moderately attractive trophy wife (Kate–I don’t really find her all that beautiful)…..any attractiveness he had to me, ended when he married Kate. He chose a woman who mirrored his desires quite well–they’re both lazy freeloaders.
Well, if you can excuse his thuggish tendencies towards racist epithets….then he’s a right catch.
Maybe they can pack up Kate and George and go live in whatever passes for married student housing at Cambridge!
Oh Suze!
LOL! I’m always fooled. It’s pretty sad though how he can’t be around his family for too long. Kate won’t visit. I doubt he’d allow it judging from just their married history. He needs time without her too frequently.
William reminds me of Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor. He too loved the privileges accorded to a monarch but hated the responsibilities and complained bitterly about the amount of work his father expected him to do. He was a true “party Prince”, clubbing and boozing and vacationing and taking up with lots of married women until he succumbed to the clutches of Wallis Simpson. He ended up abdicating for more reasons than wanting to marry a twice-divorced shady lady. She insisted that he stay on the throne and she would just hover quietly in the background (another Waity!) until public disdain for her cooled off, but he just didn’t want the responsibility of being king and abdicated to marry her.
Everything about William makes me think of David too.
I see this analogy too. Except that Kate was the “right” choice for a Prince, while Wallis was wrong in every way (American, divorced, infertile).
I don’t see Kate or her mother allowing William to abdicate.
Charles had the David label thrown at him and he turned it around. William however, keeps doing ‘David-like’ things.
For the record, not even David was the first PoW that was worthless. England and Scotland have a decent history of party princes that go waaayyyyyy back.
Jaded
Calling her a shady lady and other claims is how history is remembering it. This story has 2 extremely different versions. Of course, most history is never remembered accurately and is very much embellished to make some people be glorified or disgraced.
I agree Florc. Wallis didn’t want to marry David because of David’s antics (I think she thought his fascination with her would wane).
Wallis had a very unconventional past, and was like a heat-seeking missile when it came to involving herself with men who could elevate her lifestyle. She blatantly stole David from Freda Dudley Ward who had asked her to “look after the little prince” when she was away. She was also on very friendly terms, as was David, with Hitler and the Nazi regime prior to WWII, who planned to use them as token “heads of state” once they captured Great Britain. There isn’t a double version of their love story, history is remembered accurately and painfully with both of them, and it’s a good thing King George and the Queen Mother took over during such terrible times, they brought England through the war successfully, something neither David nor Wallis were capable of.
Jaded
You’re only making my point. Your view of wallis-simpson is very bias. Very much a brf version of the events and not actually the truth. You are of course entitled to believe what you like, but history is rarely remembered accurately. Especially with how the heir, spare, and glorifying the king(even at the expense of a former king) can go. So, i think we should agree to disagree.
LS
I heard the same. David was embarrassing and she was unsure david wouldn’t get red with her or regret abdicating his role for her. No matter how you view wallis, those are very plausible and legitimate fears.
I tend to think of Billy Boy as the UK’s answer to Monaco’s Albert.
New year, new life, new you? Not for William. Same ol’ routine for him: taking up some “work” that is hyped as something he is doing to prepare for his role as future king but in reality, is just another excuse for him to f*ck about doing nothing and claiming his life is so hard and he doesn’t want to be king and his Mum’s death affected him so much.
He can do this course while having a busy event calendar at the same time. He just doesn’t want to because he’s lazy like that. He can only do one role at a time because he doesn’t want to ruin his party lifestyle.
First it was the bogus RAF job where he almost lost his license because he couldn’t even meet the bare minimum 15 hours of flying at work. Then his transition year…from what, I don’t know. It’s not like he was setting the world on fire with his work at the RAF. Since he became a father, he’s been away hunting and spending time with his friends several times. He didn’t even arrive in London until the day before his son’s christening. He was busy hunting with his mates while his wife and staff prepared for the christening. You’d think a proud father would want to be there to make sure everything was good for his firstborn child.
Kate has actually done more work than him after giving birth to George!
“He didn’t even arrive in London until the day before his son’s christening.” Sacre Bleu! What nerve! He should have been there weeks before embroidering that christening gown! As for hunting and hanging out with friends SEVERAL times….That’s appalling! He should be on his knees hand-washing those nappies on an old-fashioned washing board. What a shirker!
Oh, of course. You chose one small part of my comment to get outraged about but conveniently ignore the rest of my very valid comment. Classic troll response.
William IS lazy. No amount of clutching your pearls in faux outrage will change that unless you can show concrete evidence that he is not a shirker and actually address my point.
And no, hunting with his friends several times since his son was born is not something I find worthy of applause. You don’t think a new parent should have been there with his wife preparing for their son’s christening? You think a new father can just leave for several days and not come back until the eve of one of the most important events in a Christian child’s life?
@Sachi,
You are so right. Wills doesn’t give the impression of a doting or even, involved, father. How sad is that? Georgie is just another PR prop to make him look good. I do remember that Charles adored his kids. Not getting this same vibe from Wills. And he has never said anything remotely loving about Georgie. I do know he makes a racket and likes wrapping paper. That’s about it.
A man who has all the choice and freedom in the world, when he chooses to be away from his child for long stretches of time, is suspect. To actually excuse him for what’s obvious …well, what does one think fathers are about? To bugger off at will? Not much of a man, IMO.
@Maven–Oh how history is forgotten. Charles adored his kids? I’m not saying he didn’t love them but I remember when William was a toddler and was injured severely and had to have brain surgery. Charles left Diana to sit at the hospital by herself while he went to the opera. The Opera, while his son was having his head operated on. But hey, he kept his cell phone right with him.
Jaxx, not that it makes much difference, but William was older than a toddler when he had that head injury. He was at school and hit with a golf club. And I remember that Charles got huge crap for going to the opera. What was mentioned much less frequently is that Charles didn’t go until he found out William was in no danger and his mother would be with him.
@jaxx,
Re Charles adoring his kids:
Actually, I got that impression from the housekeeper’s book.
Yes, Kate has actually stepped up. Credit where credit is due.
And if the press starts commenting on how Kate works more than William he’ll have a melt down.
Florc, maybe Kate’s reading the writing on the wall. If she makes herself as popular as Diana was, it will be that much harder for Will to mistreat her.
Do we actually know that Waity was involved in the christening preparations?
Agree, Suze. Plus that Daily Mail article where her team is going to bump up her image. I really hope it works.
Maven, I wonder what input Kate had. I would assume great Granny had more say about the situation but then the brouhaha over the guest list and location makes me think William and Kate had more than I’d have thought.
LadyD
I seriously doubt Kate is doing more events to be more like Diana in the sense she’s securing the people’s good will should William try to ditch her.
She’s built a long history of letting William walk over her and on the few times it got out she challenged him he just left her. Though he’s not often around her he can still be hell to deal with. And sure he love for her, but it wouldn’t shock me at all if anyone said she’s more in love with him than he is with her. One kind f love seems very dependent while the other is more of a sense of duty/practicallity.
Any excuse not to become a full-time royal. Why does he need to live separately from his wife and child? This is his 2nd go round with this course. He couldn’t find one closer to home? Really?
Is William bossy and hard to live with? Most women would be unhappy to be left alone with a young baby. Does Kate just shut up and put-up? I’ve seen William having what I would call a temper tantrum. Does Kate just let him be, because “he is king-in-waiting”? Where do her needs come into the equation?
wolfpup
Love the name btw.
William is well associated with tantrums so it’s not a stretch.
Kate is often at her parents home. There was always a reason given like KP was under renovations…She didn’t like being alone in their 5 bedroom “cottage”… etc…
It was covered while they dated that after William was caught cheating on Kate she told him his actions made her look cheap. He allegedly told he was a prince and could do as he liked. They broke up that time.She never really questioned him again it seems.
Kate seems to rely on her parents, has no real friends that aren’t William’s friends and her social aquaintances. She pursued him for 9 years. Maybe she only knows how to be right for him and her needs aren’t important.
Very sad.
I think being a working royal sounds like a great gig. Running charities, having your ideas valued, making a real difference in the world while not having to worry about money? Serious question: why doesn’t that appeal to them? Sign me up for it.
Believe I read somewhere that he will attend this prestigious school along with corporate types from BP, amongst others. The only requirement to these “bespoke” programs for high-level managers and future project managers . . . is $$.
In the UK that would be £££.
😉
ooh 10 weeks, bet poor Wills will need a good 3 month break to recuperate after that in the Caribbean after all that hard hard work! Watch! Pathetic. Say what you want about his loud mouth carousing brother but Wills will never be more than half the man Harry is. Harry puts his money where his mouth is: he’ll go to combat, drag himself to the ends of the earth with veterans and genuinely interact warmly with people of all ilk , not for a photo-op, but because he actually is genuine. The guy cares. Period. And he’s not even head of a household yet! What kind of example are you giving your son William?! Pa-the-tic! Enough with the country style lifestyle! aren’t you just bored of being a burden on society? You haven’t earned ANYTHING, EVER. Not your schooling, not your diplomas, not your wings, not your command, not your money, not anything. Don’t you want to work at something? Don’t you want to be able to stand up as a man and one day be able to tell your son: I made/did/created/earned X, Y, Z. Maybe not, maybe you do feel just that entitled. Sickening.
Actually I’ve wondered if Kate will use some of her ten weeks to go vacation with her family.
The DM don’t know if they are coming or going.
One article [Katie Nichols!] claims Kate has a new royal master plan to make her a royal star/worker, whilst the one detailing William’s 10wk educational course [Rebecca English] states very clearly that Kate doesn’t want to be a full time royal.
It then goes on to say how she worked so hard in the run upto Christmas that she’s looking forward to spending these 10wks with George!!
It’s enough to give you whiplash.
Seriously? It says she worked hard? Doing what? Going to lunch and the movies?
I don’t understand the hate that seems to befall Prince William and Kate. So they’re not full-time working royals, why does that matter? It’s not like they sit around all day, right? Don’t they attend tons of events that bring awareness AND millions in donations for worthy causes? That may not seem like a big deal and in the grand scheme of average Joe jobs it’s easy-peasy, but it’s still got to put a toll on things. Kate chose the life, but she has also given up so much in return, her sacrifices are not just for William but Great Britain as well. People are so hard on her and I don’t get it, maybe because I’m American?
I’m not faulting Prince William on going back to school, or that he has a bespoke program tailored just for him, he is going to be king, after all! It seems they try to be perceived as down to earth as possible which is good, but that they know they are more than just your average British citizen. For a 21st century monarch, it seems he is doing an excellent job as a part-time working royal. If he knows he’s not ready to work as a royal full-time then good for him, it seems like he wants to learn more and really be able to contribute…when he’s ready.
I really like Kate, I do wonder why she doesn’t try to make more of a splash, it seems that she’s really reserved so as to not make any mistakes but I’d love for her to bring more of herself into the mix.
Bearf, I don’t hate either William or Kate as I don’t know them. However, we in the US criticise any public servant not doing their job. Why should anyone in the BRF be any different? They too are public servants with no accountability BUT the public.
LadySlippers – I’ve never seen any evidence of “hate” in any of your comments, just valid, objective criticism based on the facts. Insightful, funny people like you, LAK, Florc, Original Mia, Kitten et. al. make this site what it is, so please don’t stop posting!!!
Thank you!
I don’t hate. Constructive criticism is not the same as hate. And public officials (as is anyone) are open to critiques.
I think William has some very valid points and empathise with him. However, I very much disagree with how he’s handled his situation.
caitlin
Thank you!
To be fair I can get a little snippy with my constructive criticism, but i’d never call it hate either. More annoyed.
It can frustrating I guess to read absolute praise of William in fluffy, planted articles, when in really he’s not embracing his duties, but is enjoying the perks to excessive levels.
Wow! Thanks, caitlin! I am flattered to be included in with LAK Florc, OKitten and others…great company indeed.
several things:
1. this week or next week, a full list of their engagements for the year will be published. You will see that they do not attend ‘tons of events’ at all. Their PR always includes a statement about how busy they are, but the end of year numbers always show it’s not true.
2. The Danish published a list of public events only for 2013 for the senior royals of 5 royal families and Prince Philip, a man who has endured 2 heart operations, a bladder infection that required hospitalisation, exploratory surgery and summer rest, 92yrs old managed 120 public events which was a third higher than the combines total of William AND Kate of 81.
3. The ‘down to earth’ image is publicity only. To be honest, pretending they aren’t 1% is more offensive than Charles who has never pretended to be ‘one of us’.
4. There is no such thing as a ‘part time royal’. And William is a senior royal. That was the point of showcasing the slimmed down royals on the balcony at the Jubilee.
5. William has put off engaging full out royal duties for a long time. He has said repeatedly that it isn’t something he relishes. Kate is following his lead so we should cut her some slack on that front.
6. This isn’t the first time he has taken a land management/agricultural course. Kudos to his PR for spinning it as though it is.
7. Both Charles AND Anne, 2 royals respected for their work ethic, have said being a royal isn’t something one can learn from a manual or even be prepared for. You simply have to do it.
Here is the 2012 list of engagements. 2013 will be published soon enough.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article3644494.ece
In every column WK have the lowest numbers. Since George is already being used as a preemptive excuse for 2013, i expect to see lower numbers for 2013. And let’s not forget, a 92yr old very sick man has already been shown to have worked harder than these 2 combined.
Diana also said that she had to get over her fear and just ‘jump in’.
It’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination but you do have to out in the effort.
LAK, Kate will never be able to equal or pass Phil the Greek’s # of annual charitable visits. The reason is hair. For Kate, 2 hours for a wash and blowout is required before visiting a charity. That limits the number of charities she can visit during the day.
Phil’s hair air dries in the limo ride on the way to his first charity visit of the day.
Get up at 5am to catch a flight to Mustique, no problem. But Kate would have to get up at 5am to allow enough time for fab hair plus 2 charity visits before 5pm. That’s a sacrifice she would never make.
MinnFinn – We really need to start adding her hair do hours to her overall work hours. And don’t forget the obligatory shopping excursion immediately after the engagement. 2 hrs hair do+ 1hr to dress+1hr travel+ 45mins engagement+ 1hr travel+2-3hrs shopping afterwards. = a very long day for Kate.
Voila! 2013 engagements.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article3962290.ece
@MinnFinn
Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!! Waity’s hair is its own character!
I completely agree with all of LAK’s points above.
What I find confusing is – didn’t George V and Queen Mary transform how the BRF did things post-WWI to ensure the continuation of the monarchy? I watched a really interesting documentary called “King George and Queen Mary: The Royals Who Rescued the Monarchy” about how they saw presenting a direct connection between the people and the Crown through charitable and other endeavors as the way to prevent Britain from going the way of Russia, Austria-Hungary, et al.
Flashforward to 2013 – how is it modern for William to want to go back to a pre-George V & Queen Mary attitude re: royal work in exchange for royal privilege? Won’t his workshy attitude now negatively impact how truly dedicated people will believe him to be when (or if) he does ascend the throne? Could this type of behavior leave the monarchy open to harsher and possibly more effective republican scrutiny in the (hopefully distant) future after HM and Prince Philip have passed away? Also, given the fiscal boon with the new Sovereign Grant, shouldn’t the image/spin be look at the new generation doing more to merit this increase in the royal purse, as opposed to less? I read something about how a lot of the additional Sovereign Grant monies will be used for long needed refurbishment/maintenance for properties and such, but once that’s done, what exactly would be the reasoning behind Will & Kate receiving more than their predecessors for doing far less?
And, I don’t want to seem like I’m bashing them, but I just have to say – if you saw your 87 year old Gran and your 92 year old Granddad working that much harder than you, wouldn’t you feel like, wow, I need to grow up, get over it and go to work? I think it was in “The Diamond Queen” documentary for HM’s Diamond Jubilee that both William and Harry mentioned HM’s and Prince Philip’s age and how much they do and how people of their age shouldn’t be expected to do this and that. But wouldn’t the next step be, they shouldn’t be doing it so let me help out? I think Harry’s made that leap, but his older brother doesn’t seem to have done the same. You’ve got Prince Charles easing in this year for HM at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, you’ve got Prince Edward easing into the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards role, wouldn’t it be excellent PR spin to William doing the same?
Your comments remind me of the problems in the US. YES he should be a full-time royal. as well as cathy……BUT …some people feel they have an inherited right to DO NOTHING! what’s wrong with getting up in the morning and being productive! ?? You make ‘work’ sound like like an ugly 4 letter word. And. Bill and Cathy need to get a handle on this the situation before all is lost!
Hi Bwarf, I think what annoys me is their PR is always on overdrive to say how they’re so caring, driven, and just like us. They aren’t. And I agree with you. I’d have much fewer issues with their lack of “work” if they’d just admit it. But they don’t, and the charade continues. It’s like the emperor riding through town naked, and no one says anything because he’s the emperor. Except the little kid, who’s saying WTF??
Ditto.
This! All of this.
I’ll be honest, I still don’t see what the big deal is about why Prince William and Kate don’t do more official engagements. Yes, they are senior royals but theirs is a much different life. William is not heir apparent I think they’re doing a good thing in not overloading themselves with engagements. I don’t think it’s laziness on their parts because they still do a lot. Plus, since Prince William is not heir apparent, again, I don’t see the big deal with his levels of official engagements. It was just released that Prince Charles is the hardest working royal in Europe, and compared to the others, William seems to hold up well in terms of official engagements and his standing in the line of succession.
I think people don’t realize the significance of being part of any royal family, I don’t even realize it myself. Look at what they have to give up, they will have their lives scheduled to the minute as soon as they become full-time working royals and for the rest of their lives. The way it looks, William knows exactly what’s coming. Think about it, Charles will probably be king within the next 5 years, 10 maybe if Queen Elizabeth lasts that long. With Charles already in retirement years his reign will not be near as long as Elizabeth. Who really knows how long Charles’ reign will be, it could be 20 years for all we know; but Prince William knows that once Charles is King, his duties and engagements will have to double, if not triple because he will then become Prince of Wales, heir apparent, 1st in line to the throne. People are so hard on him for not doing more but I think he does a significant amount for his current role as second in line, he’s not heir apparent nor heir presumptive and that gives him a bit more time, in my opinion, until Charles is crowned king.
But what if the queen and charles pass suddenly? William’s procrastination isn’t as easily justified then.
When you are born into a role you don’t want and you have the chance to step aside you should. If you stay in line, but openly complain it is too much while honestly not preparing yourself past treading water it’s called being lazy. He is only saved by the press and good pr.
It seems he has no direction or passion for his role. He’s lacking a sense of duty. Meanwhile Harry is taking on the role of assisting their father Charles with his duties. It was a role William was suppose to take and if he truly wanted to know how to run the dutchy who better to teach him than the man running it?
And Harry did this while still working in the military and when on leave doing charitywork often.
Apparently William has taken these courses before. This just seems like more procrastination.
Wow! I did not see that coming (for real, no sarcasm).
Edit: Oh it’s only a ten week course. He’s not completing a full degree or diploma.
Oh, and I did read somewhere that Ma and Pa Midd were supposedly invited to Sandringham for Christmas, so that’s hilarious that instead they were at home dog sitting Lupo. Maybe HM suggested it for them when she put out her no dogs allowed notice.
Here is the list of 2013 engagements: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article3962290.ece
William: 104
Kate: 88
Harry: 79
W&K had no overseas visits and Harry was out of the country for 8 weeks (in Afghanistan and the South Pole)
Compared to the Danish stats, those numbers are insanely inflated. As in, doubled. WTF? Amazing that the flacks at the palace are showing how baldly manipulative the RF has become. Can’t wait for a republic.
I think I read that the RF inflates what they do to increase numbers. Like if they go visit a charity and have lunch, that’s two engagements. The visit and lunch. It’s quite dishonest, really.
Ugh why won’t they pick me?!? I’d have no problem keeping up with the Queen on an average of one appearance daily, some overseas, and I already have several charities picked out. I don’t don’t even care about wealth, just a chance to serve the public with guaranteed financial security and beautiful dresses.
It breaks my heart too, bettyrose.
Don’t forget the jewels and tiaras. If I were royal, I’d borrow from the Queen’s vault every day if she’d let me.
But seriously, you’re so right. It is really sad that William refuses to embrace having been born into the opportunity to significantly impact thousands of people’s lives during his adult years.
If I believed in reincarnation, in his next life, I would want Willy to be a single mom working 2 minimum wage jobs to support her young kids because the dad never pays his child support.
Ha! I LOVE your 3rd paragraph!
And here i am paying my own expenses to work with charities i like. Wow. I must be a sap.
while i don’t have anything to add to the ‘avoiding real work’ dialogue, i do think that a lot of folks fail to appreciate how genuinely interested and dedicated Prince Charles (and also Princess Anne) are to farming and specifically organic sustainable farming. it’s not something they just slap their names on and then occasionally do a royal wave-and-driveby for the press.
i was flipping through one of my swine books a few months ago and was surprised and delighted to find that Princess Anne wrote the introduction to it, and that took me on a little internet journey of the royal farming efforts. if Prince William does have an interest in sustainable agriculture, he would at least come by it naturally. i personally think that it’s kind of hot that this prince isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.
there’s a cute picture of Prince William and Princess Kate visiting a World Vision initiative pig farm last year, and here’s a picture of him feeding some tamworth pigs awhile ago: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-31/prince-williams-feeds-the-pigs/5179646
most of us rely on farmers to feed us three times a day, and as a wanna-be-farmer, i am so pleased that this is at least bringing a bit of attention to the agricultural world. i agree that he has been saddled with Ye Bag of Endless Royal Duties that he is expected to honour, but if this is what he is interested in, i’m glad he’s taking the time to take this relatively short program.
The royal family are primarily country people, it’s true.
I don’t have any issues with William taking this course. It fits right in with his future.
It must be so nice to be filthy rich with no real obligations, no real sense of community and acknowledgement of the shit people go through right now al over the world, AND able to take gap years, mini courses and second-third-fourth chances in reshaping your life. They are both disgusting.
Having said that… happy new year to the rest of us non-important minions!
It all means that he will have exclusive tutoring. I think an Oxbridge tutorial class is more like a small discussion between two students and a tutor.
It’s ridiculous to think that so much taxpayer money goes towards propping up the likes of William, only to enable him to work/oversee rather, his father’s estate/farm – so much acreage and yet in other parts of the UK people are struggling to pay rent or find accommodation, let alone work.
There’s a lot that goes on behind closed doors we know nothing about. He has much to learn about his role as king. So all of you bitching about how little he does and you’re footing the bill, why don’t you complain to your politicians? They are the ones living off the fat of the land and your hard earned tax dollars. Blame them for your lot.
So no criticism of public figures is allowed? If that were the case, this site would shut down. These threads are civilized compared to some others, and I have no idea why people who comment freely on them come to a royal thread and bitch about what’s said here. What’s so different about the royals that make them above everything else?
Sure bitch away but dont blame them because you’re broke, unemployed and whatever else. Blame your politicians. They’re the ones milking our tax dollars. Ever hear of the 1%. Sooooo true. Look to the banks, big pharma, oil……
I don’t blame anyone for my woes other than myself, Maggie. But you didn’t answer my question about why we aren’t allowed to criticize these two but it’s OK to criticize anyone else.
bluhare you’re allowed. I’m not the police but the fact is the royal family employs plenty of ppl. They contribute greatly to their country. They arent a bunch of layabouts as some on here make them out to be.
Maggie, they do employ a bunch of people, it’s true. I’ve actually looked at their employment listings. Sophie and Edward were advertising for a PA not too long ago, and I thought I’d look really good over at Bagshot Hall lording it over the common folk. Alas, not to be.
That being said (and BP employs 1000 people or so, I think), their salaries are horrible. Just horrible. Apparently there are perks that go along with it (I think!!!) otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it at all.
Maggie – the only royals who get the layabout labels here are Kate and William, and there has been a general perception that Kate has picked up the pace lately.
I don’t think it’s an either/or proposition – snark on politicians but not Kate and William. We are equal opportunity snarkers here.
He has a baby! So I understand that why he does not want to work right now 🙂 I would avoid it to stay at home with my baby for sure 😉 Or maybe he should be a stay-at.home dad! That would make him a great modern role model for fathers!
. . . . except he’s doing none of that!
Liven
I fully agree with you! William should abdicate to Harry so he can be a stay at home dad to George. Get in more time with his wife! I’m sure he hates all his time away from them.
And this is an argument that’s been blasted full of holes here. He didn’t want to work before his baby boy and now that he has one he wants to be far away from his family with a on to live alone. He’s shameless.
we all know after these 10 weeks he´ll find the next excuse. That´s our William.
Don´t believe that Willy is really interested in agricultural management, i mean has he ever shown any interest in his fathers work???
But hey he has to do something and needs a good excuse not to do the hated duties or be full-time with wife and son. The next 10+ years Willy will jump from idea to idea, from course to course, from excuse to excuse and i bet every idea will lead him far away from home/ wife and kid(s).