Last week was full of news about the Sussex family’s likely UK visit next month. This weekend was full of unhinged “backlash” to the news about the family’s visit. Via fake-attribution palace sources, it was clear that Prince William was on the warpath, throwing a full-blown tantrum about the very idea that King Charles plans to welcome Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili into a royal residence for a short visit. William’s hysterical hissy fit is important, and so is the timing, because I think King Charles just pushed back on his incandescent heir. Quite suddenly, the Mail carried yet another exclusive in which they quoted Norman Baker quite freely. Baker is a long-time republican and royal-critic. He usually critiques the monarchy as a whole. But on William’s 44th birthday, Baker decided to call out William’s decades-long laziness.
He might be a present husband and father, but when it comes to carrying out royal duties the Prince of Wales is ‘workshy’, a royal expert has claimed. Speaking to the Daily Mail, royal author Norman Baker pointed to data that shows in the time from January 1 to June 15 this year, Prince William, 43, clocked in a total of 57 events – his elderly father, King Charles, 77, meanwhile, managed 76 and his hard-working aunt, Princess Anne, had a top score of 100.
Mr Baker, author of And What Do You Do? What the Royal Family Don’t Want You to Know, the hard-hitting 2019 analysis of royal finances, claimed that ‘If you are looking for a royal to cut a ribbon, you are unlikely to secure the attendance of Prince William’.
Nor is this a new trend, he said: ‘For 2024, Anne clocked up 474 public duties and Charles 372 – both more than one a day. William trailed in well behind with just 166 – less than one every two days. William has also been noticeably absent from royal events. It did not go unnoticed that when the family turned out in force for the traditional Easter service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2025, the only senior royals missing were William and Kate.’
‘We might have expected William to represent the royals at events like the funeral for US president Jimmy Carter, given his father’s health ruled out transatlantic travel. It is rumoured that Charles ordered him to go, but he refused as it was Kate’s 43rd birthday. The nondescript Prince Edward, 14th in line to the throne, was dispatched instead.’
The author added: ‘William has stated firmly that his family must come first, and while that is laudable in some ways, is it really possible for the heir to the throne to absent himself from royal duties as he does? And actually, is it even true? Since taking over the Duchy of Cornwall from Charles, William has found plenty of time to get into the micro-management of the Duchy. He generates phone calls, texts and WhatsApp messages to Duchy staff on almost a daily basis, even bombarding them at weekends. He insists on receiving a weekly report from the Duchy’s secretary. The public relations spin coming out of the Duchy would have you believe that his close interest is all altruistic, about making the world a better place.It is interesting that one of his first decisions was to create an investment committee to boost profits for the Duchy and therefore for himself. His appointments to the Board have been dominated by property developers and investment bankers.’
‘Workshy William? Yes when it comes to undertaking royal duties. But no when it comes to adding to his already bulging bank account.’
Nice mentions of William refusing to attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral and last year’s Easter service. Surprised that Baker didn’t recall that William and Kate also skipped the 80th anniversary of VJ Day last year, and William skipped the Festival of Remembrance last November as well (Kate and George went in his place). William’s office didn’t care enough about Remembrance Day to even spell “veterans” correctly on social media. William was also nowhere to be seen on ANZAC Day this year and he also tried to get out of attending Pope Francis’s funeral because Aston Villa was playing. Combined with all of the shady stuff being done with the Duchy of Cornwall… yeah, it’s interesting. I certainly don’t think William works that hard at duchy business either, but he pays more attention to the money than his “royal duties,” for sure.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
