A consistent undercurrent of royal gossip in recent years is that King Charles thinks that Prince William is lazy, but not only that – William is undignified as well. Charles doesn’t care for William’s half-assed attempts to be relatable or talk about his feelings. Charles thinks it’s unbecoming for the heir to the throne to cosplay a football hooligan or a bloke down at the pub. And I can only imagine Charles’s reaction to these undignified photos of William playing beach volleyball in Rio de Janeiro. These are not the ideal images for a future (Scooter) king. Of course, that scooter wasn’t an ideal image either, but I digress. Royal biographer Robert Jobson has a new book called The Windsor Legacy. Jobson has been “aligned” more with Charles and Camilla’s side of things for many years, and so you should take many of the excerpts from this book as Charles and Camilla narrating certain things. Notably, “sources” told Jobson that William was desperate to cut back his schedule in 2024:
How Charles has changed after his cancer diagnosis: He’s changed some of the habits that once seemed set in stone – largely due to advice from Dr Michael Dixon, a seasoned NHS GP and advocate of complementary medicine who was appointed head of the Royal Medical Household after Queen Elizabeth’s death. William, too, has urged his father to slow down and listen to his medical team. So Charles now takes regular afternoon naps. And he’s started having lunch again – often spinach soup – after skipping the meal for most of his life.
Charles was in a lot of pain before his diagnosis: Before being diagnosed with cancer, he’d been typically stoical about his mounting levels of pain. Months before, his condition had worsened so dramatically, says a senior royal aide, that a doctor was summoned. The King was given morphine (one of the strongest painkillers available), fitted with a catheter and taken to Aberdeen Hospital. The cancer, however, was not discovered until a few months later, in January last year, while doctors were in the process of treating the King for an enlarged prostate. A few weeks down the line, it was announced that the Princess of Wales was also suffering from an unnamed cancer. Having two leading members of the Royal Family struck down at once seemed a malign twist of fate – and Prince William was shaken to the core.
William goes to church more, despite all evidence to the contrary: As the year progressed, both he and Catherine became more religious. Never known as a regular worshipper, William now attends church more frequently than in the past, though as privately as possible.
William asked to do fewer events: Last year, he also told his father that he wanted to cut his own official royal engagements back to ten for the rest of 2024. But the King refused his request. ‘Think again,’ he urged.
Kate’s “cancer-free” video last summer: In September 2024, in a polished video directed by Will Warr, Catherine revealed that she had completed chemotherapy and hoped to remain cancer-free. The footage showed the Wales family affectionately enjoying time together in Norfolk, on the beach and in the woods, and many found it moving. Queen Camilla’s reaction? She was deeply relieved, of course, at Catherine’s recovery. But according to a senior Household source, she also joked with friends – very much tongue-in-cheek – that the video was ‘like a shampoo commercial’.
Underlying tension: These days, William and his father generally work well together. The King happily consults him, and largely trusts him to do what is right. But there is often an underlying tension between them. It doesn’t help that both have a fiery temper that’s not always held in check. Working for Charles, some staff say, can be like ‘treading on eggshells’. As for William, Palace sources recall all too well an incident when the prince was over-assertive with his father – over a matter that William had completely misinterpreted. Even senior aides are known to tread lightly around the prince, mindful of his mood swings before attempting to raise sensitive issues. William may always appear to be composed in public, but insiders describe him as occasionally ‘difficult to handle’.
I love sitting back and watching Charles get the heir he deserves. Charles’s failings as a father writ large have set the stage for all of this – William’s laziness and rage, Harry’s exile, and an institution which is mostly limping along, collapsing in on itself in slow motion. Not to blame everything on Charles though – William is horrible and that’s on him. He’s a man in his 40s who recently had some kind of breakdown because… his brother visited England and did some charity work. Anyway, it’s just funny to watch these two men try to out-petty one another.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
