In August, the Prince and Princess of Wales were too lazy to attend the V-J Day 80th anniversary events. There was a huge service at the National Memorial Arboretum, attended by King Charles, Camilla and the last living WWII veterans who fought in the Pacific theater. And William and Kate just skipped it because they were on vacation. Well, Charles and Camilla hosted many of those same veterans at the palace yesterday for an Armistice Day reception. William must have been ordered to show up, because he actually left Forest Lodge for this. This reception was William’s sole public event for the day. His wife was tasked with leaving a wreath at the Arboretum in the morning. All of this happened after William was too lazy to attend the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday as well. Speaking of, Amanda Platell at the Daily Mail decided to hit pause on her anti-Sussex campaign and she absolutely ripped into William in her column this week.
Prince William’s no-show at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War was bewildering – and enough to make many of us worry about our future King’s priorities. Was it really more important for him to make a speech at the discredited COP30 UN climate change summit and visit a remote island in Brazil than be here on this island, this Britain, honouring our war dead and marking one of the most important days in history?
Yes, he was back in time to lay a wreath at The Cenotaph the next day, but his absence in the Royal Box was all too conspicuous on Saturday night. His place alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla and Princess Catherine was taken up nobly by his son George, just 12.
No one will have missed the fact that William is dedicated to solving the world’s climate problems, to save the planet for his children and his children’s children. Yet was anyone captivated by his ‘impassioned’ speech or his worthy yet underwhelming Earthshot Prize awards on TV? An article in the India Times had a point when it highlighted the fact that the Prince flew 5,500 miles to Brazil to lecture the world on climate change.
COP is a talking shop for the self-aggrandising rich, the puffed-up and powerful, pontificating about how to save the world as they arrive in their gas-guzzling private jets. Since the Conference of the Parties (COP) climate gatherings started 30 years ago in 1995, greenhouse gas emissions worldwide have increased by 65 per cent. Hardly a successful record!
Far better than that hand-wringing speech and the week of photo opportunities in Brazil – playing beach volleyball, hugging babies, taking selfies with the locals and visiting indigenous tribes – would have been for William to have gone to the Royal Albert Hall here in Blighty.
It should have been an unmissable event in his diary and his absence is a worrying indication of what royal duties now take precedence in his life. He and his family were also a no-show for the traditional annual Easter church service and walkabout at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in April, choosing instead to spend family time in Norfolk with Kate and the kids. It’s an understandable sentiment, but Easter is seen as the most important date in the Christian calendar and whether he likes it or not, William will one day be Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Attendance at such events comes with the job description.
My fear is that William, rushing around the world to lecture us on climate change, comes across as turning his focus away from people’s everyday concerns. At a time when a recent Ipsos poll revealed national pride has plummeted and British society is now more divided than ever, he should be seizing every opportunity to restore a sense of patriotism and belief in Britain, to rekindle the magic of the monarchy.
…Yet the answer is not to shrink away from royal duties here in Britain; it is to take heed of the ordinary people who truly want the monarchy to succeed in an increasingly fragile world where republicans are on the march. As his wise grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, once said: ‘When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead they are more determined to struggle for a better future.’ Another of her great sayings was: ‘I have to be seen to be believed.’ And I’m sure she didn’t mean being seen at a COP summit on the other side of the world.
This is the most I’ve ever enjoyed a Platell column. Whack him again! William is such a sad, pitiful figure as well – he’s been handed that extraordinary platform, and he’s just a 40-something self-aggrandizing loser who is too lazy to actually DO something, anything at all. I wondered if his absence at the Festival of Remembrance would become a bigger story, and I’m glad at least one Mail columnist dedicated a piece to it. And yes, he skipped Easter. And he’s the BAFTA president and he skipped the BAFTAs this year too, because he was on vacation in Mustique. And he and his staff couldn’t even spell “veterans” correctly (that misspelled tweet is still up, btw). Lazy and half-assed doesn’t even cover it.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
