We haven’t “seen” Prince William at all this week. He made multiple public appearances last week, all around the VE Day commemorations, and he’s scheduled to make a public appearance tomorrow, Friday, for the Order of the Bath event. William actually has been “working” this week – he hosted an investiture ceremony and tried to get attention by claiming that Princess Charlotte is really into track & field. He also hosted a private dinner for the merger of two charities, Child Bereavement U.K. and Winston’s Wish. He’s not very good at keeping up appearances in general, and specifically keeping up appearances that he’s hard-working or just “working” in general. Which is why this story is pretty funny: “Prince William trying to shed ‘work shy’ image as he prepares for ‘job he doesn’t want’.” This a reference to the recent NY Times piece in which William was criticized for being lazy and only interested in media-friendly events.
Prince William is regularly cited as one of the most popular members of the royal family. He has carefully crafted an image of a modern man, juggling being a father and husband with his public life. He and Princess Kate are now the most powerful royal couple and they have been widely praised for the way they have brought up their children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, away from the spotlight. But behind the scenes, William has faced accusations of not being as committed to his duties as he might be.
Even before Kate’s cancer diagnosis, the royal league tables of engagements raised eyebrows with both regularly lagging behind older members of The Firm. While the likes of Princess Anne and the King rarely have a day off, William has irked Palace staff with his aversion to official engagements, especially outside of the UK.
While 2024 was an incredibly difficult year for the Prince, courtiers noted he was still able to enjoy trips to Germany for the European Championships, and South Africa for his Earthshot prize despite refusing to take on board royal visits. We reported that King Charles had to pull rank last month and order a reluctant William to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome.
William’s seemingly work-shy attitude was raised in a recent New York Times piece on the family’s rift with Prince Harry. And experts believe he is trying to shed the image – by creating a new one.
Historian Ed Owens told the publication that William was “burnishing his reputation as a statesman”. He said: “William has sometimes been seen as work-shy, but we see him gravitating toward bigger, more media-friendly events.”
While William’s appearances are relatively rare compared with his father, they have tended to be important over the past few months. In December last year, he attended the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, an event that allowed him to spend time with US President Donald Trump. And while his trip to the Vatican was under duress, according to sources, it was another substantial world event that William was visible at. King Charles’s cancer diagnosis has meant attention has turned to the future of the monarchy.
The NYT’s London bureau chief Mark Landler notes that the “job that William does not want, at least for now, is his father’s” But he notes that “fears over the king’s health have made talk of succession inescapable”.
“While his trip to the Vatican was under duress, according to sources…” LMAO. William was under duress because he wanted to watch Aston Villa, not attend a pope’s funeral. I really do wonder what Charles or the courtiers had to say to William to get him to go to Pope Francis’s funeral. Was it just “hey, you’ll get attention, you get to call yourself a statesman again?” Anyway, William and Kate used to be called lazy and work-shy all the time by the British media, but then Prince Harry fell in love with Meghan, and suddenly William and Kate could do no wrong. It’s interesting that, all these years later, people are remembering… oh right, W&K still aren’t doing jacksh-t.
Anyway, the larger point is that these people are idiots – “how do I brush off the ‘work-shy’ label?” WORK MORE. Do more events! Stop with all of the idiotic busywork and “mother nature” videos! Stop making your life’s work “briefing reporters about how much you hate your brother.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
