Yesterday, Prince William visited the British Red Cross headquarters in London and got a personal briefing on the British Red Cross’s work in Israel and Palestine. In retrospect, it would have been incredibly easy for Kensington Palace to just announce the visit ahead of time with few details. You know, like they normally would have done. Instead, William released two statements about how HE feels about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and how he’s very nearly bored with the whole thing so there better be peace in the Middle East very soon, before the global statesman loses interest entirely.
The statement he issued just before going to the Red Cross was the unnecessary one, and it was the one which sounded like it wasn’t vetted by the government, nor was it something an apolitical, unelected heir should issue. The BBC claimed: “It’s understood the government had been briefed about the prince’s statement and his visits, via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.” I 100% believe that Kensington Palace is the one telling reporters that William’s statement was “briefed” to Downing Street, which is not the way any of this is supposed to work – it should be Downing Street telling William what to say and vetting his remarks and statements on sensitive international matters. The BBC also reported that William remarked, “Too many have been killed” when he met with Red Cross officials. There was also this:
Prince William is carrying out visits this month intended to recognise the human suffering and distress from the Israel-Gaza war. He is said to have felt strongly about what has happened in the Middle East and is “deeply moved as a father”.
“Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home,” says the prince.
The prince’s statement was welcomed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose spokeswoman said: “We want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, so it is consistent with the government position.”
On another visit to a synagogue later this month Prince William will speak to young people from a range of backgrounds, in a meeting which will draw particular attention to concerns about antisemitism. The building of bridges between faiths, and tackling religious intolerance, has been a particular cause of the prince’s father, King Charles III.
What is Sunak going to do, publicly put the heir on blast? Of course not. Instead, Downing Street will bitch out William’s Tory handlers and William’s new private secretary is going to have a very bad first week on the job. As for “deeply moved as a father” – shades of “as a father of daughters” when a man screws up. Meanwhile, Israel’s government spokesperson went on the record about William’s statement, all while “government sources” let it be known that they were not happy.
Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, issued a statement in direct response to Prince William’s call for an end to the fighting. Mr Levy said: “Israelis of course want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible, and that will be possible once the 134 hostages are released, and once the Hamas terror army threatening to repeat the Oct 7 atrocities is dismantled.
“We appreciate the Prince of Wales’ call for Hamas to free the hostages. We also recall with gratitude his statement from Oct 11 condemning Hamas’ terror attacks and reaffirming Israel’s right of self-defence against them.”
Israeli officials were caught off guard by the Prince’s words, and it is understood that they consider his statement to be naive. They are dismayed, but it is thought they decided not to go further in criticising him publicly because they did not want to enter into a row with the future King.
“Naive” is certainly one word for it, especially given William’s refusal to read, study and analyze sensitive international and domestic issues. Very interesting that “Israeli officials” let it be known that they were displeased. They weren’t the only ones. Nigel Farage tweeted: “I’m not sure that our future King should be doing this. He should stick to the Baftas.” Tory MP Andrew Percy sniped: “The underlying principle of our constitutional monarchy is that members of the Royal family do not engage in contentious political issues of the day on which there are divergent and strongly held beliefs in this country. Members of the Royal family would do well to remember that.” I agree? It’s almost like the Tory puppet is upsetting his Tory puppetmasters.
‘This is a departure from what we expected. We thought he was a serious person trying to learn the trade!’
Royal Biographer Tom Bower slams Prince William for ‘getting involved’ in the situation in the Middle East.
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