The i Newspaper recently had a strange piece of royal propaganda, centered on Prince William being more ruthless than his dithering father. While I will always agree that King Charles dithers and allows catastrophes to fester, I’m not sure William’s “rage-smash everything to pieces and call it a day” method is somehow better. There’s also a contradiction inherent to most of William’s propaganda. The royalists want to argue that he’s the most normal, hard-drinking, unfussy bloke out there, but they also constantly portray him as a man seething with bitterness and anger, consumed with ruthless plots against his enemies. Which is it? Some highlights from “How William became the most ruthless royal.”
Andrew Lownie on shotcaller Peg: “William is calling the shots more now that we’re in this transitional phase towards him taking over,” he says. One of the clearest examples of William’s power, argues Lownie, is in the Royal Family’s handling of the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crisis. “Charles is sentimental, he’s very compassionate, he’s a bit of a ditherer, and I believe he’ll have given guarantees to his mother, and indeed Andrew himself – guarantees that he will take care of Andrew, that he will ensure Andrew’s girls [Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie] are OK. William can’t speak out, because he’s number two and he won’t cross his father, but he’ll have had a big influence.”
William is annoyed that the York situation is still festering: Per Lownie, William “is annoyed and frustrated that the buck keeps being passed on the Andrew issue – that the Queen passed it to Charles, and Charles has had three years to address this, and hasn’t really done it. There’s some tension about that. Charles feels his obligations to his relatives, but he also has various skeletons in his closet [his infidelity with Diana, the “Black Spider” memos proving he lobbied the government], and has needed to keep Andrew and Fergie inside the tent, whereas William doesn’t care about any of that.” William reportedly told his aunt, Princess Anne, that her offer for Andrew to come and live with her once he was ousted from the Royal Lodge was “madness”.
Lownie on William being scandal-free: “I think he’s cleaner than the others and the tension is that he wants a clean stable when he moves into the role of king. William also has Kate who is a really tough one, and behind that smiling exterior she’s like the steely queen mum. Kate gets how it all works, and I’m always struck that it is often the outsiders who better understand the institution rather than those who are born to it. Kate helps William see the reputational damage, and he is much tougher than his father or any other royal relatives. The couple is much better at reading the room.”
Robert Hardman on William & Prince Harry: “The late Queen,” says Hardman, “as much as she adored Harry, knew her grandson couldn’t do this halfway house of being in the Royal Family. William gets this entirely; that the institution comes first. When there’s a moment where some member of the family… jeopardises the reputation of the brand, he’s not going to put up with it.”
The king who sinks the ship: Victoria Howard, a royal historian, and founder of The Crown Chronicles, sees these announcements as William clearly attempting to make the best of the influence and privilege he has. “Whether it’s paying his fair share of tax – he’s in the top percentile of tax payers in the UK – or by selling Duchy land to help build homes, this is part of the long game and a legacy that will long outlive him. Charles is more sentimental – for example, doing all he can to hold on to Birkhall, his late mother’s private residence on the Balmoral estate – for William, it’s about impact and the survival of the monarchy. No-one wants to be the king or queen who sinks the ship…”.
Hardman on William’s staff & lack of religion: “They didn’t have staff [at Adelaide Cottage] but they probably do at their new place [Forest Lodge], but then again, it’s very difficult to know about their staffing arrangements because he is suspicious of the press, he likes to control the story, and is a very private man. I’ve interviewed Charles many times, but William is just different. He doesn’t want this huge entourage, he’s got a close-knit team. Charles stays up at night writing letters and reading books. William’s more of a box set guy. He likes briefings, he likes memos, bullet points. Charles is very spiritual, while William’s not mad keen on church [a Kensington Palace aide says that William has “a quiet faith”]… William goes to church, he’s very dutiful, does what he has to do, but – let’s put it this way – at his age, Charles was going on retreats to Greek monasteries.”
William’s modern monarchy: “This softly, softly approach is the way William and Kate will go,” says Lownie. “A lot of it will be performative, and all the royals are still in a bubble, after all. But what’s clear is that William is already refusing to be tarnished by the events of the past. He won’t be standing aside and letting private pleasure and scandal ruin the future of the crown.”
“No-one wants to be the king or queen who sinks the ship…” And then the entire story is just propaganda where they’re trying to polish this turd and justify William’s very clear struggles, setting the scene for William’s eventual sinking of the proverbial ship. Ah, he’s decisive, more decisive than his father! Setting the bar pretty low. He goes to church because he has to! A ringing endorsement for the future head of the Church of England. He’s not going to put up with Harry! Harry left over six years ago and William is still, somehow, incandescent about it. The only thing sort of true here is that William is better than his father at hiding secrets and scandals.
PS… I actually think Camilla is the most ruthless royal.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
