Scooter King!!! Here are some photos of Prince William on Thursday, during a visit to Bristol, England. He went to Matter, a company working with sustainable technology. He also visited a robotics center and they let him ride a scooter, as you can see. Can someone please call Scooter King’s crisis manager? It should not be this difficult to keep him away from scooters. The man just loves to scoot. Sir Scoots-A-Lot. Arise, Scooter King. Scooter 4 Lyfe. Okay, I’ll stop. Speaking of the birth of the “Scooter King” moniker, it happened because of William’s awkward appearance on The Reluctant Traveler last year. He arrived on a scooter to meet Eugene Levy at Windsor Castle, and Levy asked him some very basic questions about the plans for his scooter king reign. William’s answers were not great, and even royal reporters talked openly about his vague plans, his laziness and his lack of historical knowledge. Well, Becky English at the Mail devoted her Palace Confidential column this week to “what changes (if any) will William make when he becomes king?”
Appearing on Eugene Levy’s The Reluctant Traveller last year, the Prince of Wales admitted: ‘Change is on my agenda.’ The heir to the throne has so far been frustratingly light on detail, and when I asked his press office for clarification, I was told these were all matters ‘for another day’.
So what could the reign of Prince William look like? Having spoken to friends – and William himself – over the years, I would definitely expect a pruning back of the pomp and ceremony we see now. Not an abandonment of it, but a simplification of what he sees as the more ‘archaic’ aspects – think shorter ceremonies with less velvet and plumes.
I’ve also been told he wants to streamline the royal household and change the way things like Royal Warrants are awarded. He’ll constantly ask: just because things have always been done this way, are they really fit for purpose in the modern age?
I think there is also a good chance he will undertake fewer public engagements, with less ‘performative’ ribbon cutting-style events and a greater focus on in-depth engagements.
It’s also clear to me that he wants to be seen as an ‘empathetic’ sovereign, and is looking forward to using his convening power on the world stage.
However, a source told me recently that he does not want to afford change for change’s sake.
‘The thing to remember is that a) they [William and Catherine] are quite conservative and b) they are traditionalists, so the idea that there will be no Trooping the Colour or Coronation is never going to be the case. They see the power of what the institution does,’ they said. ‘Will he question the way things are done and potentially look at doing things differently, in a more modern way? Yes, in the same way he has done with the Duchy [of Cornwall, where he has turned housing over to the homeless, for example].
‘But while there has been a lot of talk – including from him – about change for the future, it’s important to remember who they are and how they think about things.’
As we’ve been saying, William doesn’t have actual plans for his reign beyond “I’m not going to work” and “I’ll tweet instead of showing up somewhere.” William has no actual plans for structural changes, or significant changes to how a modern monarchy actually operates or should operate. His idea of “change” is molding the monarchy around his limitations and personal choices. He doesn’t want to work or be seen or show up anywhere, so the monarchy will have to adapt TO HIM.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.
