Prince William’s bold talk on challenging ministers may rattle Westminster
Prince William could find himself sailing into “constitutionally choppy waters” if he follows through on private remarks about how he might one day approach the role of monarch, a leading royal author has suggested.
In his new book Power and the Palace, Valentine Low points to a 2021 Sunday Times profile that reported William had confided to friends that, once King, he would take a more “robust” line in questioning the advice of prime ministers.
According to the profile, William hinted that his reign would see “more private, robust challenging of advice” compared to the famously hands off approach of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who remained strictly above politics throughout her 70 year reign.
The suggestion of a more assertive monarch is said to have emerged from the stormy days of 2019, when the Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent Jacob Rees-Mogg to Balmoral to secure the Queen’s consent to prorogue Parliament.
That episode left the monarchy caught in political controversy that William may be keen to handle differently when his turn comes.
Speaking to GB News, the royal author reflected on the claim that William told friends he would bring “more private, robust challenging of advice” once on the throne.
“Well, that’s what he has supposedly told friends,” Low said, before recalling the reaction of one senior Whitehall figure. “They said, If you think about it for just 30 seconds, that’s a stupid thing to say.”
Low questioned whether William had run the comment past his advisers, noting that in Britain’s constitutional framework, a prime minister’s advice to the sovereign is not mere guidance but an instruction.
“If you start questioning it or saying, Why are you advising me that? I think that could cause all sorts of problems. It could certainly lead to a very bumpy relationship between King and Prime Minister, King and Government,” he warned.
The potential fallout, he added, would depend on the balance of power at the time. “If the monarchy has the upper hand, and they start challenging advice, that could be really, really stormy.
But if the Government’s strong, there’s no way they could challenge advice. They’d just have to do what they’re told.”
By contrast, King Charles III has gone “out of his way to be accommodating” to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Low noted keen to counter his earlier reputation as a “meddling Prince of Wales.”