Prince William’s image has undergone another transformation. His recent appearances show a man suddenly more emotional, more reflective, and more willing to tear up for the cameras. His televised moment for World Mental Health Day made front-page news, though the timing raised eyebrows. Just two weeks earlier, Prince Harry had been filmed holding back tears at a war memorial in Kyiv. For many, William’s display felt less like a coincidence and more like choreography.
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Mirroring the Sussex Model
The comparisons no longer feel coincidental. Online commentators have begun noting how often Prince William’s public moments seem to echo his brother’s. One widely shared post by cultural analyst Glow Lee summed it up bluntly: “The heir that follows the spare.”
THE HIER THAT FOLLOWS THE SPARE!!!!
Prince William works like clockwork in copying Harry (the Sussexes) .
Prince Harry was seen being visibly moved in the Ukraine last month. It made the headline.
So like clockwork in a rare occurrence not typical of his character /behaviour… pic.twitter.com/zjDQOX21NP
— Glow Lee (@GlowanneLee) October 11, 2025
The pattern is hard to ignore. On September 15, Prince Harry was seen holding back tears during a visit to a Kyiv memorial, an unguarded moment that drew global sympathy. Barely three weeks later, William appeared tearful in a World Mental Health Day video, an unusually emotional display that dominated British headlines. The timing was striking enough for many to question whether his newfound vulnerability was spontaneous or strategic.
Since 2020, this rhythm has repeated. Each time the Sussexes introduce a new initiative or theme, a similar effort surfaces from the Wales camp soon after. The Royal Foundation’s suicide prevention network closely mirrors Archewell’s Parents’ Network, while Kate’s recent campaign on online safety copies Meghan Sussex’s long-standing work on digital wellbeing.
These parallels are disturbingly clear when viewed from a financial perspective. The Sussexes receive no taxpayer funding and hold no state-backed privileges or security, yet the royals who are publicly financed, supported by government infrastructure, and poised to inherit immense wealth repeatedly copy their financially independent relatives. William and Kate’s duplications often appear amid waning coverage or pressure to prove their relevance. The effect is deliberate familiarity, an attempt to capture the Sussex energy without the Sussex authenticity.
It is within this pattern of imitation that William’s most recent public display—the now-famous tearful interview, finds context. What was framed as compassion may, in fact, be part of a calculated image strategy.
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The Mental Health Divide
William’s World Mental Health Day video aimed to recast him as a compassionate leader. For the uninitiated, the performance appeared heartfelt. Yet those familiar with his history of temper and his need for control saw something different , a calculated display of emotion.
The carefully staged tears contrasted sharply with the image described in Harry’s memoir Spare, which alleged that William physically attacked him during a 2019 argument. Meghan’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, where she revealed she had experienced suicidal thoughts and was denied help by palace officials, offered another reminder of the institution’s selective empathy.
When the founder of mental health charity SANE used the Daily Mail to criticise Meghan Sussex’s account of suicidal thoughts as “self-obsessed,” Kensington Palace stayed silent. That silence was striking, but what followed was worse. In December 2022, The Sun published Jeremy Clarkson’s now-infamous column fantasising about seeing Meghan “paraded naked through the streets” while crowds shouted “shame.” The piece provoked international outrage and a rare public apology from Clarkson himself. Yet Prince William, who has built his public role around compassion and mental health advocacy, offered no condemnation.
Nearly two years later, he filmed an appearance for Clarkson’s Clarkson’s Farm series. For critics, the decision underscored a troubling pattern: performative empathy paired with quiet complicity.
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The Problem with the Princess
While Prince William’s image has benefited from expert PR, the same effort has not extended to the Princess of Wales. Once hailed as the monarchy’s most popular figure, Kate’s standing has grown uncertain. William’s reinvention is deliberate and visible; hers seems static.
In the summer, it emerged that Kate’s former stylist, Natasha Archer, had been following several of Meghan Sussex’s friends and fashion contacts on Instagram, a quiet but telling confirmation of what many had long suspected: Kate has been taking cues from Meghan’s style. At least, when it comes to fashion. But Meghan’s influence extends far beyond clothes. Her strength lies in how she wears her confidence, through natural charisma, clear communication, and purpose. Qualities that Kate has tried, and repeatedly failed, to emulate.
Kate’s public speaking has become a recurring weak point. Royalists praise her for her composure, but she always appeared hesitant and detached, delivering speeches that are so vague they barely register. The press continues to suggest that the Princess of Wales is ready to redefine her public role. After fourteen years in the royal fold, and among the least active senior royals, even before her illness, the record tells a quieter story. Beyond Britain, especially across the Commonwealth, her presence remains limited and her impact still to be seen. And when it comes to the Commonwealth, one might ask why the Princess of Wales has yet to set foot in any African nation.
Kate’s Reputation Is Shadowed by Silence
While no member of the royal family has been confirmed as the source of the Sussexes’ claim about remarks on Archie’s skin tone, Kate was named in a mistranslated edition of Endgame, reigniting debate about royal attitudes toward race. The controversy, combined with the couple’s poorly received 2022 Caribbean tour, criticised for colonial overtones and awkward public encounters, has left a lasting mark on her image. Although there is no evidence linking her absence from future international visits to such criticism, questions about how she engages with diverse audiences persist.
Even palace-friendly headlines describing her as “quietly rebelling” fail to convince. Her recent co-authored essay on mental health, presented as a personal cause, offered little beyond polite thanks and familiar platitudes. Where Meghan Sussex speaks with clarity, conviction and purpose, the Princess of Wales often retreats into formality that achieves very little.
For all the effort to portray her as dignified and dependable, the Princess of Wales risks becoming what her critics describe, a polished presence with little substance. In a monarchy struggling to appear modern, silence no longer reads as grace. It reads as an absence and a financial burden.
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A Shadow He Cannot Escape
Prince William’s public reinvention has been shaped, consciously or not, by the brother he sought to distance himself from. Increasingly, the same appears true of the Princess of Wales. From emotional interviews to carefully styled appearances, the Waleses’ public image now echoes the Sussexes’ approach to modern advocacy, polished, personal, and photogenic.
Yet imitation is not evolution. William’s orchestrated empathy and Kate’s cautious reinventions project effort rather than conviction. Their initiatives often feel reactive, arriving in the wake of Sussex successes that set the pace for royal relevance in a changing age.
The result is a monarchy caught between tradition and imitation, still chasing authenticity it cannot manufacture. For all the planning and polish, the heirs remain in the shadow of the spare, a reflection that no amount of strategy or media smearing can quite erase.
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