News that the privacy-obsessed Prince William has found his ‘forever home’ in the isolated eight-bedroom Forest Lodge, where he says he will live even after becoming King, should raise red flags about what the heir might sacrifice to shield his family.
What damage will William’s control-freak tendencies and stubborn insistence on privacy wreak when he takes the Crown? What could the Prince’s obsession with protecting his own family eventually do for the Monarchy?
To paraphrase the mantra of his cherished and wise grandmother, the late Queen, for the Royal Family to survive in an ever-changing world: ‘We have to be seen to be believed.’
During her reign she carried out more than 21,000 engagements, even up to the days before her death.
In comparison, last year William did 71, a puny figure against his 70-year-old aunt Princess Anne’s 474 (even after she was kicked in the head by a horse) and his father’s 372 despite ongoing treatment for cancer. It does not bode well.
Yes, we all understood why he scaled back his duties while caring for Kate after her cancer diagnosis. How devastating it must have been for the entire family. As a nation we came together in sympathy – including the many thousands of families going through similar turmoil – respecting the Waleses’ need for time and space to heal. We gave them that time.
Of course, we realised his obsession with privacy and having a ‘normal family life’ for his children was defined by his own deeply unhappy and dysfunctional childhood with warring parents, scarred by the death of his mother Princess Diana and wanting to protect his family from Royal duties for as long as possible.
We all recognise that – while he is the King-in-waiting.
Yet with all due respect William, ‘privacy’ doesn’t come as part of the job description for the King of England. Which leaves us questioning: will Prince William put being a husband and father before King and country?
As a Prince he already enjoys eye-watering privileges – including inheriting the Duchy of Cornwall estate worth almost £1 billion – from which he receives a whopping £23million-a-year ‘salary’.
There will come a time – who knows how soon – when William has to man up for the role he was born into. Or not.
I fear a future part-time King hiding away in Forest Lodge on the Windsor estate could result in an even greater collapse of support among his subjects. Which by the time he takes the Crown, the population could be largely made up of Gen Z – of whom, according to a YouGov poll from last year, only 29 per cent believe the monarchy is ‘good for Britain’ and are more likely to want an elected head of state.
There is something deeply unsettling about the fact the Waleses have chosen a comparatively modest home tucked away – a home which will require its own security staff as it falls outside Windsor Castle’s ‘ring of steel’ – accessible via a private road with one local saying: ‘It’s about as isolated as you can get.’
And William declaring, perhaps unwisely, that Forest Lodge is the home he and his family will live in ‘forever’, also raises worrying questions about what kind of Monarch he will be – in the age of a voracious social media world which cries out for more than the occasional snaps of the Royal brood or a tender video of Kate hugging a tree.
It also sends a strong message of what kind of King he intends to be.
Windsor Castle was earmarked for William and Kate by the late Queen, a lavish venue where she hosted many official events with presidents, prime ministers and other monarchs while in residence there, but that now seems unlikely to even be an official part-time home for the Waleses.
It is clear there will be no official audiences invited to Forest Lodge, unlike King Charles and Camilla’s London home Clarence House which is regularly used to host events for the great and the good, pictures of which are beamed worldwide.
Of course William and Kate can use their apartment in Buckingham Palace, refurbished as part of the £369million works on the building paid for by we taxpayers and they still have Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, where staff for their charities are based.
But will he and Kate’s so far underwhelming charitable work – his Earthshot Prize offshoot which encourages youngsters to devise ways to save the world or Kate’s Centre for Early Childhood – both woke, worthy and frankly forgettable – cut the mustard?
Kate’s passion for children’s early learning hardly compares with Diana walking through landmines to save children’s lives in war-torn African countries. William’s Earthshot Prize is also but a shadow of his father’s The King’s Trust that has helped more than a million young people into employment and businesses.
As for how our future King fathoms he could reconcile his own demands for privacy while being the head of one of the last thriving royal dynasties in the world, it’s not clear.
It’s not the kind of monarchy his beloved grandmother believed in. Nor his mother Diana who, despite her personal sadness, knew that visibility and glamour were key to keeping the Royal family vibrant and relevant.
One thing’s for sure, Prince William has a huge decision to make in the forthcoming years he spends hidden away in Forest Lodge before he ascends to the Crown.
Can he step up to the job he was born into and secure the future of the Monarchy?
Given his current form I, like so many devout monarchists, have serious doubts. After decades of King William, I fear the Royal family will be just like all other minor European royals: insignificant, unremarkable, occasionally appearing on the inside pages of Hello! magazine – and pure vanilla.
Posted by ButIDigress79
17 comments
I don’t agree with everything in this article, but the take is interesting (although coming from the wrong media agency, imo) and I definitely think that William’s reign is going to be pivotal for the future of the monarchy, one way or the other.
I think complaining about his work load is fine and fair but IMO the press complaining about him privacy obsessed (the Mail no less) when his voicemails have been hacked hundreds of times, his wife has had nude photos taken from a mile away and he’s been exposed to the paps in the most vulnerable times of his life is laughable. Of course, he’s obsessed with privacy for his family, the press has been vultures to him and he doesn’t owe them a fair bargain.
I think older generations don’t understand that “being seen” looks very different in the digital age. it’s possible, should they want to do it, to reach millions without ever leaving their home. look at the top youtubers, podcasters, vloggers. of course interacting with actual regular people is important but I don’t think reach of message or being seen is no longer an important part of doing many many events.
Strongly disagree with his position here. William moving into this home will not dent the monarchy’s support whatsoever even when he is king.
Yeah, these journalists REALLY hate that he protects his family’s privacy so much, don’t they.
Like, to tell him he needs to man up because of that of all things? Are they fucking kidding? I’d reckon protecting their privacy is *manly* enough, ffs, and it’s still their right. What he and Harry both went through was very much not okay.
I mean….
Phones tapped. Topless pap shots of Catherine. And William’s mother was lied to by *a journalist* just because of a fucking interview – and to absolutely awful level. Like… maybe question *those actions’, and not the (understandable) reaction.
That apartment mentioned in Buckingham Palace, that’s for when William becomes king or an apartment has been set aside in Buckingham Palace for them already? Do they have another home in London that they don’t want to use?
There is no way Camilla will be allowed to keep Clarence house after Charles passes away.
Also, I thought it was interesting when it came out that the staff is never allowed in apartment 1A because part of the justification for that massive residence was for all the official royal work William and Kate needed to do in terms of entertaining people.
All these articles about what William will do are silly. People go on as they are which means William will very likely not develop a work ethic in his late 40s or 50s. Neither will Kate. William will never entertain in the way that Charles does and he will never be as reachable through his routine as Elizabeth.
Their contact to the public will be through a lot of overly produced videos and images. And a few yearly events built around what they would want to do anyway. If the public is okay with that, and right now the press isn’t inclined to really push back too much, then things will go on in that way indefinitely.
And they can claim to be pressured to move into Windsor Castle as duty for their roles and change their mind about anything. All their residences were supposed to be meaningful and long-term, and then they weren’t.
All this writer is concerned about is the lack of access she and other royals will have to William and Kate. The further away William and Kate live the less likely reporters can get leaks.
Why not call out the hypocrisy of William and Kate wanting privacy and a normal life, when they stood by silently as Harry fought for the same thing? I think that’s a better argument if the press wants to put pressure on William and Kate.
Monarchy comes from blood, not press releases and public events.
This article is on point from an author who loathes the Sussexes and usually fawns over the Wales. She is also really connected in the political world so it is surprising to see this honesty
half the world is literally on fire, authoritarianism is taking hold in large parts of the world, oceans are warming and the US government is canceling the scientific research funding that might actually save us and will take us generations to recover from if we last that long.
William isn’t why I fear for the future, lady. could we be slightly less dramatic?
The gutter press is turning on William now that they no longer have Harry and Meghan to kick around. Kate appears to be out of bounds for now because of her cancer but you can tell the clock is ticking down until they come for her again too. Nothing makes it more obvious than when the tabloids describe Harry or William as mentally ill (obsessed, paranoid, etc) for wanting privacy and some semblance of normalcy for their children—which every child deserves.
William hasn’t made it hard for them by being workshy, but given how purely ceremonial the royal family’s role is in modern times, acting like he should put his “duty” before his role as husband and father is ridiculous. (And I say that as someone who’d be happy if the UK ended the monarchy today.)
The BBC documentary about the brothers and the press angered a lot of people when it came out a few years back because of the fan wars, but it was extremely insightful in the way it described both brothers feeling caged in and treated like zoo animals by the press. William’s strategy was to try and feed the press every so often to keep them at bay, while Harry’s was to fight. Neither appears to be working in the brothers’ favor, but both so far seem to be succeeding in protecting their kids.
I don’t understand what the big deal is. Charles doesn’t live at Buckingham, and doesn’t he live separately (like, separate homes) from Camilla much of the time?
As for William, anyone expecting him to be transparent or open with his life or finances has not been paying attention. He dgaf, obviously, what the plebs believe is right. If people in the UK want transparency, they’re gonna have to demand it via a change in laws because he’s clearly not going to do anything that isn’t absolutely required of him.
William and Kate are both work shy. I’m not surprised the press is turning against them when they are use to QE2 work ethic.
Even Charles, who ALSO has cancer, has worked FAR more than William and Kate.
Especially as the world heads to a recession, this lazyness from people who live off of the tax payers are only going to make people hate them more and more.
William aside, I hate the phrase ‘man up’, like fck you Amanda, you man up. Go away.
lol what did Bill and Cathy do to piss off the British press so much recently…or is this coming from C&C to try to cover the book about the Yorks?
William and Kate need to realize that they need to be seen, in public, not just fun videos and elite events. They need to attend ribbon cutting for school’s, nursing homes, factories, etc. do that a few times a month and people will not care as much about this type of stuff.
Amanda Platell, along with the rest of the braying media who literally chased Princess Diana to her death, are shocked and suprised that Diana’s son is guarding his wife and his privacy.
They think by writing gutter articles, about what they claim to know or how they claim the people feel, they can force others to give up their privacy and become like the Kardashians.
Nobody cares about your fears, Amanda. Fuck off.
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