William’s high jinks with pair of ski blondes
Prince misses major event to party on the ski slopes with his pals
PRINCE William yesterday skipped a major Commonwealth ceremony attended by the Queen to party with friends on a Swiss ski holiday.
Hours before other royals went to a service at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day, an occasion with deep personal resonance for the monarch, he was dancing in a Verbier club.
William, who will one day follow his grandmother as head of the 52-strong ‘family of nations’, earlier in the day drank glasses of beer on the slopes of the upmarket resort with friends including high- spirited nightclub boss Guy Pelly.
It is believed that he left his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, and their young children at home for the weekend jaunt, returning to England late yesterday afternoon.
His decision to miss such a key event in the royal calendar will revive criticism that the 34-year-old prince, now a father of two, is ‘workshy’ and failing to knuckle down to his royal role.
The couple’s absence from yesterday’s Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey was notable, particularly as they have attended the annual event for the past two years.
Almost every other senior member of the Royal Family was present alongside the Queen and Prince Philip, including Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Princess Anne was in Wales on an official engagement while Edward’s wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, was on a Com- monwealth- related trip to Malawi. The Queen has been head of the Commonwealth throughout her 65-year reign, which is an ‘important symbolic and unifying role’, according to Buckingham Palace.
Yesterday’s service, organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, is the largest inter-faith gathering in Britain and was designed to highlight the diverse attributes of the Commonwealth, made up of 2.5billion people.
Government ministers see the organisation as a rich source of trade for post-Brexit Britain and several royal trips are being planned to strengthen ties with its nation states. The Queen would also have seen yesterday’s event as being particularly important as it marked the 40th anniversary of Commonwealth Day, which is always held on the second Monday in March.
In Verbier, however, William seemed more concerned with choosing which black run to tackle and where to eat.
The prince was first spotted on Saturday as he took to the slopes with Mr Pelly, widely considered to be a less than steadying influence on William and Harry when they were younger, childhood pal Tom van Straubenzee and close friend James Meade. The four of
them were seen on a ski lift together as they prepared to take to the slopes.
Later that evening William, having changed into a Nordic- style sweater and jeans, and the group were seen dining at La Channe restaurant, where a beef fondue costs £48 and a chicken salad is £32.
On Sunday the group enjoyed a challenging day on the slopes, and a lazy lunch at mountainside restaurant La Vache, which is known as one of the best in Switzerland.
William stripped off to his thermal jumper and wore a bobble hat as he sipped a cold beer in the sunshine, laughing and ‘high-fiving’ a friend as she and another blonde chatted intently to Mr Pelly and Mr Meade. Later that night he was seen in the Farinet nightclub, a popular apres-ski hangout. William was there until the early hours, drinking and dancing with his friends to a string of hits.
A band which played at the club, Husseyband, tweeted on Sunday: ‘Great gig tonight – Prince William even made an appearance!’
The prince would have been accompanied by at least two plainclothed Scotland Yard police officers at all times while in the nightclub, which is open until 2am.
William, who juggles his part-time role as an air ambulance pilot with royal duties, has often been accused of being workshy. Last year both the Queen, 90, and her 95-year-old husband, Prince Philip, conducted more engagements than their grandson, who undertook 188. The Queen had 332 visits and meetings, and Philip 219.
Last night a Kensington Palace spokesman insisted that William and Kate had never intended to go to the Commonwealth Service, adding: ‘The duke and duchess have attended the event for the last two years and look forward to doing so often in the future.’
Asked about William’s ski trip, the spokesman said: ‘His schedule was private and we would not comment on it.’