William takes swipe at phone fixation amid social media woes
‘Are you all on your phone quite a lot? Do you know how long you spend on your phones?’
THE Prince of Wales voiced concerns about the amount of time people spend on their mobile phones as he toured a youth club in the midst of the social media storm about a doctored family photograph.
The 41-year-old continued with business as usual during the opening of a youth facility in west London, despite an ongoing row about a “manipulated” picture issued by Kensington Palace.
Speaking to teenagers who confessed to spending too much time scrolling on the phone, he told them: “The grown-ups are guilty of it, too.” The Prince said “we have got to be better at it”, with people across the generations spending “ages on our phones”.
During the visit to West Youth Zone, he turned his hand to shooting basketball hoops and icing biscuits. “My wife is the arty one,” he said while biscuit-making. The Princess of Wales remained at home as she recovers from an abdominal operation.
Sources said the engagement, which came days after a row about a digitally enhanced photograph of the Wales family, was always intended to be solo.
The Prince appeared to be in good spirits as he appeared to put the controversy behind him. The Royal family has been the subject of unfounded rumours online, as members of the public discuss the Princess’s whereabouts.
Prince William returned to the topic of mobile phone use twice during the engagement, in which he found himself in the middle of a crowd of excited children and teenagers shaking hands and taking a selfie.
Onlookers described him as being in “full dad mode” as he spent more than an hour with youngsters.
As the conversation turned to what they would be doing if they were not at the facility, one young woman told him she would otherwise be “scrolling” her phone.
“How much time do you all spent on your phones a day?” he asked, looking around to joke: “Everyone in this room has got something to be honest about here!”
Hearing that it could be up to 15 hours, William said: “I bet you feel better coming here, not on your phone.
“Are all of you on your phone quite a lot? Do you know how long you spend on your phones?” He added “Do you think it’s a good idea to be on your phone all day?”, adding “Who said yes!?” in mock outrage.
The Prince and Princess of Wales want to focus on continuing the legacy of his late mother to help young people change the world, William said later , as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Diana Award.
The Prince said Diana, Princess of Wales, taught him that “everyone has the potential to give something back; that everyone in need deserves a supporting hand in life”.