Disco or duty? The Petulant Prince must now choose
YOU might think there is something endearing about unguarded ‘dad dancing’. Royal arms akimbo, pumping hard but out of time, here was a man on the brink of middle age, determined to let what remains of his hair down.
But plenty have taken a sterner view of Prince William. And if the pictures and videos are disappointingly fuzzy, the overall impact could hardly have been more clear.
There, say his critics, is a prince of the realm wavering between the competing needs of ‘disco’ and ‘duty’, an heir to the Throne caught out on a lads’ weekend with a blonde model or two when he should have been safely at home observing Commonwealth Day in Westminster Abbey. Dull, perhaps, but a key date in the Royal diary.
Even his admirers would concede that last week’s images have made quite a dent in a carefully crafted public persona: the caring family man, part of the almost perfect ‘William and Kate’ double act.
They gave the impression he didn’t care.
Not for the first time in recent months, William finds himself described as workshy and irresponsible. How, then, did the Prince or his team of advisers get it so wrong?
One answer is that the sugarcoated image he enjoyed for so long was almost too good to be true. For scratch the surface of William and what you find is a complex character. There is an ‘over-confidence’ which some say is bordering on arrogance, and which senior Palace aides now fear is clouding the 34-year-old’s judgment.
He can be ‘petulant, capricious, even hostile’, I am told – words you might not readily associate with the second in line to the throne.
Even his father, the Prince of Wales, has given up on passing on advice to his headstrong eldest son, and he is not alone. Most of those close to William say they prefer to act as a ‘sounding board’ rather than run the risk of confrontation. It is safer that way. Even the Queen has concluded it is best to let William find his own path, to make his own mistakes.
Yesterday in Paris, William and Kate showed no sign of acknowledging the controversy. Posing with President Hollande, they were again perceived to be doing a good job, our most popular envoys batting for Great Britain plc.
There will be plenty who feel William is due a little sympathy. But in life, whether prince or pauper, timing is everything, and if he is not careful the ‘Workshy Wills’ label will stick.
His destiny is mapped out for the next 50 years in a way none of us can truly appreciate. A sense of entitlement might be inevitable – but there, perhaps, lies the problem. Sources in the
Royal Household say that in contrast with his father and grandmother, William is not the best listener. As one explained: ‘The Duke of Cambridge has some very good, innovative ideas.
‘But the Duke can be a little unforgiving. When he gets it right everyone is patting him on the back, but who is there to criticise him and warn against getting it wrong?’
At Kensington Palace, a dedicated but notably youthful group of advisers is slavishly loyal to the boss.
But a lack of experience can have serious drawbacks too. Private Secretary Miguel Head is accomplished, but for William’s press team it is a steep learning curve.
Verbier is hardly the first error of judgment.
Who advised him to make a passionate speech against the poaching of wildlife only days after returning from a 2014 boar-shooting holiday in Spain?
Was it really sensible to threaten a total and widely criticised ban on ivory sales, as he did in the autumn, even though museums claim it could lead to the destruction of priceless artefacts?
The fact is William could easily have followed the example of his uncle, the Duke of York, also in Verbier, and flown back for Commonwealth Day.
In choosing to do his own thing, William has cast a light on a Royal Family in transition. As the Queen approaches 91, the Prince of Wales is increasingly influential at court. But the cautious retreat of the Queen is leaving a power vacuum.
And while under her rule we have seen one Royal Family, or ‘Firm’, we are now seeing a series of mini firms.
Increasingly, these different households have their own agendas. They often don’t consider what the other is doing and seem happy to steal the headlines from each other.
OF COURSE there are still certain engagements in the Royal calendar where attendance is mandatory. Trooping the Colour is at the top of the list. But Commonwealth Day observance is a close second. The Queen has always shown unwavering dedication to all that the Commonwealth represents. It matters to her, as does the succession of its head.
She has good reason to ponder. For all her hard work, the position as Commonwealth leader does not automatically extend to her successors; it is up to the Commonwealth countries themselves to decide who will replace her when the time comes.
William’s apparent lack of interest in Commonwealth Day will have been noted.
As Charles approaches 70 he accepts that his elder son and his photogenic daughter-in-law now have the star quality that bolsters numbers who flock to see them on foreign visits.
Courtiers say that William knows it too – and has become a little swayed by the attention. In this multimedia age, monarchy and celebrity can be blurred.
For many years Prince William has been cut a lot of slack. Now, however, he is at a crossroads. It is time for him to embrace his full-time role supporting his father and grandmother and put duty above all else.