THE FUTURE KING’S BIG PLANS
After a tough tour, he’s ripping up the rule book, declaring, ‘We can do better!’
It’s still likely to be a while before King William V is on the throne. But in the last week, we’ve seen the kind of monarch Prince William will be when he takes on the job he was born to do.
He had to face up to negativity during his and wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge’s tour of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, and the criticism that their visit “harked back to the days of colonialism” has helped to convince the future king that there needs to be a royal revolution with oldfashioned traditions ditched, say palace sources.
The backlash has prompted William, 39, to make plans to change the way things are done when he is king. He called crisis talks with his aides on his return to the UK to discuss how he and Kate, 40, can make changes.
“William and Kate will modernise how they work,” says a royal insider. “It’s a breath of fresh air. They were bruised by attacks that their Caribbean trip harked back to the colonial age. In future, they will rip up the rule book and do things the ‘Cambridge Way’. They’re trying to work out what that will look like.”
The changes they are likely to make, even before William takes the throne, include halving their staff so his team is more cost-effective and less formal. They will have a small team working on the causes they deem most important and overseas trips will be shorter – like Kate’s recent visit to Denmark.
The eight-day trip to Commonwealth countries Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas squeezed in 30 official engagements, all planned in conjunction with the governments of those nations. The Cambridges, who were representing the Queen as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, were accused of being “tone deaf” towards the anti-monarchy feelings of some people in the three nations. While they knew there would likely be talk of removing the Queen as the head of state, particularly in Jamaica, they were rocked by the strength of feeling over issues such as demands for reparations from Britain for the part they played in the slave trade.
William addressed the concerns in a landmark speech and follow-up statement. In his speech, he expressed his “profound sorrow” for the “appalling atrocity of slavery” but stopped short of apologising for the royal family’s involvement in it. He also acknowledged that the monarchy’s days in those nations may be numbered
and said it was up to the people who live there to decide what they wanted. What concerned him was supporting the people in those Commonwealth nations, William said, not telling them what to do.
A palace source says although the royals normally keep quiet about matters seen as political, William felt he need to speak out.
“He was keen to be heard and needed to make it clear that any of the Caribbean nations he had visited were totally free and completely supported in the future to choose their own destiny.
“He’s been thinking about these issues for a long time and realises in the role he occupies, it is increasingly important to be able to adapt in an ever-changing world.”
The insider adds while William respects the traditional approach favoured by his grandmother the Queen, 95, and his father Prince Charles, 73, he believes his generation must be “agile” to survive and thrive. That may mean addressing issues the previous generations kept quiet about.
“The prince believes that for him, the days of ‘never explain, never complain’ are over. He definitely won’t be speaking out regularly but believes if the monarchy has something to say, it should say it.”
While some aspects of the tour were not well received – such as shaking hands with a crowd kept behind a wire mesh fence and riding in the back of an open-top Land Rover – other parts of the tour were considered a success, particularly when the pair interacted with local people.
On what was her first official visit to the Caribbean, Kate proved to be particularly popular. But what a lot of people didn’t realise was that she suffered from jet lag and after busy days full of engagements, she was up half the night.
Royal correspondent Rebecca English says the mum of Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, used her time wisely. “I’m told she spent the time ‘tap-tap-tapping’ WhatsApp messages, organising everything from George’s football matches to Charlotte’s ballet lessons and little Louis’ bedtime routine back in the UK.”