Please Wills, don’t turn into the Prince of Petulance
China has always been, shall we say, a difficult area for royals. During t he Queen’s visit in 1986, Prince Philip famously offended local sensibilities when he told a group of British students: ‘if you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty-eyed.’ nice one, Phil.
Then, after taking part in the formal handover of hong Kong to China over a decade later, Prince Charles described the Chinese officials taking part in the ceremony as ‘appalling old waxworks’.
So it was over to Prince William to repair the 30 years of hurt. and who better to fix the damage?
The second in line to the throne has made a point of being as controversial as a milky drink on a balmy night, though in recent times it has seemed that William has chosen the Middleton f amily over his own royal f amily, something which does not bode well for his future as a monarch.
i worry that he is going to be a sort of bland, home Counties king with robes stitched by Cath Kidston and an obsession with heritage vegetables and correctly made pesto. it is too soon to despair, but sometimes i do.
Certainly, his official solo tour to the Far East this week was seen as an indicator of his growing role within the Royal Family. Generally, it has been seen as a success, although the Prince is sometimes oddly graceless and fails to disguise the passiveaggressive brusqueness that lurks just beneath his smooth, diplomatic surface.
at one point on his trip, he refused to wear an elaborate wig in the make-up department of a Japanese television studio. ‘if i put one of these on, my brother would never let me forget it,’ he said.
FAIR enough. hair is a sensitive issue. One can see how embarrassing that might be. Yet t he way t he Prince roared with unkind l aughter when the British ambassador had to put it on instead of him was telling. not to mention being rather rude to his hosts. however, he did sportingly don a samurai helmet later, so good for him.
Things were going swimmingly until he pitched up at China’s only elephant sanctuary in downtown Xishuangbanna. he had previously enjoyed a private audience with Chinese president Xi Jinping, during which he raised the matter of the illegal wildlife trade. he spoke movingly of the ivory trade, saying, ‘no fashion is worth the extinction of a species.’
he is right. Yet after patting elephants and feeding them carrots, the trip ended on controversy. next door to the sanctuary was a t ourist attraction where elephants are shackled, made to play football, stand on stools and wear humiliating giant glittery spectacles — all for the amusement of Chinese tourists.
When asked to comment on this by Sky news, the Prince snubbed the reporter by turning his back on him and striding off. it is at moments like this when i lose a little bit of respect for Prince William.
Can’t he do something better than turn his back and walk away, without comment? Why not address the issue, if it is something he cares so deeply about? Refusing to answer questions about the ill treatment of circus trick elephants just makes him look petulant and indifferent, someone who is grandstanding about a cause rather than being deeply involved in it.
Perhaps the problem is that without a script and left to extemporise on his own, William is just hopeless. ‘My thoughts are with the family,’ is about all he can rise to when someone i mportant dies, elephant or otherwise.
at least Prince Charles, for all his faults, has a bit of soul and is not afraid to say what he thinks. in comparison, William is f ast becoming a royal automaton; one who increasingly cannot conceal his bad grace or dislike of being questioned. Ever. about anything.
he still has a great deal of time to learn and change for the better. i hope he does.