Well, it’s official. Prince William has officially started working full-time in the civilian world. Monday, March 30th was his first day with Bond Air Services. In February, his office announced that he had “passed” all 14 exams needed to become a commercial pilot. Originally, William was supposed to begin work around now, then they said he would start in the summer, but then they revised it back to the spring (perhaps they were concerned about William passing his exams). So now William is the first direct heir to the throne to have a real-person peasant job.
Prince William officially started his job in the civilian world Monday, as he reported for his first day of training to become an air ambulance helicopter pilot. He began work with Bond Air Services, who will be employing him as he flies helicopters for East Anglia Air Ambulance. William, 32, will be mainly based at the company’s headquarters at Staverton, Gloucestershire, for training as well as two airfields in Norwich and Cambridge. On Monday he was understood to be in Norwich.
Despite continuing with royal duties, working as an air ambulance pilot will be William’s primary occupation, according to Kensington Palace. And when he is in the area and – especially once he starts flying in the skies above East Anglia – William, Princess Kate, son Prince George, 20 months, and their new baby, due in April, will largely live at their country home Anmer Hall in Norfolk.
William is the first immediate heir in the modern world to have had a job outside the military or royal world. Over the next 12 weeks he will undertake training including time on a flight simulator, courses in paramedic air flying, night vision work and eventually training on the EC145 helicopter. He is expected to start flying in early summer.
The palace says William will continue with his royal duties, at a similar rate as he has been doing in recent years when he juggled some public engagements and tours with his life as a helicopter search and rescue pilot in the Royal Air Force in Wales. That means he will continue performing investitures for Queen Elizabeth II, taking tours and supporting both his charities and the foundation that he shares with his wife Kate and brother Prince Harry.
I wonder if his Bond Air Services bosses know that William is probably going to take his full paternity leave starting in… oh, probably three weeks or so. That would concern a regular person starting a new job, but for William, it seems like he lives his life oblivious to how everyone bends over backwards to suit his needs and desires.
Shall we start the betting process on how long it takes for William to get bored with his job? I say by December 2016, he will have quit or he’ll be in the process of leaving. That’s right, I’m giving him a whole year and a half. I think he’ll be bored in six months, he’ll stick it out for a year and by next summer, “sources” will be telling the UK papers that William is exploring some other options. And that’s what I keep saying about William’s Peter Pan Syndrome – first the military and now a private air ambulance company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars/pounds on William’s training only to have him flake out after a year or two. It just doesn’t seem worth it.
Also not worth it? The millions spent renovating Kensington Palace with the understanding that Will and Kate would make London their homebase. Sorry not sorry, taxpayers.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
He really is shaping up to be a bit disappointing.
I’m with you on timescale, Kaiser. Two years, tops.
Yes. That seems about right.
I’m surprised at how he’s aged since his wedding.
I give him 12 months before he decides to explore another gap year. Anything but full time royal.
I think the length of time William can endure this sort of “common” job will depend entirely on how many vacation days he is permitted. Inevitably, the exact number will be less than he’s accustomed to (which is “unlimited”) but I have to imagine reports will start coming out that he’s not meeting the mandatory hours, just like what happened at the last job. Once he’s been chastised, he’ll be out of there ASAP with some lame excuse and an elaborate holiday in the works.
Ugh, of course…
I agree – it wont last. After 6 months the rumours of him never being there will start surfacing or he’ll start doing more public duties and this will ‘have’ to go.
This is just a front for him to do nothing but live apart from his wife/family and cheat in peace. Its only a matter of time before the cheating rumours start as well – as at the moment he’s either being faithful or very discreet.
I’m not going there with her.
The DM says they’re living at one of the Queen’s shooting lodges in Norfolk and that Kate will probably move in with her parents after the baby is born. Another article speculates William will remain at the lodge (Wood Hall), I suppose to be close to his “job”. I thought Anmer Hall renovations were complete since they were reported to have spent the holidays there this past winter. I’m wondering if they’re even living together now.
So these people weren’t at Anmer? I thought the Middletons moved in to help out? What a load of rubbish.
The Cambridge marriage doesn’t seem to be as rosy as the Daily Mail and other news media would like people to think. Kate going to the Mids after birthing, and William staying at this lodge?
Social media and instant reporting is something their PR camps are only now adjusting to (Thanks to Jason).
For some time it was said they lived together at KP or their Wales cottage, but many eyewitnesses tweeted how they just saw Kate. Or a helicopter and high security landed at Bucklebury. Or the extreme amount of RPO’s at the Midds suggesting a royal was there while William was noted as being elsewhere.
I think they’ve been apart for some time. Even shortly after they werre married Kate returned home and William continued his falkland vacation another week.
It’s how they make it work. It just goes right against the PR image.
Wait – what?!? I’m with @vava on this… They aren’t living at Anmer? After all those costly renovations, they’re squatting at another of the Queen’s properties? Wtf, man, WTF?!
Wood Farm is usually where HM lets Fergie stay at Christmas, so she can see the girls. I wonder if she was kicked out this year.
I guess he realized he needed a good excuse if he isn’t with Kate and the new baby?
I’m dittoing the other comments, I doubt he’ll still be at this job by the time the new baby turns 1.
Makes me wonder what his plans are for his marriage!
Despite their efforts at privacy, they get papped or privately snapped pretty much everywhere they go so if William were cheating, we’d know.
No we wouldn’t know, one of the main points of the aristocracy is and has always been to supply discreet women and private houses for the use of the royal family. It is still successful because the staff on the great estates are all living in tied accommodation and often have family links going back generations to these places. Hence no gossip.
“Will-Not” indeed. As in “Will Not Grow Up”.
Ugh from this corner. What bothers me is that he doesn’t do much of anything to account for his extremely generous compensation for “royal duties.” If he was pulling his weight there, I wouldn’t see this as so much of a selfish whim. But I agree, this won’t last.
GNAT
I hope they atleast get that new helicopter gifted to them once William leaves. Gifted, not loaned or leased or rent to own. Gifted.
And for all the money spent on training him, on protection, etc. etc. he’ll quit in another year or so citing “royal duties and parenthood” leaving Bond Air Services in a financial hole, the salary donated to charity dried up and, as happened in Anglesey, no move to pay off the ensuing debt.
well they are both spoiled brats grown up to be equally spoiled human beings who really don’t have much if any real work ethic (at least no work ethic not PR imposed) or compassion for those of us not born with tons of money. money to them is nothing which is why they don’t hesitate to waste taxpayer money.
+1
history will repeat itself once again.
“full time” lol
He will probably use “royal duties” as an excuse to actually work part time hours, and use this job as an excuse to do at most 20 hours of “royal duties” per year, spending most of his time on vacation, like he did with his previous job.
The best part is that this isn’t even a full time job. They said that he will work as close to full time as possible. That could mean one shift every two weeks for all we know. Im waiting for him to be caught never working and then some bs story about ‘selfless Willy’ comes out saying how he gives away his shifts to coworkers in need because he doesn’t need the pay and they do.
It’s disappointing really. Why can’t he just do royal work like all other royals? Its more up his alley. He doesn’t have much to do in those things other than meet people and such. Plus there are countless parties to attend! Its not that tough. This new fetish he has will wear off in two years tops and then Will might want some kind of gap year again. All this only brings him negative attention. He’s a good looking phony. He desperately wants to “appear” legit and unspoiled but his actions show otherwise. Then again he didn’t know any other life. But you can be hardworking Royal, right? Any other royal would be considered being dutiful to the people. Except, wifey maybe?!! haha. These two have made a laughing stock of themselves. It’s a shame.
These services survived before him and would have survived with little to no debt if they would have told him no. So, why would they not tell him no. The way the Doolittles have been digging their own hole, there would have been little or possibly no backlash.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Pressure was applied to the government to pay for the new helicopter. Who can say pressure wasn’t applied to EAAA to accept this arrangement as well? Didn’t William tour EAAA in Spring of last year and make a big show about how he wanted to be a pilot again? PR started floating the idea to the public after that. Pressure may have been applied to EAAA for several months before the announcement was made in the fall.
@Sugar. Considering how tarnished his rep has been over the past year. Why would they cave. They could have said no or make him pay an enormous amount of money in good faith. I am not familiar enough with UK government but it should not be possible for Bill to use government programs as his playground.
He’s taking paternity leave in a month. One of the royal twitters dropped that nugget yesterday. Also revealed, Anmer isn’t ready for occupancy yet. Kate and the kids will go back to the Midds (no surprise there) and Will will be forced to live somewhere until Anmer is ready. But I thought it was ready at Christmas. What is going on in the House of Lamebridge!
I read that in an article too and there was a torrent of justified, negative backlash in the comments.
There are a lot of young men who actually WANT to work and would love this job and would treat as such, a “job” and not a hobby like his royal nothingness.
I understand that Kate needs lots of help (she has so much of it), yet I still find it odd that she is not living with her husband. Hubby, baby, and a lodge? – that sounds pretty great to me. Why isn’t she thrilled to just be with him? (That’s how it is for most of us, when we are in love with a man). So, why not?!
I don’t think she has a choice. He broke up with her multiple times, and one of the reasons he was always alleged to give was that he felt claustraphobic and suffocated in the relationship. We had a taste of that sentiment after one of the break ups where he jumped on a bar in a club and announced to a room full of strangers,’ i’m free!’. Repeatedly.
I bet one of the conditions of the ongoing relationship is separate lives with William allowed to come and go whilst Kate remains tethered at home. And if she wants him, she has to accept that.
@LAK,
Well, yes, Duchess Dolittle did choose. She chose to put up with the likes of this gilded loser.
“gilded loser” —- I like that analogy. Perfect!
It’s just silly that he’s going to work for about 3 weeks, then take a paternity leave of about three weeks.
Then on top of that he has to do 12 weeks of training courses.
So he won’t be ‘back to work’ until about mid- or the end of May at the earliest. And because I’m skeptical that he’ll do the training during his paternity leave, I’m thinking that with the 3-4 weeks this month, he’ll have 8-9 weeks left to do and he won’t re-start it until end of May/early June. So that takes the end of his training to about August, which isn’t “early summer.”
How many weeks per year is he realistically going to be on duty at Bond? He’ll go to official Royal events and overseas trips & vacations.
Is he going to re-schedule his outside activities around his Bond schedule? Or the reverse?
In the US, when you start a job, you don’t get vacation time unless you’ve worked a certain amount of months. Some jobs require you wait a year of full-time hours after you start working there.
In the end, I think his time would have better served the air ambulance industry, especially the charitable ones, if he was their patron and ardent fundraiser. But oh well.
“Some jobs require you wait a year of full-time hours after you start working there. ”
Every job I have had (since1977) required a year of employment first. Could be a Canadian thing.
@ Lady D –
It happens here in America too.
I am obviously way behind the times. I thought they spent last Christmas at Anmer? Did they tear it apart again after Christmas.
We were fed a load of lies.
Or, vava, this latest is a pack of lies to justify her staying in Berkshire for the next six months.
Ambulance pilot seems like a really serious job, like one cannot call in sick if there’s no backup. Well, I suppose there’s always backup but it’s not like being an accesories buyer. It’s an actual life and death role. Your needs are secondary to the job.
And William doesn’t seem at all well-suited for the job. He’s so selfish, and like you said, people who work in this field have to put their personal needs behind those of the job. He’d be the last guy I’d want to see if I was in trouble somewhere…..
bettyrose
It IS a very serious job. You can’t skip out or call out. It’ so exact. You must know the controls, locations, where to land nearby, etc… Though, William is only going to be a co-pilot. A role that hadn’t existed until William needed it. I suspect his role would be more like a ride-along rather than someone earning their keeping(keep?).
And he’ll be seen on vacation soon enough.
I didn’t realize it was a bogus position, but that’s something of a relief, actually. 1. No one’s life will be dependent on his feeling in the mood to work that day. 2. He’s not stealing an actual job from anyone else.
bettyrose
He is getting a salary that didn’t previously exist though.
It’s said he’s donating his full salary to other charties. Maybe so at the end he can claim that money as from his personal funds that’s donated?
If it’s not a real pre-existing job, but one that was custom tailored to him, I wonder if the money for the salary and training is coming from a “private source” a.k.a. Charles who would rather William stay occupied outside the royal family, rather than see Will and Kate become a full time working royals. This theory works both ways, if the Cambridges started truly working, they would become more popular, and we all know Charles cannot stand to be pushed out of the spotlight in favor of younger, prettier relations. On the other side, William goes along with this because he has no desire to step up royal duties and would rather continue the life of leisure he considers his birthright.
There was word from an official royal source (forgive me, I forget which one) that William and Kate set their own schedules. And Charles foots the bill for all the clothes (70+ dress coats and counting!) that Kate wears to appearances. So it’s not him holding them back. Now is Charles footing the bill for the air ambulance? That is an interesting question. I wonder if the money’s coming from HM.
Deedee
That information was stated a few times officially by Kate and William’s press offices. That Kate’s clothes/accessories expense is covered by Charles and that they set their own schedules.
I wonder why he’d be allowed to do such a dangerous job? Helicopters aren’t known for their extreme reliability, due to wind currents. It just seems like they wouldn’t let him take the risk, bogus job or not.
It’s amazing to me that he’s allowed to fly at all considering the fact that he’s colorblind and wears contact lenses. Apparently because of who he is, he got exempted from those restrictions. Also I’m sure he has deprived some poor bloke who really needs this job not to have it. Prince Punk/Prince Petulant all the way.
+1.
May I edit that to Prince Puke/Prince Petulant.
or The Petulant Princeling?
This made me snort coffee out of my nose:
“….William will continue with his royal duties, at a similar rate as he has been doing in recent years…”
“Work”
“Job”
“Career”
Yup.
Here’s the thing. I think that if you’re royalty with obligations to the country then maybe you should be raised with those obligations. The life you have isn’t ‘normal’ and not preparing the children involved seems, I don’t know, irresponsible. That’s how you end up with a Prince William.
+1
Bar = low + Royal duties = easy. But then I have to remind myself that the BRF has easily 400 years of horrendous dysfunctional family dynamics plus inbreeding plus in Wm’s case the epicly-selfish Charles was the primary molder of his character.
yep.
Wow, so many negative comments.
If you compare William to many of his ancestors (direct heir to throne), he is as bad, worse or in any way better?
Does it matter? It’s 2015. If royals don’t work do royal work, what good are they? If Charles wants to shrink the group of working royals, then the thirtysomethings need to pick up the slack.
All very valid points Deedee, Notasugarhere and FLORC.
In particular, I was wondering when Royals turned to charity work to account for their existence though some would argue no amount of charity work validates the fact they take up space in the world in year 2015.
I can appreciate the history and tradition however it would be nice to see William take more interest re-intl politics. Perhaps it would be a good idea for him to return to studies and study intl law or political science? I know he seems to be interested in aviation but more action is needed in terms of him being respected worldwide with G7 govts and politicians esp in this global economy.
False equivalency as someone is fond of calling it on here. Royals only started doing charity work (to save their skins, position, and money) early last century. If we compare him to King George VI when he was Duke, he’s doing lousy. Compare him to his father’s accomplishments at the same age, William is still doing a lousy job. Compare him to Uncle David, I see two peas in a pod.
The heir-to-the-heir argument is invalid. He will come to the throne and be contemporaries with the likes of Felipe, Philippe, Victoria for most of his life. Compared to other European royals of his general age, he is pathetic. He cannot hide away in Norfolk for 10 years and emerge a great statesman. His behavior at WWI commemoration and in Japan were an embarrassment.
They are required to do royal engagements and charity work, that’s the deal in exchange for the perks. On top of that, Charles and William are required to be trained and work in diplomacy. To work for the family firm and the taxpayers that pay their bills. The Queen doesn’t just do royal engagements, although that is a popular opinion. Charles and William need to do engagements AND prepare for that behind-the-scenes work.
William does the least of any senior royal. He is the third most senior royal in the UK (HM, Charles, William). He is a senior royal even if he refuses the work but takes all the senior perks. Edward and Sophie run rings around them, and Edward will never see the throne. W&K need to step up now, especially with the Way Forward group and Charles’ plans. There is no excuse for his behavior or their general laziness.
To add, If William could bring back the Tower he would imo. The restrictions he lays on the freedom of the press is like the ultimate power behavior his ancestors had.
To be a great leader or even a decent leader you need a certain level of humility and the desire to improve yourself for your people. Your sense of duty for their benefit.
William lacks this. He’s shown it countless times. There is still time to change that.
Gotta admit I love “false equivalency”. I’ve used it. Elsewhere, of course. 🙂
He will be on sick leave by monday. All that stress, you know.
Ha!
Oh my. In one year his advisors will tell us that brave Willy feels the need to quit his beloved job to support his old daddy and granny… because they “suddenly” turn old and he has to step up…
I bet that will happen.
I know this won’t be a popular statement, but I do feel a little bad for him. He has never known privacy, has always had his every move documented and commented on. He was born and given a role….he doesn’t really get to choose to not be royal (could he? I suppose, but he would likely feel as if he is disappointing his family). I’m not sure if all of the wealth and privilege that he has would make up for the other stuff for me. It does have to be hard…there are plenty of people that get bored with jobs in a year or two and leave. ..the difference is that everyone knows about him and will comment on it.
He can choose to walk away at any time, leave the perks and the lifestyle behind, and be his own man. His behavior doesn’t show someone who worries about disappointing his family. Going skiing instead of attending a commemoration service for HM’s sister and mother. Being the only members of the family who didn’t go see Harry’s Sentebale Garden. He does what he wants, when he wants, and that includes letting the family and nation down.
Nobody choses their lot in life.
We all have to work within the parameters of our abilities, birth, education, family, etc. William was born with every advantage, except complete privacy. Even on that issue, he’s still very protected by the press. Within those “confines” I think most people would become a better leader than he has.
Well said, Thinker.
I won’t feel sorry for someone who has the power to do so much good, yet he swans about with vacations and flits from one “interest” to another while avoiding commitment to his life’s work. With great power (and unearned wealth) comes great responsibility. On the surface, this ambulance job sounds like a noble job (and it would be, for someone that is not a Prince), but he is using it to avoid his destiny.
jmho
William did have tremendous privacy growing up to his university days and even now, though to a lesser degree. There was an outright ban on covering him.
When we did see him here and there it was allowed and arranged. On times when it wasn’t people were taken to court and either lost their jobs, their coworkers job, or went broke. Or some combination of those things.
He truly could have walked away and still can. His lifestyle though can only be supported by his perks. And i’m sure there’s an ego at play here.
If he’s really pinned here and feels trapped I feel for him. His behavior though shows an image of an immature adult that ives a life of endless desires and no consequences for poor behavior.
That’s my take, but I absolutely appreciate yours and how thoughtfully you’ve stated it jmho 😀
He got over $15.5 million in inheritance from his mother.
If he wanted to leave his royal position, then I’m thinking he can push for that and still be rich enough to support a wealthy lifestyle. He’s never going to go hungry and homeless even if he’s allowed to quit. His great uncle David went on to live his own life after his abdication.
But I think he likes the title and all the perks, so if he wants to keep these, then he has to pay for it by putting up with all the non-fun stuff that goes with it.
Commenters have said in the past that he makes his own work schedule (which is why it’s so light).
If he thinks being a Royal is so horrible, then he could do to his children what Princess Anne did with hers, which is give them no title or style and they’d probably be able to lead a life of lower public profile than he has.
Anne
William got more than that, I believe. And Diana’s will was butchered so the money went more to her children than also her godchildren like she wanted.
The money was put into a high yielding account and I thought it was closer to 30million GBP. Correct me someone if i’m incorrect.
And William’s expenses he covers in a year would have him bankrupt fairly quickly.
I think he knows this and expects perks. There are certainly examples in his past where he requested to be comped or as a guests to vacation.
I believe that he thinks that he is entitled to the perks because of his mother’s popularity. He will find that this is simply untrue.
Considering he’s not taking a wage (donating it to charity) I see no problem with this. I agree with imho above, no privacy and criticized endlessly for every petty thing.
sunnydaze
Let’s engage in a conversation free of emotion and focus on facts.
William’s salary is with money that did not previously exist. This makes sense since his position also did not exist. The service runs largely on donations to begin with. I can see if he had to be paid for legal reasons, but why not donate the money back? And it has yet to be stated what charity or multiples he will donate to. Just that he plans to.
To add it’s been broken down how much the service will have to pay oout to accomidate William.
The helicopter he will use needed to be larger than the ones they use. To accomidate William and his RPO. The extra size and weight will not only prevent landing at most accident sites, but cost more to operate.
It’s admirable and wonderful William wants to do this. And that his name attached to this is bringing awareness to a service most are not aware of until they need it.
The fault here comes with the cost that has to go into William’s training and security demands.
He, imo, should add this to his charities after he leaves to continue his passion of being a pilot/rescue, but also fulfil his duties as a royal. Also, he will be able to spend more time with his growing family and very young children.
He’s donating his wage back to the charity. He’ll be flying one of their two helicopters which is a EC145 T2. He is required to work shifts like all of the other pilots which he will be flying with. No special favors. He will also attend to his Royal duties. While on paternity leave he will be living off of his own inheritance. They arent paying out anything extra to William for his training or otherwise. They are the beneficaries, not William.
SunnyDaze
Is he donating his full wage back to that charity? I haven’t seen any news of that yet. Not saying you’re wrong. Just that I haven’t heard any official confirmation.
While on paternity leave he will live off of only his inheritence? It’s been noted how he doesn’t touch that money. Should he vacation during paternity leave that will not be paid for by him. I’m basing this off of an extensive history of how his vacations are paid for.
His residences, upkeep, and staff are also covered for him.
Could you point me to where I can find some of the information you’ve stated? I understand links don’t always go through here, but a website, key words, and date should be all i’ll need.
As far as his royal duties, we’ve learned those are counting eggs before they hatched. As he completes they are counted.
And we do disagree on what is required of William and what he does. As he finishes his shifts and takes average time off like other employees that also work on his team while giving proper notice this will be counted.
No marks against him at this point. Clean start. If he follows through like you’ve stated that could only improve his standing in the eyes of many.
What do you think of my suggestion to take on a charity like this one?
Oops. Didn’t see Florc’s comment. Although if he does end up quitting, will the organization get to keep the helicopter?
I have yet to read where they are getting a special helicopter for William. Only that he will be flying one of theirs and working shift work like his co workers, with his co workers. My information came from several sources. His salary of approximately $65,000.00 will be going back to the charity. This from BBC. Whatever, it’s going to charity. I see absolutely nothing to criticize here. He’s donating his time and his wage. I have nothing more to add as I’m not seeking out dirt on the guy. I wish I was in a position to do the same. It’s very generous and kind hearted in light of what is going on in the world around us. JMO
LOL at the notion that William is “very generous”. No, I seriously doubt that. He only does things that will help him get what he wants. And he’s using this job as a way to have something to do with himself – other than the role he was born into. Plus, it gives him an excuse to get away from Wifey.
It has been stated by the Palace that the salary will be donated to charity, but not that it will be donated to EAAA. This salary was donated to EAAA specifically for William, by whom we do not know (HM or Charles are the best guesses). Someone else donated the money, William will donate it somewhere else, and get a write-off on his taxes for it.
William doesn’t spend his own money. There have been stories for years about how cheap he is. He didn’t even buy Middleton the eternity ring she wears. The shopkeeper said she picked it out herself. Charles pays all of the everyday expenses, including her clothing and jewelry, which he takes off on his taxes as business expenses. Charles or HM paid for the decorating of KP and Anmer, that was stated by the Palace.
EAAA has three helicopters in this region, one of them brand new. The new helicopter is NOT standard, the standard is the 135, of which EAAA had two in that region. This new helicopter was paid for by the government after William put pressure on them to pay for it. Are you paying attention? He lobbied the government for his own personal benefit.
The 145 is there specifically for William, due to the co-pilot seat and space for RPO. Previously, there was no co-pilot seat because EAAA does not use co-pilots. The only reason they have a co-pilot now is because William is playing these games. His “job” at EAAA is EXTRA and UNNECESSARY. He is creating chaos at EAAA to play these games, rather than owning up to his role in the world.
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have a 10+ room space in Kensington Palace. Their annual lease was £120,000 in 2013. Extrapolate that out to the 50+ room space that W&K have abandoned, and you begin to see the kinds of money it would cost for them to pay for themselves. Until they do full-time royal work, they should be paying these costs themselves.
No one looking at the state of the UK today would think, “Yep, everything is fine. We don’t need more people raising money for dozens of charities, bringing awareness to dozens of causes, trying to make things easier for everyone. Nope, none of that is needed.” He has a job to do. His role is defined for him, to do far greater things for more people than this. Until he is ready to do that role, make him pay for everything out of his own pocket.
He is not being a hero. He isn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He is doing this to run away from his royal role. Fine. Run away, pay your own bills, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
notasugar, that helicopter is not specifically for William. He will be flying with a crew. Your facts are skewed and false. He is collecting a wage just like his co workers and gifting it to a charity. who cares which one
No, maggie, they’re not skewed. It is not standard to have the 145 there. It is too big for many of the tight situations they enter, that’s why they run such small choppers with a pilot and no co-pilot.
They got the 145 at that location (paid for by the government after William’s pressure), because it accommodates a co-pilot (William) and the RPO. The news about that bigger chopper only came out months after the outcry about RPOs being trained as paramedics and taking jobs away from others.
If William was not pulling this stunt, they would not be flying with a co-pilot out of the Norfolk region and there wouldn’t be room for an extra adult (RPO) in the choppers. He is not qualified to be the pilot, only the co-pilot. Even after all this training, he’ll still only be co-pilot.
The info about him donating his salary only happened after the public outcry about the salary. If the public hadn’t screamed about it, would he have kept it? Possibly.
Sunnydaze/maggie
That William is donating to charity can’t be guaranteed. This is a statement given in the past and not followed through. Once he does this all doubt will be removed and praise deserved.
And not “whatever”. Some charities aren’t what they seem. Kris Jenner has a charity that does use profits for good, but not ocmpletely. The Susan G. K foundation uses 10’s of millions to treat themselves like a corporation over doing what you’d think.
So, we should all pay better attention to the charities we donate to. Because it’s a service that collects donation doesn’t make it worthy of such.
And 1 Huge Co-Sign to everything Nota said. They have cited links and direct articles when questioned on the facts. I remember because I did the questioning. They gave many sources.
Certain facts have to be omitted to claim William isn’t getting any perks. And if any other celeb pulled this taking from one service that runs on donations and giving to another no one would say that’s totally fine.
That’s my opinion. I respect yours. I just don’t agree with it.
In response to a comment that William doesn’t even buy Kate’s jewelry – the Fug Girls said had the tanzanite earrings Kate was wearing last week were supposedly a $12,000 gift from Wlliam. Nice gift!
Nancy
For almost a year Kate’s jewelry was said to be gifts from William. Her necklaces, rings, watches, and bracelets. More recently this all came out as not entirely true. William was said to have given Kate an eternity ring (diamonds all around the band) as a “push present” in her 1st pregnancy. It was later outed and confirmed Kate buys her own jewelry with her expense account covered by Charles. And that she bought her own rings and other pieces.
Stories come out, but without confirmation it’s to be taken with salt.
To add the Fug Girls are huge fans of Kate and do not breath a bad word so there’s a heay bias. Negative comments are rare to even make it to the page.
He is taking a salary and has not said he will donate it back to the organization, which relies on donations in order to keep operating.
And as FLORC described, the creation of this new position just for William has lead to problems that this organization did not have before.
And if there’s problems now, can you imagine how many more there will be as he works there? It’s like this organization has to go through growing pains just to employ William.
anne
The issues that are more than likely to occur haven’t yet because William has not begun working in his role. It’s a short list of very likely issues all air ambulance services encounter. And why many of them operate the way they do. To prevent these issues.
A larger helicopter is counter productive to rescues is situations like a car accident or in the wilderness. They have to touch down much further away than a smaller helicopter would.
Time will tell. As it is now we only know William has singed on for a position that did not previously exist. He requires new equiptment for his use there that was gifted to the organization, but we can’t say for how long or if those extra expenses fall.
This is a situation where time will tell.
Florc
That’s what I’m saying too, “time will tell.” I think when real-life situations occur that’s unique to having William in this job, it’s just going to add more headaches for his organization that they have never had before.
And for what I think is a job that doesn’t have William’s full commitment, I think the problems will outweigh any benefits of having him as an employee.
I’ve read several articles, BBC included, that said he will donate his after-tax and insurance salary to *a* charity, but which one? Who knows at this point. Bottom line is someone or some entity is subsidizing his salary (the $$ weren’t there before he was hired), maybe even the new helicopter he’ll pilot. Looks like a shell game to me. Articles also say he’ll carry on with a *few* royal engagements yearly.
@ Olenna –
That’s what I’ve been reading too: that his salary had to be donated in order for him to have this job, that it isn’t going to be donated back to the organization, and that the larger, new helicopter had to be donated in order to accommodate him and his RPO.
And it’s all for a job that’s basically his secondary job and his schedule there has to accommodate his primary job and his vacations. O_o
I don’t think his salary legally had to be donated, but for legal reasons, he had to be paid a salary. If he volunteered, who would be held liable if an accident happened with him in the chopper? If he’d kept the salary or if he’d taken someone else’s job, he would have appeared even more churlish.
@nota–based on your comments here and above about someone donating his salary, it still appears to me that the air ambulance employer is, in essence, donating to another non-profit. On top of this gentleman’s agreement, there is an element of deception to all of this. Also, I don’t know about UK tax laws, but here in the States he would be allowed a tax deduction for the donated salary.
Legally the money is going from EAAA to William. IF he donates it anywhere, it will count as “his money” not EAAA’s. Since the money specifically for his salary is being donated by an outside source (HM or Charles?), it gets more confusing. Legally, if Charles donated the money to EAAA Charles could take it off on his taxes.
Or if William had to legally receive a salary, he could have been paid a pound. Mayor Bloomberg of New York, a billionaire, got paid one dollar for his term in office. William could get paid the equivalent if he wishes to donate his services without accepting a full salary.
Kaiser: Can you put a countdown/up on the main page so we can watch this SNAFU unfold?
Who wants to be transported by the likes of this dilettante? Would anyone want a pilot who dabbles at his job? It’s shocking that BAS would even consider him for such a critical venture, where people’s lives are at stake. I would not have much faith in them.
William is a wastrel of the first order. He has such contempt for life.
They were probably pressured by the Palace to take him in. Peter Pan needs something to do – give him a helicopter!
Let’s say there was pressure by the palace. How does that translate into consequences? What is the palace going to do if they say nay? Deep-six a much needed service?
There is pressure and then there is the response. EAAA had a choice. Is this just evidence of further subservience to royalty? And/or was there a sweetening of the honey pot for EAAA to come around? Who would normally want a proven slacker like this on their payroll and in such a critical position? Unbelievable!
William flashes his cash, gets his license, and steal dream jobs from others who have been waiting a very long time, and probably worked every hour to afford the chance. I feel sorry for all the pilots who applied for this position that were knocked out because almighty William applied.
He’s kind of gotten a pattern going……he really didn’t earn his college degree, either. It was a complete snafu with St Andrews. They wanted to boast they had educated the future King of England when in fact he either ditched classes or slept through them. This guy is a complete loser and has been for quite some time.
Full time rescue pilot? will he works the weekends too?
I think having 2 Jobs is perfect for him. Not attending one of them he’ll always have the other one as an excuse.
To be honest, Harry’s desire to be a regular soldier put extra burdens on everybody also. He was a real risk simply because of his royal position. Maybe he finally figured that out and stepped away from the fantasy before anybody got hurt.
William obviously enjoys flying, but he’s in a no-win situation. If he did it as a hobby, people would be wailing about it. If he does it as a useful job, more wails. He’s stuck with his royalty and the accommodations that need to be made on that account, just like Harry.
William and Harry should be secretly funding any anti-monarchy rebels…. Really, their only hope for a reasonbly normal life is if the monarchy is dumped completely so they can just be normal rich guys.
Who is going to wail if William flies as a hobby? As long as he pays his way, why should anyone care?
I don’t think William wants to be a “normal rich guy”. I think he wants to be a rich guy bumming off the state for his opulent lifestyle and accountable and answerable to none. Everyone owes him. After all, he’s entitled by divine right.
Agreed. I don’t think he wants to be a normal rich guy, either. This guy has an inflated ego and he’s learned how to manipulate people so that they don’t mess with him. Sob, sob, yes his mother died. The time has come to make something of himself and all he’s done in his adult life is be a spoiled little BRAT. He needs to get over himself already.
I believe it was @LAK in past posts who referred to Marie Antoinette’s “Petit Trianon”, Marie’s conceit of playing at farm life, with Marie in the costume of a shepherdess.
And here we have a repeat- Wills’ conceit of playing at ‘normal’ while pushing totalitarian attitudes, and seeking totalitarian rule- less a shmo and more a Sun King like Louis XIV- an absolute monarch- ‘l’etat c’est moi’.
Whoa – great comment!
The degree to which some people dilike this guy is just plain scary to me. Projecting perhaps? No wonder they have lots of security!
“just plain scary to me”, and what do you intend to do about that? Seems like guilt by association would best describe your situation to me.
Trolling, perhaps?
They are publicly-supported in their 1 percenter lives, no matter how you slice it. They are unelected representatives of the UK and other 52 countries in the Commonwealth. We are allowed to dislike this gilded loser’s selfish, entitled behavior. (Thanks for that great term, hmmm.)
BTW, the reports are that many of the security concerns are due to obsessive FANS, not critics.
Actually, if you look at people in the public eye who have issues with the general public, I think the vast majority of those issues are with fans. A bit unbalanced, to be sure, but fans nonetheless.
Sunnydaze
When people state opinions that are sometimes negative to sometimes positive, is it really because of dislike of the person?
Please attack the facts stated and not the posters. If it’s really dislike fueling opinions they should be easily argued by you. Not with refusing to listen, claiming to just not believe when facts are laid out or saying “whatever”.
Both sides should be listen to and weighed without predetermined results.
I read on another thread you say english isn’t my 1st language. It is. Others are saying it and so am I, but I feel because you don’t want to believe it you simply won’t. Your opinion comes off as fact and isn’t supported by support.
My opinion.
I respect your opinion even though it’s not mine. It’s the level of dislike that surprises me.
Sunnydaze
You read it as dislike, but if that were true there would be no moments of praise and there are.
So, if you say dislike and feel that is fair I will counter with blind worship. You may not agree, but I feel that is the only reasoning to explain the refusal of facts even admitted to by William and Kate themselves.
It took a while for the “you’re just a jealous h8ter” comments to show up this time.
Florc I find your comments towards me very condescending. I only beleive facts that come from reliable sources which I have shown. Where do you get yours? Unless you can show me I’m not going to blindly believe a bunch of women who obviously skew things to suit their dilsike of the royal family. I dont appreciate being called a troll either or someone telling me how I should respond. I dont care if English is your second or third or fourth language. My point is you comprehend well enough to know exactly what you are saying.
Reminder, this is supposed to be a fun and light-hearted site for bitching, hence the title. These are opinions, based on everyone’s different years and experience in royal watching. Thankfully, most people here have stopped demanding footnotes for every opinion. FLORC alluded to a discussion we had about this in another thread. I was quoting the EAAA page itself for my facts, in case you think that isn’t a “reliable source”.
Why assume critics dislike the BRF? Many critics of W&K are monarchists who support monarchy but cannot support the actions and behavior of W&K. Why assume everyone here is a woman?
This is what you wrote: “My information came from several sources. His salary of approximately $65,000.00 will be going back to the charity. This from BBC.”
What the BBC actually wrote: “The prince has been taking a series of exams in preparation for his new role with the charity, where he is due to earn about £40,000 a year. He is due to donate his after-tax salary to charity.”
His salary is roughly $60,000 and he is not donating it to EAAA, contrary to what you insisted BBC wrote. You’re claiming that you (and apparently only you) use “reliable sources” but you aren’t quoting them accurately. You have given no sources for your claim that he is using his personal inheritance to support them while he is on paternity leave. (This idea leaves many long-time William watchers laughing hysterically at the thought of him spending even one of his own pennies for his nightly cheese on toast. )
Some of the main royal discussion boards do not allow dissent, either from pro or con, so this site is a bit of a refuge. There is general royal watching, where people interested in history look at facts, form opinions, and have interesting and logical discussions. Then there are obsessive fans / haters, neither of whom seem to be able to separate emotions from logic. I think the very few haters who were here have decamped.
sunnydaze
this should be fun here like Nota stated. imo points of view can become very serious and personal. When we start accusing eachother of being invested personally in these discussions it directs away from the topic and becomes a school yard. I only made my comment to show you how yours was being framed. Though, it had truth to it. Many facts stated here and coming straight from official sources are cast aside to fit a preformed image. We state the facts not out of dislike, but because they are important to the topic discussed. We aren’t waging war.
And I have cited my sources numerous times. Even before I cited the BBC and you said they were unreliable, but not you cite them as well. It’s all in the archives.
And many others have cited sources found to be reliable.
Not long ago I referenced Whitaker. A now deceased reporter who was widely accepted in the royal circles for reporting. You told me he was a tabloid journalist and wasn’t a good source. It was in reference to how he said William loved Kate, but wasn’t in love. He was respected and trusted. His words carried well even now.
The posters here will admit fault when incorrect and actively try to seek the truth in reports. And when the “haters” nota mentions did come here their comments were so without reason and logic. Just blind gossip. And we stated facts on why they were wrong, just as with you and just as Nota has with me and all around.
If we disliked William and Kate so greatly I can’t see why we’d bother defending them or correcting their information.
I hope you don’t feel attacked here. Just be open to another line line of viewing that isn’t your own bias. It’s tough to put that aside, but if not it can blind us.
I hope you take this as nothing negative. I’ve attempted to choose my words very carefully to prevent that.
Either you add up the facts or you don’t.
There was no job posting for pilot or co-pilot for months around the speculation that William wanted into EAAA (spring/summer 2014). That means the job was created for him or someone else was not allowed a fair chance to apply for a position because William wanted it.
Outcry about him taking someone else’s job. Suddenly we get the news that this is an added position outside of the regular staff, the amount of his salary is donated to EAAA, and it is announced that he will donate what he receives to charity. Ergo, someone donated the full amount of his salary to EAAA, on top of their regular budget, to create a position that didn’t exist (no job opening, there were no co-pilot positions at EAAA before this because they don’t use co-pilots only pilots).
Prince William’s new career for the air ambulance
BBC 7 August 2014
“The job’s a departure for the prince and for those charged with protecting him. His bodyguards already receive paramedic training. The training will be upgraded for those officers who will fly with William to ensure that in a small helicopter everyone can offer assistance.”
After this came out, there was criticism about the RPOs stealing jobs from paramedics and endangering patients. They will guard William first and worry about patients later. Magically, EAAA gets a larger helicopter that fits a co-pilot and RPO plus the regulation paramedic. And how did they get that helo? William lobbied the government behind the scenes for them to purchase it.
Again, either you add up the facts or you don’t.
can we gossip about another european prince ? William is boring …
he is a caracter from every ‘period’ movie .. a spoiled brat who enjoy all the previleged he has as a royal and hates to do real job…
We do!
Though, my favorite royals are Princess Estelle followed by Harry. Followed by Maxima, Estelle’s PR savvy parents Victoria and Daniel. Pretty much in that order. Off the top of my head.
There will be more news as the Sweden wedding approaches. The latest? She quit Project Playground. Guess it served its purpose in her re-branding so she’s moving on.
I love reading about the upcoming Swedish Royal Wedding…and everything else involving the Swedish Royal Family.
Nota
Disappointing! This was expected though 🙁 She couldn’t stay on as even a name with a few appearances though? That she couldn’t even do that says a lot.
I think that it’s obvious that William loves to fly. So he’s taken a job doing something he loves. What is wrong with that?
I think a lot of you are quick to judge him. His mother seemed to teach him about how the rest of the world lives, outside of the royalty bubble. And that’s fantastic. He was born into royalty. Why can’t he live a bit of his life in a normal way?
He has obtained a commendable job, helping people. And who knows, maybe he signed a work contract for a year. Are all of you going to smugly shout from your high horses “I told you so?”. Will it make you all feel better about yourselves to do so?
He is 32 almost 33. He had his twenties to faff around doing nothing but playing at “normal”. He hasn’t obtained the job. Someone bought it for him. Enormous difference.
If he would like to be a helicopter pilot (with his poor eyesight and being color blind), he can give back all of his royal perks and live a normal life on his salary.
As long as he accepts millions in full-time royal perks every year, he is required to work as a full-time royal. He can fly himself to his royal engagements if he needs to fly so badly.
Celeste
I don’t think anyone is saying William can’t have a normal life or atleast one with normalcy. It just appears more like he wants to play normal, but not live normal.
When he and Kate moved into their cottage and he was in the S&R he cut back greatly on his senior royal duties for his job and new wife. The criticism came when Kate was seen living at her parents often and William was seen at pubs during disasters that required his presence at his job. It leaked out his superiors were not pleased with his behavior and even how he wouldn’t give notice for time off. Those who did were called to return to cover his absence. That was the issue. Lack of dedication.
We need not look further than Harry. Harry was and is heavily involved with his charity work and his military service. And when the press attacked he just continued on with his duties. He’s been noted as taking on to assist Charles on PoW tasks while Charles acclimates to Throne duties to help ease the Queen’s burden. This was expected of William, but didn’t occur.
To add it has been noted William is often taking these roles/jobs to reduce his royal duties and his family duties. This keeps him away from his growing family when it doesn’t have to. If someone wants to make something a priority they will make it so.
If William wants to be a pilot he most certainly can. If William wants to keep pushing back when he’ll start acting like his role requires he’ll get a side eye. Especially when accepting all his perks given to him as if he was a full time royal.
IMO it’s that William approaches being a pilot as a way to delay life. It’s a reason to not step into royal responsibilities. A reason to not be with his wife and growing family.
And I stand firm that if he really had a passion for pilot duties and how they serve the community it would be a charity he supports.
It’s truly noble if he approaches his job as someone with a passion, but in the past it’s been treated as an excuse and even he would skip out on those duties.
And if he proves us wrong i’ll eat my hat. And it would not be upsetting at all if he proved my take wrong. It would be welcomed.
Nota
When you can’t argue your point in facts you attack those arguing the facts. It’s a true sign of a a weak defense. And I wish I was as skillful as phrasing my points as you and LAK! Or am I complimenting myself while also admitting the faults I wish to improve… On myself…
I wouldn’t give them any more time.
Wise, FLORC. Very wise.
I doubt he’s going to be doing any actual work anyway. If I could be any celebrity for a day, I’d pick Kate Middleton. There’s something about William and I want to find out what it is.