Is anyone else feeling a sense of déjà vu? Let’s call it the Cambridges’ Ides of March. Around this time last year, the British press went crazy on Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. Will and Kate had barely put in any time on royal work in the first few months of 2016, and yet they managed to run off for a family ski vacation. Then Kate didn’t go to the St. Patrick’s Day event for the Irish Guards and it felt like the British press exploded. Well, here we are again. William went on a ski holiday with his dude-friends and left Kate at home. Will and Kate skipped Commonwealth Day. And now the British press is attacking once again. Per the Daily Mail:
Prince William has undertaken just 13 days of official duties so far this year, it has been revealed. The royal faces accusations of being ‘workshy’ as by contrast, the Queen, 91 next month, has managed 24 days of engagements in addition to the red boxes of official papers she works through every day.
The future king, 34, was back with his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and their children at Anmer Hall in Norfolk yesterday after missing a Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey attended by the rest of the Royal Family on Monday to continue a boys-only weekend in Verbier. He was also due back on shift at East Anglian Air Ambulance, where he works as a part-time pilot, in advance of an official trip to Paris later this week.
The criticism he is likely to face after he was pictured downing shots with two attractive blonde bar workers during the five-day jolly with a group of his closest friends, is unlikely to be helped by the emergence of a video showing the prince dancing in Verbier’s Farinet nightclub in the early hours of Monday. The prince was accompanied by at least two taxpayer-funded Scotland Yard officers, who can be seen in the video.
William, who returned home on Monday night, has repeatedly dismissed accusations that he is workshy but so far this year has undertaken just 18 engagements according to the Court Circular, the official record of royal engagements. His part-time job as a pilot for East Anglia Air Ambulance requires him to work around 80 hours a month. He took the position in order to move his young family to Norfolk, away from the public gaze. But the situation has led to repeated criticism that he is failing to pull his weight in either role.
Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy campaigners Republic, said: ‘William clearly isn’t that interested in taking his role seriously, and I wonder if he really wants to be king. The taxpayer has stumped up millions of pounds. If he’s not interested in fulfilling his side of the bargain we should kick him out of Kensington Palace and insist he pays his own way.’
But royal biographer Ingrid Seward defended William, saying: ‘He does a huge amount of work, he attends a lot of events and is very dedicated. He’s allowed a bit of time off.’
Kensington Palace would not confirm whether William was ‘excused’ from the Commonwealth Day ceremony, but said he had attended the celebrations previously and would do so again in the future.
Raise your hand if you believe William works 20 hours a week as a pilot.
At this time last year, it felt like the first spark of criticism was aimed towards William, and then William threw Kate under the bus with the Irish Guards thing. I wonder if something similar will happen this year? Will and Kate are both due to make a St. Patrick’s Day appearance with the Irish Guards, then they’re off to Paris for two days. Perhaps William will encourage Kate to (literally) make an ass out of herself to take the heat off him?
The Mail also published a rather scathing piece from Richard Kay, one of the old-school royal reporters in the 1990s. Kay quotes an unnamed “close friend” of William, saying Will is “headstrong and on the snappy side, with a short fuse.” Kay then details the extravagance of William’s “lads-only” vacation, including the fact that Will and his bros stayed in the penthouse of the Cordee Des Alpes at a cost of £3,000 a night. Kay also details how much alcohol was consumed. Go here to read.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
well, if it looks like an ass, smells like an ass and farts like an ass, it’s probably an ass. Will does, ergo he is. And a lazy one at that.
William is a fool; without the title – ridiculous in this day and age anyway – he would have been in the gutter a long time ago because no-one else would put up with him. When will Brits en masse realise they are being taken for ride by the Windsor’s? Money would be better spent on NHS, education, housing etc.
Man, listen, David Davis just admitted that the government don’t have a clue what’s going to happen if they crash out of the EU, and May only said that she was prepared to walk away without a deal because the EU was bullying her. When that shoe drops re: the tariffs and crumbling NHS and schools that can only open three days a week for people, plus the pinches in austerity, et al, people will revolt. Will is playing with fire, there.
actually William might be happier if the BRF is a defunct monarchty, like the Greeks or his German distant-cousins. maybe Kate too. all the fun and prestige of a royal and none of the duties. the Greeks are still King this and Crown Prince that, go party with their sashes and tiaras, get access to the upper crust without having to worry about faking concern for the peasants.
i even think that Will won’t even raise an eyebrow if the monarchy were to end tomorrow. he’d probably sigh in relief and go dad dancing with his bros.
yeah but NONE of the funding they depend on. Everything will be taken from them, and they would have to go into exile.
He’s quite unattractive, right? And the douche vibes, my God! I don’t know how Kate puts up with him. The crown seems a worthless prize if you have to be married to that guy. yucks!
BTW, I love your nickname.
Did William think he could get away with this without some press-fall out? Well the good thing is he’ll be back working doing royal duties and the press can go back to pumping up and flattering his image. lol
Any word yet on the models phone being phone and if photos were on it?
The sugar-K.W fans are making excuse after excuse for him. LOL
I know the Queen hates confrontation-but at what point is William going to take some heat from her? He clearly doesn’t listen to anyone else.
I don’t think it’s just by chance that Prince Charles had Prince Harry doing duties with him while William was recovering or on or returning from his ski holiday.
I honestly hope one day the Queen or Prince Charles gives Harry his own PR Team away from William and Kate, who just seem like clingers.
I hope if Harry marries , he and his wife get their own PR team away from William.
At this point I think William and Kate bring Harry down in some ways.
I hope so too. If he marries someone like Meghan who’s more sophisticated and media savvy, I’m sure he’ll get his own staff. It’s a tough spot for Harry-he loves his brother-and I’m sure he sees his role as supporting him as heir-but all the deserved criticism must make it difficult to do so.
My instinct is that Harry will never do more than officially William but he may create his own private work if he marries Meghan I could picture them being devoted to philanthropy. I can’t help but wonder if some of what makes William so petulant and spoiled is the fact that he’s the heir. Who knows maybe Harry would have behaved much the same. That video though so embarrassing.
Luca76, that’s my contention as well. He won’t outshine his brother in numbers of engagements, but will have a couple of successful non-profits (Invictus, Sentebale, a couple for his wife) done on personal time seems like a strong possibility.
Question – Is anything he does for Invictus ever considered an official engagement?
@Whaaaatt my understanding is that it’s not. None of Harry’s private works go towards royal duty.
Harry does charity work, but he is hardly a hard working adult male. He parties a lot, he travels a lot, he seems to hang around his house a lot with Meghan. Good Lawd!! These are adult males!! How can they even stand to do so little!! They must do a lot of fun things, cause I would be bored out of my skull doing so little except hanging around??
And I think we have all been fooled by Harry’s charm – he went after the media just as aggressively as William when his girlfriend was found out, and he either doesn’t like Meghan much or was having a HUGE hissy fit about the media at that wedding, which makes sense, as it looks like poor Meghan was trying to soothe him. Think about that. An accomplished 35 year old woman trying to soothe a 31 year old out of his hissy fit. Seems like there may be a lot more of that in her future if she ends up with the Ginger Prince, who may not be quite the bargain we have all been led to believe.
If you think Invictus Games and Sentebale are “little” you must not understand the impact those two organizations have.
He went after media outlets for allowing rampant racist trolls free reign on their websites. For the slime they sent to try to break into his girlfriend’s and girlfriend’s mother’s house. Ditto the racist, obsessed, unhappy fangirls on tumblr who honestly had it coming. He did exactly what people thought he would never do – defend someone important to him publicly.
I think the British monarchy has no chance after TQ is gone. Prince Charles may profit from his mother’s popularity but the others won’t and I don’t think it matters whether William or Harry sit on the throne – people are just tired of the monarchy. Either way – something will change and the royals won’t like it.
^ I think there’s enough people who don’t like Prince Charles for various reasons (blame him for Diana, too involved in government policy, etc) to even end the monarchy as it stands today before he ascends. Maybe the role of monarch will change more, he’ll still be head of the church I assume at least.
I think the difference is Charles is a hard worker and is use to negatives reported about him and knows how to fight the long game. I still think despite many of his detractors ,he will ascend the Throne even if he gets negative press everyday, he will withstand it, he’s use to the fight. Whereas I think William would NOT lift a finger to fight for the Throne if a Republican movement wouldn’t him gone.
I suspect many countries will dump the foreign head of state (aka BRF) when HM passes. They’ve stayed this long out of respect and habit, but that will change. Charles may end up king of only England, Wales, the British islands, and NI (Scotland possibly peeling off), and could be the last of the monarchs.
I hope Prince Charles is made King. He has done a great job as Prince of Wales and The Prince’s Trust is incredible. So, Harry has Sentebale and Invictus Games – has William done anything similar?
Nope. William hasn’t.
No money for the NHS, social care, schools or jobs but plenty to let these lazy idiots live the high life. Britain is shameful. I would burn my passport if I didn’t need it to escape this bloody island.
Skipping Commonwealth Day was just plain stupid. If William didn’t get that before, he isn’t going to get it now. He is, and will reman, clueless.
I feel the end is coming for the monarchy. Maybe not now or in 10 years but it’ll happen and William will be one of the reasons why it’ll happen.
I’ve always believed that was William’s goal. Even Tanna said that once in a tweet in so many words, that PW goal was probably to sink it.
He’s selfish enough that you almost wonder if he wants to tank the monarchy because he thinks then he’ll get all the money and none of the responsibilities.
He’s worked 13 days. Kate’s worked 11 days.
Yay team!! Good thing their going to Paris for a fancy dinner and rugby game this weekend to up their credibility.
Without checking the court circular i bet we’re talking about maybe 10 joint. William 3 solo, Kate 1solo…
The Palace people know it looks better counted seperately 😉
Days as in 9-5 or days as in half an hour?
Days as in they showed up somewhere, not 8 hour day.
And most of Kate’s days were with William. I don’t think she had more than one or two on her own?
Yeah. I don’t get why she’d have fewer engagements than him. He’s a part-time pilot at least; what’s HER excuse?
I find it interesting Anne always works more engagements than Charles. Shouldn’t Charles be number one workhorse especially now since the Queen due to age, is transferring more duties to Charles.
Different kinds of engagement. Anne does most of the minor stuff. She’s very good with all these no nonsense country engagements and she does them a lot. That’s how she gets her numbers.
Charles does the bigger “more important jobs” and all the ceremonial work.
Anne doesn’t have extra duties. By this i mean that Anne does royal duties, manages her estate and that’s that.
Charles has royal duties, his estates to manage as well as Balmoral and Sandrigham, semi-Regency duties – he’s been absorbing The Queen’s duties for the past 15yrs eg ceremonial stuff like investitures attending the Commonwealth, attending Parliament, and The Prince’s trust.
He has alot on his plate.
Exactly. Anne usually does fewer engagements than Charles, but has done more a couple of recent years. Anne does her engagements, goes home, and pours her time into Gatcombe. Charles manages both Duchies now, The Prince’s Trust, the private land management taken over from Philip, etc.
Maybe Charles will pass one or two of the obligations over to Harry, even if only to rattle Willy’s cage a little bit.
i’m impressed that for Anne attending multiple events in multiple countries in one day is not an alien thing. so they have perks being royals but Anne made it seem like a spending a morning in Scotland, be in Germany for late lunch and, back in England just in time for a thing at Buckingham Palace sound like a 5 minute commute each way.
meanwhile, a certain couple half her age had to be dragged kicking and screaming to an engagement AT THEIR OWN HOME.
like what can you do to make them work? should you be throwing a meet and greet in their bedroom?
i feel bad for all you in the UK to have the prospect of King William the Unwilling and Queen Catherine the Can’tbebothered.
Charles and Camilla had an event-packed day when they visited our city in the USA. They were welcomed together early in the morning, attended a conference and then split up to go to different venues before getting back together for an evening event. Camilla was literally and figuratively, down to earth, on her knees gardening with school kids in the afternoon. This was no hour and a half visit, but a busy day from the moment their plane touched down to their flight out. There was no changing of outfits for Camilla, either. I was impressed. It just goes to show how incapable W and K are.
Why is this entire family being kept like pampered poodles?
The Brits are either too apathetic to demand change and/or they are so used to this soap opera being played out in front of them daily so it becomes normalised. Plus the BRF does a massive line in PR to keep themselves looking relevant and busy when of course, it is very part-time/ casual. It’s an obscene waste of money. It’s ridiculous to look up to these below-par people.
I’m not really a royalist, I am largely indifferent to the royal family. That being said, I do expect them to fall in line when they need to and be the ambassadors we need them to be. I’m not usually that fussed about what they get up to; Kate’s boobs, Harry’s ill-conceived Nazi get up, but William is now acting like an entitled brat.
I don’t think the monarchy will end. I think in my gut that a miracle will happen soon.
What kind of miracle Kitty?
Like we all get King Harry? Because that would be awesome
#KingHarry !!
Yes that miracle.
You were born in to a life of privilege, most people would love to have your quality of life for the volume of work you are expected to do. Do better, William!
This reminds me a bit of King Edward Eight’s cruise on the Nahlin, the summer before he abdicated. Here he was, shirtless, waltzing around like an idiot, the beloved Mrs. Simpson at his side. Something is going to happen soon, certainly when the Queen passes.
Not surprised said everyone. It seems someone has given the press a nod to rip W&K a new one as they r normally very reticent with him. Being the heirs heir and all that. I wonder which luxury destination he will take her on holiday to? Got to make it look like they r still happily married and appease her family.
Could be chuck giving passive aggressive warning.
I wonder if this pushes them to move back to London for ‘full time’ public duties!
I knew Ingrid Seward was going to come to his defense: “he does a huge amount of work, and deserves a bit if time off”. What part of 13 days in over 2 months doesn’t she get? I would like to know what she’s been smoking!
Did she pretend last year’s expose about William not showing up at EAAA didn’t happen? He doesn’t work either job anywhere near 20 hpw, but Seward will go down with the ship.
LOL
Who is this woman and does she lunch with Kellyanne Conway??? That is some spin!
She is the Editor of Majesty Magazine which is pro-royal so she has to put a positive spin on everything. But this time, she is delusional. She did say last year however, and Kaiser posted it, that Kate and Willy were spoiled and entitled, which was a real surprise. But most of the time, she lays it on thick. I guess that’s what her readership expects. And the only way the Royals will let her close enough to take good pics.
I massively rolled my eyes when I read that from Seward.
If you’re going to talk crap to bluster up Wills, at least make it believable!
13 days of work sounds way to much. 13 hours seems more likley.
And that is a very generous estimate from my side.
The thing I will never understand is Will had enough good will that he wouldn’t have had to do that much to keep it going.
I would like the Monarchy to end after the Queen passes on.
She would take it out in style. No one could ever hold a candle to her anyway, not in that weird family.
William’s low number of engagements is no surprise. He is persistently lazy and unwilling to take up his fair share of royal duties. Kate is no better.
I don’t grudge any hard-working person a holiday but in William’s case, I would have to ask “a holiday from what?”
The sooner he takes himself out of the line of succession the better.
I doubt that he’d take himself out of the succession, which is really a pity.
What I’d like to see are his timesheets for the helicopter job. 80 hours/month?? Seriously?