Here’s Part II of the coverage from the Sunday Times Magazine’s cover story, “The Other Brother,” which is just plain, ugly, bald, obvious royal propaganda organized by Kensington Palace. The fact that they used a photo of William looking like a Hitler Youth though… well, I guess someone doesn’t like the way he’s ageing like an angry, pasty douche. The Times story was all over the place, part of it was about how William feels post-Sussexit, part of it was inane fluff in which William takes credit for work being done by professionals and other governments, and part of it was keen, sugary stuff about his marriage. His 10-year wedding anniversary is coming up, so expect more of these kinds of “marriage was the making of Baldingham” stories. Here are more excerpts (this piece was genuinely infuriating):

The years he pretended to be an air ambulance pilot: A source close to William reveals “there were lots of raised eyebrows in the Palace when he wanted to do that. While the Queen and his father backed him, some senior courtiers questioned whether it was becoming of a future king to be doing a middle-class role, hanging out with ordinary people. They thought he wouldn’t stick it out, he’d find it boring, or was doing it out of stubbornness to put off royal duties. He was pretty bloody-minded about it, and determined that other people’s expectations in the media or the system shouldn’t get in the way of his own values.”

His laziness in the early years of his marriage: “For years, the battles around privacy and paparazzi intrusion were all-consuming. He wanted to know, could we build them a credible plan allowing them a family life while slowly increasing the profile of official life? It took years to get there, but the success of that plan allowed him to be confident and content in his role. He’s not worried about his kids’ privacy any more and he has been able to be the kind of dad he wants to be.

Saint Catherine of Keen: “Marriage maketh the man,” a friend says. “Catherine’s groundedness has been the critical anchor. And where his relationship with the media was once all fury and frustration, he now understands using the power of modern media, so the public feel they’re getting enough access.”

Will & Kate are equals: “They’ve got a solid relationship and she gives him confidence,” one says. “There is no jealousy, no friction, they are happy for each other’s successes.” In private William talks as passionately about Kate’s work as his own campaigns, and takes pride in her growing confidence on the public stage.

Lord Hague sucks up to Willy: “People internationally and nationally respect his credibility and knowledge on these issues,” Hague says. “He’s very persuasive. You only see that behind the scenes. He knows what he wants and he goes out to get it.” William knows some people see his passion for conservation as a posh man’s part-time hobby, but Mayhew says the duke’s “genuine and huge knowledge” undermines that view. “He’ll call and WhatsApp to flag up something that I haven’t even seen in the conservation space. He can be impatient to get things done.” Last year William launched the Earthshot prize, a £50 million Nobel-style environmental award to galvanise solutions to global problems over the next decade. He believes “conservation and the environment … shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s a necessity”, Mayhew says. “That’s the drum he wants to beat. He’s got a megaphone and wants to use it in the most constructive way. He speaks for that next generation and I think they can relate to it.

His 2015 meetings in China on the ivory trade: Unlike his father, who has refused to visit the People’s Republic over its human rights record and treatment of Tibet, William’s view was that despite the UK’s fractious relationship with China, “we’ve got to engage”. Mayhew reveals that while William was visiting Japan before China, he still hadn’t secured a meeting with Xi. “But when the Chinese saw all the high-level meetings he was having in Japan, they changed their minds and Xi made time for him.” Later that year, as Xi began a UK state visit, William appeared on Chinese television condemning the ivory trade. Two years later China banned the trade.

His Cyberbullying taskforce: According to William the meetings at Kensington Palace got “fruity” and the tech giants didn’t come close to the change he wanted. He was furious.

Granny Diana: William has said he is determined that the grandchildren Diana never knew should “know who she was and that she existed”. He “constantly” talks to his children “about Granny Diana” at bedtime, so that they know “there are two grandmothers in their lives”.

He’s not trying to be a cool celebrity: He has the same tight circle of friends from his schooldays, one of whom says that, with William, “it’s all about trust and loyalty”. He plays five-a-side football in his Villa socks when he can, goes to the Chelsea Harbour Club gym he went to as a child with his mother and has a “smart casual” public uniform of chinos, jacket, blue shirt and no tie. “William’s not trying to be down with the kids,” a friend says. “He never wants to be painted as irrelevant or dull, though he’s allergic to being compared to celebrities. The public doesn’t always get to see his funny side, but otherwise he’s the same in private as in public. He once said, ‘I’ll be in the public eye all my life. I can’t hide who I am because I’ll be found out.’ ”

[From The Sunday Times Magazine]

Re: the air ambulance job… “Some senior courtiers questioned whether it was becoming of a future king to be doing a middle-class role, hanging out with ordinary people. They thought he wouldn’t stick it out, he’d find it boring, or was doing it out of stubbornness to put off royal duties…” Those courtiers were right in that situation. In 2016, there was a rash of reporting about how little work William did as a “co-pilot” with the air ambulance service, because he was never a full pilot and he made some kind of arrangement with the service to pretend to work. He apparently got bored with the part-time work after a few months, and spent the better part of several years doing next to nothing with the ambulance job AND with his royal work, and lying about why.

What else? He’s taking credit for changing China’s policy on ivory trade, which seems like the making of an international incident, and something which will likely enrage Community Party officials in China. He’s also being led by the short hairs by the media as they demand their pound of flesh from him when it comes to access to the kids. William uses his children as human shields to deflect criticism from his own sh-t and that’s pretty obvious too. But this is my favorite: “He never wants to be painted as irrelevant or dull, though he’s allergic to being compared to celebrities.” He would loooove to hang out with celebrities and athletes but he’s too irrelevant and dull to pull it off. But that’s supposed to be some kind of slam on Harry & Meghan, who are actually A-list celebrities now.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.