‘Spare’: It was ‘grossly unfair’ for the media to call Prince William ‘lazy’

Picture it, London in early 2015. Prince Harry was about to end his decade-long Army career, likely because he was being heavily pressured to do so by his father and brother. The then-Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant with Charlotte, and as such, Kate is taking it easy because of her history of morning sickness. William and Kate have also escaped London and based themselves in Norfolk, where William is plotting to set himself up with a part-time “co-pilot” job with the East Anglia Air Ambulance. Back then, in the pre-Meghan days, the British media would actually criticize William and Kate. Not consistently and not with the same kind of contempt they had for an American actress, but yes, sometimes the British media absolutely ripped into the Cambridges. Interestingly enough, Prince Harry has a fascinating little story about that:

The papers were awash with stories about Willy being lazy, and the press had taken to calling him “Work-shy Wills,” which was obscene, grossly unfair, because he was busy having children and raising a family. (Kate was pregnant again.) Also, he was still beholden to Pa, who controlled the purse strings. He did as much as Pa wanted him to do, and sometimes that wasn’t much, because Pa and Camilla didn’t want Willy and Kate getting loads of publicity. Pa and Camilla didn’t like Willy and Kate drawing attention away from them or their causes. They’d openly scolded Willy about it many times.

Case in point: Pa’s press officer berated Willy’s team when Kate was scheduled to visit a tennis club on the same day Pa was doing an engagement. Told that it was too late to cancel the visit, Pa’s press officer warned: Just make sure the Duchess doesn’t hold a tennis racquet in any of the photos! Such a winning, fetching photo would undoubtedly wipe Pa and Camilla off the front pages. And that, in the end, couldn’t be tolerated.

Willy told me that both he and Kate felt trapped, and unfairly persecuted, by the press and by Pa and Camilla, so I felt some need to carry the banner for all three of us in 2015. But selfishly, I also didn’t want the press coming for me. To be called lazy? I shuddered. I never wanted to see that word attached to my name. The press had called me stupid for most of my life, and naughty, and racist, but if they dared to call me lazy…I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t go down to Fleet Street and start pulling people out from behind their desks.

[From Spare by Prince Harry]

Harry goes on to say that William vented that the media was punishing him for not parading Kate and George around and giving them more access. Which I believe – that was the period of time when William was constantly flouting the “invisible contract” and refusing to do any work OR give people access to Kate and the kids. That all changed just a few years later. Basically, as soon as Meghan showed up. Suddenly, William was all about the invisible contract. Suddenly, William and Kate trotted out those kids as often as possible. Around the same time, the British media stopped calling William lazy and work-shy. Weird!

Also: while I believe that Charles and his staff “berated” William and Kate for stealing focus or whatever, keep in mind that it was also widely known that QEII and Prince Philip wanted William and Kate to base themselves in London and do more work. I’m sure Charles loved that his heir was lazy, but make no mistake: William and Kate also love being lazy and doing next to nothing.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.

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140 Responses to “‘Spare’: It was ‘grossly unfair’ for the media to call Prince William ‘lazy’”

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  1. Abby says:

    I’m glad you’re talking about this part. This section and the one where the family is arguing over the yearly activity count were so illuminating, and not at all what I thought happened behind closed doors over there.

    I think Harry is thinking the best of his brother and Kate, being generous. I do think Charles was short-sighted and setting Will up to fail and look bad so that he could prop up his own image. Was? Still is?

    The thing that stuck out to me about Harry and work ethic in this book is how much he RELISHED hard work. Actual physical hard work. His time as a drover in Australia was transformative for him. His time in the military too. He enjoys working hard, but was stymied by the palace. It was informative to me to see how hard he had to fight to be able to create the Invictus Games because that was a big project, and he was discouraged to do it by a lot of people in that family.

    • Tessa says:

      And after all that Charles and William teamed up to work against harry and Meghan

    • Snuffles says:

      Yeah, the difference between Harry and William is that Harry sought other ways outside of the system to bring his projects to fruition, while William grumpily accepted the status quo.

      Back then, I, like Harry, gave Will and Kate a pass because they were young parents. But what is their excuse now? It’s not the money because they have access to their own money now with the Duchy of Cornwall money.

      And let’s be real, they didn’t care until Meghan came on the scene showing them all up.

      But let’s say pre-Meghan, their laziness was all Charles’ fault. That makes Charles a terrible boss. He had two young, attractive, popular royals and he refused to utilize them for fear of being overshadowed? If he REALLY cared about keeping the Institution relevant, he would have made better use of those assets.

      And how come Harry was worked to death and was able to become the 2nd most popular royal after the Queen? Apparently, that didn’t bother Charles (before Meghan). I’m just not buying that Charles was holding Will and Kate back.

      • sunny says:

        But it isn’t just the amount of events that contributes to the perception that W+K are lazy. I am willing to give them a bit of a pass on that because as Harry clearly says in “Spare” a lot is determined by Charles and his approval/purse strings. Will and Kate show up to events unprepared, unstudied, and then proceed to do the bare minimum in terms of being engaged. They are bad on the job.

        In terms of Harry, I really like that observation that he relishes in hard work. It is clear in the book but I would argue even more that it is not just the work that he relishes in, it is the moment in which he feels he has purpose that he flourishes. That search for purpose really underlies so much of the book and his adult life.

      • Woke says:

        The perception that William and Kate are lazy is not just because they don’t do a great amount of events. It’s because they two of them never did a thing that was tangible. Harry didn’t have great numbers in the court circular but he had Sentebale he had Invictus.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        @ Snuffles, I too am not buying that Will and Kate were being “held back”. I remember seeing the videos in which Harry invited his back stabbing brother to programs and as Harry is getting down into the dirt of doing actual work, Bullyiam is standing by looking as if it’s “ beneath him”.

        Bullyiam, as well as KKHate, have been perpetually lazy no matter how you slice it and it won’t change now.

      • EAC says:

        It makes sense when the word “overshadow” is added because Diana illuminated how petty chas was about how she outshined him. If you put Kate & Will next to Cam & Chas. you naturally want to look at Kate & Will, young, fresh, good posture, nice skin, nice teeth, well dressed. Chas suits look like they’ve been washed in the washing machine for years and then stretched out. Very baggy and loose in places and cam what can I say, Kate is a statuesque beauty. In come Harry & Meghan’s refreshing non stale non competitive genuine caring, new, fresh, funny, humble, they will always steal the show. You can’t help but, look at them, Him a ginger, her a beauty with kindness oozing out. Of course the public was curious and in awe of them. So chas. gave orders to keep them locked away or hidden away and not come out while he and cam were schmoozing the press and trying to get their comeuppance. Chas & Cam had to leak stories to the press to squash their (PH and Megs) lovely image. It backfired tremendously. Harry’s book is a Guinness record holder and now we know how chas & cam played the game and they are losing badly. Their pr must be in the dinosaur ages to think people fall for their shenanigans anymore.

      • ThatsNotOkay says:

        Meghan didn’t “know her place” because she worked too hard (most of the time behind the scenes, let’s be honest here) and pulled focus wherever she went, through no fault of her own. How dare she! She must be destroyed!

    • Andy Dufresne says:

      Charles and Camilla had created a dog eat dog world in that family. I believe Harry. Was he giving Willy and Kate the benefit of the doubt? Absolutely. He’s said it all before in the Oprah interview: they’re all trapped. And unfortunately, they’re doing all they can to survive in a world that they had created for themselves. Frankly, the solution to their problem is also themselves. It’s just that their ego and narcissism is stopping that from happening.

      • North of Boston says:

        Harry also likely has a sense of Charles resenting Diana’s popularity and being frustrated that her appearances and her very existence was stealing the attention and praise HE (Charles) was entitled to. So I can see why he’d view what happened with Will and Kate through that lens as well back in the day.

        Charles has been consistently short sighted, petty and insecure IRT his family. A more secure man would have viewed them (D W K H M) as assets , as reflections, extensions of him, and positioned them that way in briefings so that it reflected back at him, but he was and is determined to snuff out every light that isn’t his own.

        That doesn’t explain why Will and Kate are so unprepared and bad at their jobs when they DO get permission to make appearances though.

      • Tessa says:

        william is turning into his father, he is no longer the “golden prince” though he has his fans. And Kate is not all that glamorous herself. And she is Stepford and dull.

      • Tacky says:

        Charles believes he is divinely anointed to be king and he can’t understand why the entire world isn’t constantly fawning all over him. He is straight up vindictive when others get attention. When Edward and Sophie did their tacky grief tour he punished them by denying Edward his promised title.

        While I believe he used the purse strings to control William and Kate, they are so lazy I think they went along without much fuss.

    • BeanieBean says:

      It’s also really dumb & not how things usually work. When you’re at the top of an organization, you delegate to your subordinates; you might even offload all that work you never really liked because you now have someone else to do it, keeping just the fun stuff for yourself. Charles is an idiot. Let Will & Kate inspect the eggs & pet the pigs at the local farmer’s market, keep the big dress-up events for yourself.

      • Mary Pester says:

        Let’s not forget that before the children came along the late Queen also berated William about khates laziness and said she must be seen to be doing more. “SEEN to be doing more? And then along came the children, mmm 2+3,=now I don’t have to 🤔

    • Lux says:

      Here’s what I believe: Charles and Camilla were happy that Will and Kate were so naturally work-shy. It was an easy target, and best of all, it was true.

      Will then turns around to his brother to vent about how unfair it all was, that Charles always hated to be outshined, ever since mum, hence why he and Kate “had” to work so little. Plus, he wanted to create the kind of family and be the kind of father they didn’t have. Harry, ever the trusting and loyal brother, took Will’s word for it and made it scripture. He was so used to taking Will’s side over his father’s that he was blindsided (truly, not the RR’s definition of it) when his brother turned out to be way worse than anyone could’ve predicted: anti-work, anti-family, and hellbent on destroying his wife. That’s what I believe actually happened.

      • Laura D says:

        @Lux – you saved me an awful lot of typing as I believe you’re “bang on point.”

        What also struck me about this part of the book is how little control TQ and PP had over the allocation of duties/engagements . As the head I’m surprised she didn’t pull rank on Charles and insisted ALL the senior royals got off their backsides and promoted “The Firm.”

  2. j.ferber says:

    Harry is more sympathetic and kinder to his brother than his brother ever was to him.

    • Well Wisher says:

      One gets the sense that ‘Spare’ relates instances like this in the context of how Harry felt about his brother in this specific instance.

      Charles seemed a certain way due to peoples response to Princess Diana’s service and relayed that negativity to William and Kate time in the limelight.

      Contrast that to William’s maniacal response to Harry’s Travelyst project. He traveled to Scotland on the budget trip with his entire family to ???? Harry.

      Harry could’ve use that as a reference in telling his story.

      The fact that he chose not to mention this denote a generosity rarely reciprocated by William towards him.

      It shows that Harry’s character.

    • Sugarhere says:

      Henry is sympathetic but his subconscious mind says it all:

      – “[William] was busy having children” 🤔😄🤣. One can picture the time-consuming ej…..ns that kept Willy so excruciatingly busy.

      – “[…] and sometimes that wasn’t much” 🤨😊😂. Shady. What brotherly defense strategy is that?

      It’s nice of Harry to blame the then-Cambridges’ slothful ways on Charles, but it all comes down to them being lazy by choice.

  3. girl_ninja says:

    To me Harry kind of bailed Bill’s lazy ass out here. Charles and Camilla wanted all the shine and positive pub so they hated Bill and Katy doing any “work.” He wasn’t interested in offering up his kid to the press either. Obviously this was Al born of laziness but still…. but it was all down to their jealous weird dad and his gross wife. Then gorgeous hardworking Meghan came around and she and Harry stole the show. Charles is just disgusting.

    • Chloe says:

      Charles does get a lot of the burnt. But kaiser raises a good point: the queen wanted them based in London so they could do more work. If this was such an issue why didn’t william take it up with his grandmother? Around this time she still seemed somewhat involved with her family

      • Hail says:

        Exactly. Harry also said that Charles was discouraged from working hard. That courtiers prevented him from working too hard and overshadowing the Queen because he was the heir and yet he still defied them. If William was as serious about working as Charles was, he would’ve done the same thing Charles did. Harry is way too sympathetic to William in this book. Raising a family and making babies does not absolve you from work.

      • kirk says:

        The lack of clear structure, defined job descriptions and meaningful metrics in BRFCo is appalling. Wonder if it will make a good HBS Case Study some day. Might be tough though – one thing BRFCo is good at is hiding data.

      • Same says:

        No – the fact that Monarchy remains anywhere is appalling. Why would anyone expect job descriptions and metrics on a centuries old institution based on birth order and divine right?

      • kirk says:

        Same – Should I be holding up the joke sign?
        Well, except for the part about BRFCo’s proficiency at hiding data. Please note the reference to BRFCo because, at heart, it is a business, not a family.

    • Jais says:

      It’s how William doesn’t want to offer his kids up for the invisible contract and is barely working until Meghan shows up. Then all of the sudden he’s all about that contract and moving to London to work. He wouldn’t start working more for the queen but will when he feels threatened by an American woman. He threw Harry and Meghan to wolves, watched them get devoured, and for what? His own protection? Jealousy? It’s heartbreakingly cruel.

      • Chrissy says:

        By doing what he did, he ironically showed that he’s become just like Chuck. Petty, mean and without any scruples where his brother is concerned.

  4. Lady Esther says:

    Yeah, I put those comments in the same head-scratching territory as Harry’s caping for Susan Hussey. Criticism of William and Kate’ being work-shy was “obscene, grossly unfair, because he was busy having children and raising a family”? Because people simply can’t have children and raise families and work at the same time? Particularly with all of the staff support William and Kate enjoyed? smh

    I have no doubt Charles didn’t want William and Kate outshining him, but as you point out QEII (the ACTUAL monarch) and Philip wanted them to work. And not wanting to outshine does not equal not working at all.

    I think the one who is the most competitive about the Court Circular is Anne, judging by how Harry worded it, and it makes sense; it’s all she has to show she’s worth taxpayer funds.

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      When I read that part about William being “busy having children and raising a family”, I really had to side eye Harry. You mean like most people do while still managing to hold down a full time job? And, technically, William wasn’t literally pregnant, having morning sickness, and giving birth. Wtf, Harry!?

      • blue says:

        True! Willy had little to do with rearing the children + they already had the live-in nanny & other household help.

      • dee(2) says:

        I think in regard to William and Kate’s early marriage Harry assumes more than he saw. I mean he says himself he didn’t even realize that he had proposed to Kate and was waiting and hoping for an invitation to see their renovations and hang out with George. Like he probably remembered how difficult it was for him and Meghan and figured that they also were dealing with the same. It’s not borne out by their actual future work ethic, but Harry’s empathy still blinds him in some ways. Not a terrible trait to have, it just is more glaring to us from the outside.

      • Snuffles says:

        Harry isn’t omnipotent. He wasn’t privy to every moment of Will and Kate’s life. And he already pointed out that they never really invited him in after they got married. I’m sure William was telling Harry one thing while reality was different. This is Harry giving them the benefit of the doubt.

      • Mtl.Ex.Pat says:

        @brassy rebel – I had the same reaction – Harry, your privilege is showing! He’s done a lot of work and growth, which is wonderful and sets him miles ahead of the rest of them. But this shows from where he began and how he’s got more work to do.

    • Becks1 says:

      That sounds like a line he heard from W&K – “its so unfair that we are being criticized for this considering we are busy with our young family!” and maybe Harry agreed with that and like many other things, maybe Harry assumed he would be given the same grace from the family when he married and had kids in terms of a work schedule (Rather than being sent to South Africa with a 4 month old.)

      • Jais says:

        Just realized, in this section, William is complaining about being criticized for not working hard enough while having a young family when what he really should have been complaining about is not being allowed to work much by Charles and then being criticized for it. So which was it then? Agree that he just believed William when he would say these things while the truth was more complex. And yeah, W&K were not sent on a trip with a 4 month old. Poor Harry thinking his family would be given that kind of space.

    • BothSidesNow says:

      @ Lady Esther, I agree. Had Bullyiam actually wanted to work more he certainly could have had the ear of his grandmother as she was pushing for them both to do more actual work and he wasn’t hesitant to go to his grandmother for other issues to his benefit.

      The bottom line is that neither Bullyiam NOR KKHate wanted to work as was apparent when he pushed that narrative years ago claiming that his grandmother supported their laziness.

      @ Jais, of course Willy has been spinning this narrative for almost a decade of his persistence of not working as he is perpetually lazy, both he and his wife. Willy is never to be trusted with the truth.

    • Blue Nails Betty says:

      @Lady Esther I believe Anne is the only one of Elizabeth’s children who genuinely wanted to serve her country and the Crown. Her brothers all wanted the limelight but Anne has always emulated the queen with regard to duty and service (as they defined them).

      I have no doubt Charlotte will do the same thing while George and Louis will repeat the patterns of their male relatives.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Blue Nails Betty, imo that’s a really unfair comment to make about small children. No one knows how they’ll turn out, and to suggest that you know they’ll be like Charles and even worse, Andrew, is pretty gross. If they take after anyone, let’s hope it’s Harry.

    • A says:

      I think Harry feels that, bc he has been in the thick of it with this family, he understands the machinations and the dynamics at work here, and some of that is absolutely at play with holding William and Kate back from doing more.

      However, as other people have suggested, Harry never let those institutional barriers within this family get in the way of him doing the work he wished to do, even though he was arguably in a position with far less clout and money than William ever was. William, as the heir, could 100% leverage his privilege as the heir to push for an expanded role for himself, but he seems to have chosen willingly to count himself out before he even made an effort, and that says everything I think. It’s clear that William has been so used to things being handed to him, that the idea of having to step up and fight for something and work for what he wants to do is just alien to him. In contrast, Harry, who’s never been in that sort of position, is able to put in the effort and make things happen for himself.

      The contrasting attitudes are pretty clearly on display in the book. I don’t think Harry needed to go out of his way to say that explicitly. I saw the tone of the book, and his comments on his brother and Kate, as him trying to extend empathy towards them for their position. I think that speaks a great deal about his maturity, especially in the position that he’s in. Meanwhile, William is not my brother, and I am not a part of this family. The critiques I can make, even while having empathy for the people involved, are going to look different, and that’s normal and to be expected.

    • Athena says:

      I can understand Harry believing William’s excuses at the time, but now that Harry has children, a job, a foundation and multiple projects, he must realize (at the time he was writing this book) that what William was telling him were excuses.

      At this point I’m left to question everything we were told, including that QEII wanted William back in London to work. That information probably came from a palace source.

  5. Tessa says:

    Harry was being nice. Will avoided full time work for as long as he could. The queen wanted him to work so she had Kensington. Palace rooms renovated then he got that air ambulance work where he slipped shifts. Kate had excuses made by the media for her low work numbers even before she had her first child. She had that very part time job in the years before the proposal. She was at jigsaw for less than a year.

    • equality says:

      I agree. There was nothing keeping Will from working hard at his air ambulance job. They also have some things that they do and don’t release the pictures until later. They both could have been doing all kinds of things behind the scenes. If this is what Charles did, what made him let up later and allow them to “work”? Will has his own funding now with the duchy, so what’s his hold up now?

    • Elizabeth says:

      And Kate got the job at Jigsaw after the Queen pointedly said to William, “What does she do?” For the two years after they graduated from university, All Kate did was wait around to go on holidays with William. Oh, and she took a photography course for a few months. She did nothing with that Art History degree. She could have gotten a part-time job with an art gallery, taken an internship with one of the many art museums in London, or obtained a graduate degree in art therapy. Anything.

      • Tessa says:

        I dont even think she took that photography course. She was allegedly going to study with t e s t i n o who had to deny publicly this was true.

  6. C-Shell says:

    Finished the Kindle and about halfway through the Audible (Harry’s narration is outstanding, and I’m laughing and crying all over again), and I’m consistently in awe about how generous Harry is in his depictions of Pa and Willy. They do not deserve it. Still, I completely believe that CIII and Camilla, and their unholy spin doctors and media alliances, are behind a great deal of the misery Harry, Meghan, and even Bulliam have endured for years, decades.

  7. Rapunzel says:

    I absolutely believe Chuck and Cammy complained and that affected how much the Cambridges did. Sure TQ and Phil may have wanted more work, but I’m guessing that the Cambridges would ignore them in favor of Pa because Chucky was a) a lot more vocal/confrontational about it and b) footing their bills.

    Does this mean the Wails duo isn’t workshy? IDK, probably not. But Spare has me questioning the media, narratives and I can see how it’s probably easier for W&K to be do-nothings than hassle all the petty standards they’re expected to follow (by Chuck and the media) I mean….don’t hold a tennis racket at a tennis event? I’d stop working for you too if you told me sh-t like that.

    • LadyE says:

      Yeah, the tennis racket thing is bonkers. Like wth? Also, seems a bit threatening? Like, if you are engaging and do a good event (!! Kate’s job!), you’ll be in trouble! Honestly, living/working like this sounds horrible for the family and the staff. Just sooooo toxic all around

      • Becks1 says:

        Haha, I said below that I understand the tennis racket thing. Kate does absolutely do that in a not-genuine way, like she’s clearly going for the photo op. She would pose with a group of young tennis players and hold a tennis racket so that not only is that picture on the front page, but then the focus is on how much the duchess loves to play tennis and she wishes she could play more but life is so busy and did you know tennis is George’s favorite sport? (George is barely 3 but you know, he just loves it.) etc.

        Think of her at any event like this over the past 5 years. Think of her at the rugby event from about 6 months ago, heck think of her going down the slide in Denmark. She poses at these events which is fine, that’s what they all do, nothing but photo ops, but those pictures of her get her on the front pages, in a way that just a picture of Kate greeting tennis players would not. So its very deliberate on her part and it seems C&C knew that.

      • Rapunzel says:

        But Becks…shouldn’t it be deliberate? I mean, isn’t the goal of these royal events to get photos in the news and draw attention to the event? Their presence is supposed to make headlines. So why shouldn’t Kate pose for the press in ways that will make headlines? I mean….sure, she’s a really obvious, fakedy fake poser who is clearly just about photos, but to be against photo ops sounds like C&C are either jealous or don’t understand the assignment.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Rapunzel well of course they were/are jealous, but I think at least for Charles there was some of the same eye-rolling for it that we do here. “Here she is again, at another sporting event, posing with a tennis racket.” She gets more coverage than C&C anyway for her events, so why does she need to go that extra step?

        But, you also sort of answer your own question in your comment in two ways – “isn’t the goal of these royal events to get photos in the news and draw attention to the event” – first, attention to the “event,” not to Kate. And that’s what happens with her visits. We rarely know what she’s actually doing or what she’s visiting, but we know she posed with a tennis racket. But I think that would just be the “cover” excuse, not the real reason (see below)

        because more importantly, Kate’s job was/is to get attention as a royal but NOT to outshine Charles and Camilla. So it is a problem if she is getting more attention than the prince of wales.

        It makes more sense if you just remember that the point of the royals is to boost their own image and PR and not necessarily that of the charity they’re visiting and that they view PR as a zero sum game. If Kate is getting publicity it means that Charles isn’t (in their minds.)

    • Lady Esther says:

      I think William and Kate are absolutely work-shy and utter failures at their supposed jobs in general (no preparation, no strategy, no results, no sincere engagement…the list goes on and on). But that’s assuming that the “job” is real when we all know it’s not. I agree with you Rapunzel that Kate should not be criticised for making headlines when that is the actual job: to bring good press for the RF.

      William does this to Kate as well – during the Flop Tour it was reported that William insisted all photos of Kate include him, so she wouldn’t be splashed across all the media coverage solo. And although Windsor monarchs are jealous and petty to the extreme, there is an institutional rationale for not letting “outsiders” like marrieds-in outshine the actual heir/monarch, particularly when the heir/monarch is dull, uncharismatic or generally unloved by the people.

      • windyriver says:

        I’d also add, no real interests, which is one of the big reasons there’s “no” anything else. There’s nothing we can pinpoint they care about to make enough of an effort when it comes to fulfilling their public roles.

        Charles, for all his faults, and of course Harry, have causes they actually believe in, which is why work was still accomplished despite what obstacles (assuming it’s true Charles was discouraged from outshining TQ and Philip) they faced from within the institution.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Rapunzel, I agree with you. That tennis racket comment is too specific to not be true. And we know without a doubt that this is how Charles is; it’s been well-documented for literal decades how pissy he’d get when Diana received all of the attention. He couldn’t even hold it in until they were behind closed doors—he’d bitch about it right there in front of the peasants on the walkabout or wherever, ffs.

      Don’t get me wrong, I still think W&K tend to be lazy. But I also think Kate in particular loves to have excuses to buy new clothes, get her hair + makeup done, and pose for photographers. So IDK?

      The issue with W&K’s “work” is exactly what you and Becks are discussing: yes, we see photos of Kate and we know what she was wearing and who designed it and how much it cost and where we can “get it for less.” But could we name a single one of the organizations she’s visited? I certainly can’t.

      When Meghan came along, all of a sudden I was aware of the plight of the ladies cooking at Grenfell and learned all about SmartWorks, what they did and what their specific needs were. Sure, the papers would mention her clothes, but somehow, Meghan had something about her that enabled her to turn the spotlight onto the people she was visiting/helping and the actual *reason* that she was there, and that’s what stuck with people. Probably the fact that she was such a lovely, eloquent speaker is what did it. Plus, her clear enthusiasm and belief in what she was doing even prompted her fans worldwide to donate, too. It was amazing to watch how much her supporters would raise online, once she brought attention to a need.

      And no matter how many photo ops Kate stages making funny faces with small children, she doesn’t have that “it” factor that Meghan did. Somehow Kate is unable to transfer the attention from her to whatever cause she’s promoting. The only events that Kate did that really stand out are the things like movie premieres, because I remember Tom Cruise being there, and clearly she enjoys Wimbledon (although don’t get me started on how she’s allowed to call attending Wimbledon “work”).

      When we think of Harry, we all automatically think Invictus and Sentebale (and sometimes WellChild, too). I do associate Earthshot with William now, but not in a good way, LOL, only because he’s gone about it in such a half-assed way, and is clearly not the least bit passionate about it. He (or more likely, his aides) just thought it would make a good “LANDMARK SIGNATURE INITIATIVE!” for him.

      Anyway, I’m just babbling at this point and am kind of off topic, but I guess my takeaway is we now know that it likely wouldn’t have even mattered if the Cambridges had worked more, because once Meghan was able to show what was possible, it exposed how utterly useless everything they did/do actually is.

      We’ll probably never know what W&K would have been like if Charles hadn’t been such a jealous, petty little man, and if they’d felt free to do whatever they wanted without constantly worrying about him throwing an angry fit over being “overshadowed.” I mean, Harry was there, and he seems to genuinely believe that William (at least) did want to do more.

      I don’t think they EVER would have worked the way Anne does— they clearly think they’re “above” those types of run-of-the-mill, day to day events. But maybe they wouldn’t have been *quite* so useless? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      In any case, Charles does not have the makings of an effective leader, so it will be interesting to see how he manages to further fck things up in the first few years of his reign.

  8. Tessa says:

    The wails did benefit in a way they got.to take those lavish vacations.

  9. Dee(2) says:

    I mean most people aren’t Snidely Whiplash and terrible all the time. William can simultaneously be a terrible brother, and a racist person and still have had crap things done to him under this system too. I think Harry is probably more generous than he deserves but a lot of lazy people get these bursts of energy and want to do things in the moment and if they get shut down, think well I tried. I can believe that at one point William did want to do more if only because of his self image and I’m sure he wanted the accolades of being hard working in comparison to whomever.

  10. Grace says:

    Well, throughout history people have been busy having children and raising their families, but most of them have had to do something else for living as well. Having a family doesn’t give many people an excuse to just get paid for the job they don’t do. Besides I seriously doubt Will was looking after his son and cleaning the house, cooking, doing laundry, buying groceries, paying bills, gardening or figuring out how to pay for it all! He was dependent on his father’s money, that’s true, but he has still always had more money to spend a normal person can ever dream of. I’m sure his wife has never had to skip a shopping spree because there hasn’t been money to cover her expenses, neither have they needed to miss a holiday due to lack of money, or worry about the cost of gas for their many cars. And how can you, as a grown man, just be happy not using your platform and selecting causes where you can really make a difference? And how can a father be happy when his children are not reaching their full potential? I don’t get these people.

  11. Heather says:

    I was surprised he defended his brother in this part of the book. I think he’s being generous and a little naive – even still – about some things related to his brother. I get the sense that the more time he’s a away, the more unraveling he does about his experience with the RF. I bet he has ‘a ha’ moments all the time. He was raised in that machine after all. It’s gonna take years to dismantle all the shit that happened.

    He’s right about one thing, William is a hot head. And needs therapy himself. He just comes across as a complete asshole. I think their situation within the RF kind of breeds contempt if you’re not an empath which is why Harry was able to leave.

    • Moxylady says:

      I agree with this. I grew up in a family cult – I’ve mentioned it before – and so much of their journey makes me go – oy. I remember those days.

      It was years of constant constant growth and new ideas regarding the family and a new understanding of what is and isn’t healthy and a true understanding of family, their relationships and the way they weaponized them when it suited them. And then a true grasp of what being the black sheep meant. There is only one way forward. And that’s by getting out. The way people in the family think of me was set in stone long before I was even aware people were thinking of me. And people who have only lived their role and know the benefits… they will never change out of the goodness of their hearts. Or because they understand how much it hurts you. They aren’t hurting as much as you and that’s enough to keep it going.

  12. Alexandria says:

    I really like it that Chuck threw Pegs under the bus and he still wanted Harry’s support when he confronted Chuck. I also like it that H defends and supports Pegs here but in the end he still threw Harry and Meg to the wolves. 🙄

  13. ROAA says:

    So he has no problem with people calling him a racist, but not lazy.

    • Becks1 says:

      I think you’re missing the point here. It’s not that he had “no problem” being called racist, its that he knew he did something racist so he deserved the negative press attention. If he was being called lazy when it was something he had no control over (i.e. Charles controlling how much William could work) that would be something very different.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      ROAA, the difference between Harry and the rest of the brf (excluding Eugenie) is that he knew he had been racist. He learned and grew from that. The rest of them would never admit to themselves or anyone else that they are racist. They will never learn or grow, because they don’t want to.

  14. Becks1 says:

    I found this part interesting and I see it from a couple different angles.

    First, I do think its possible that Charles was happy with William and Kate’s lack of engagements because it gave him a very important edge over William, that many of us on here have cited repeatedly – “Well Charles is a crap father/person but at least he WORKS.”

    Second – its clear Charles wasn’t holding Harry back in the same way. Harry has never been called lazy in the press, at least not that I can remember. He was doing a lot of international tours, he was at a lot of receptions and events, etc. Was Harry not seen as the PR threat that William and Kate were? Or is this Harry giving William more credit than he deserves?

    Third – along those lines, I can see Charles holding Kate back but William never grabbed the attention from Charles for his work. William is super boring even at work events and he doesn’t get the headlines and front pages that Kate does (even now for some reason.) So I can’t see Charles telling William to work less.

    Fourth -I can understand the tennis racket comment. How many times have we commented here on Kate’s play acting at these kinds of events to get more coverage? It seems Charles and Camilla have noticed it as well. I bet the slide did not go over well, ha.

    Finally – for this whole discussion, the proof is in the pudding. William is no longer under Charles’ financial control so it will be interesting to see whether his work numbers increase for the next year or stay the same.

    • Lizzie Bennett says:

      I noticed that too. Charles doesn’t appear to hold Harry back from working. Sentebale and IG as well as Harry’s natural personality seem to have played a factor in Harry’s popularity. Why isn’t Charles threatened by this? Is it because Harry might be his favorite child? I’ve read Diana and Charles say he was the easier child to deal with or is it because Harry’s not the direct heir so Charles doesn’t feel threatened?

      • Anna says:

        I think it’s the latter. The lot of them really do live and die on these imaginary titles, and Harry was the Spare after all, who really “cares” about him?

        I have a feeling that Chuck didn’t really acknowledge Harry’s work unless he could get in on it i.e: be photographed supporting him like the good dad be pretends to be. Otherwise he used whatever negative press Harry had as cover.

      • QuiteContrary says:

        But Chuck did hold Meghan back, right? She wanted to do more than she was allowed …

        That said, I think Harry is being too kind toward his work-shy brother. It seems to fit with the pattern of Harry’s life — it’s a shame William doesn’t have a heart big enough to return any of Harry’s kindness.

    • bitsycs says:

      I think with regards to Harry, as a single person, son of Prince Charles reads as more of a reflection on Charles where he can bask in the shine/PR vs William is more direct competition as a married Future Future King. Also Harry already had a sort of cultivated (thanks Pa and Camilla) fuck up vibe where the heir had always been more protected.

      Around the time William got married, up until around when Harry did, yes there was the whole “lazy” narrative but there was also the goofy “skip Charles for Will and Kate, the new modern, exciting royals.” I also think young Kate vs old boozy Camilla matters in some ways more to Charles and is more of a threat than single Harry would be to either of them if we are talking PR from 2011-2016. Which is why this rings true to me – the Windsors are nothing if not petty, jealous idiots – but I do think at heart, both Will and Kate are lazy and in general, uninspired people who aren’t going to think outside the box or push back too hard on living spoiled, entitled lives. So I think it’s sort of yes, Harry is being a bit generous with his brother and Kate here, but it’s also true in the sense that there were roadblocks from Charles.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Becks, ITA. Charles seems to view Kate (and then by extension, William, too, when he’s with her) as “glamorous,” and he’s still so scarred from Diana stealing his limelight. And in comparison to Camilla, I guess Kate IS glamorous, lol.

        For some reason, I don’t think he viewed Harry as the same kind of threat to his own coverage (which is insane, because both Invictus and Sentebale are enormous achievements). Harry was seen as the jovial bachelor, the court jester, by many, even as he was actually doing important work. But I don’t think Charles would have been as worried about Harry “taking over” front pages the way he was with Kate. What a small, petty man, JFC.

    • sunny says:

      True, we don’t hear him holding back Harry but I’m not sure that wasn’t due to Harry’s own drive and thirst to do something of meaning? And I mean there are ways the system held Harry back, including the fact that all his visits to wounded veterans weren’t counted in the CC because they were deemed, “private visits”.

      I do think though in general, Charles’ dynamic with TOB is even more messed up than his dynamic with Harry and that old Chuckles sees William as both a threat and replacement due to his position as heir.

    • A says:

      I think Charles did try to hold Harry back from doing a lot of the stuff he did, but Harry simply worked around or through those barriers, and got on with the job. He built relationships and connections with organizations and causes that mattered greatly to him, and what’s key is that he did this outside of the palace machinery, something he was able to do bc he was such an active part of the military.

      A lot of this latitude that Harry carved for himself is a direct result of him having expressed his desire openly to be deployed to whatever war zone any other normal soldier would be deployed to. On this, no one in the palace stood in Harry’s way. Everyone from the Queen, to Charles, the govt, the military, and all the palace staffers immediately understood that it would be very good press for everyone involved, if Harry were to be deployed. This is the reason why everyone went out of their way to make it happen for Harry, when in normal circumstances, I don’t think it would have happened.

      I don’t think anyone in the royal family expected the out come of that would be Harry gaining confidence in himself and his abilities, and that it would give him the ability to branch out beyond the family. It gave him an ability to be self-reliant, and it gave him an identity beyond just being a member of the royal family. It gave him the means to get around the institutional barriers that would have otherwise stood in his way.

      This doesn’t mean that Charles nor William have the ability to do the same. They do, if they can just get creative about it. But neither of them want to, bc both of them are more interested in upholding and preserving the institution as it is. It works just fine for them as is. It didn’t work for Harry.

  15. Tessa says:

    What i don’t get is the apparent shift in policy that Kate must not upstage c and c. For instance Kate made that concert all about her. And although Kate and will and Camilla and Charles attended the James bond movie premier most of the photos showed Kate in the gaudy gold gown. And I read no press reports of Charles being unhappy at being upstaged.

    • Jais says:

      Yeah, idk? Maybe they’ve realized they need some sort of star power so they’ve relaxed on that. Or they are upset but it doesn’t make it to the papers bc it’s more fun to complain about the Sussexes?

    • Bitsycs says:

      It’s because of Harry and Meghan. Charles and Camilla can’t compete on their own at all against their star power so they let/encourage Kate to shine (lol). Without Meghan though, I think there’d be wayyyyyyy more tension between the new prince of wails and KC3.

      • Lorelei says:

        I agree it’s because Charles knows that the BRF needs some of those “star power” moments to keep people (especially young people, and all of us dim Americans!) interested, so he probably doesn’t mind if every so often, Kate is photographed in a shimmering dress or on a red carpet with Tom Cruise, and it covers all of the front pages.

        At least Charles is self-aware enough to understand that he and Camilla would not get nearly the same amount of press attention that Kate does at those types of events.

        Plus, we know that Charles fancies himself quite the intellectual. So he probably tells himself that things like movie premieres are “fluff” and taking part in such Hollywood-ish events would be a waste of his time.

  16. Charlotte says:

    It doesn’t sound great for Harry to say he would rather be called racist than lazy!

    • Jais says:

      Becks1 addressed that well upthread when replying to ROAA.

    • Anna says:

      I mean, Harry’s whole campaign is about the press saying things that weren’t true.

      Him saying he’s “fine” with being called racist makes sense in the context that he acknowledged that what he did WAS racist. I side eyed it initially too, but it also brought on the realization that Harry can admit to his racist behaviour which is something everyone else on that Salty Island seem incapable of. The first step to addressing any problem is admitting you have one, point Harry.

  17. Eurydice says:

    I believe the rest of Harry’s story, no reason not to believe this part. It will be interesting to see what happens now that William has his own money.

    • Well Wisher says:

      I agree.
      My take is that he is telling his story in real time.
      This is his take of the situation at that specific time.

  18. ROAA says:

    Harry left his postpartum depressed wife at home in May, June and July 2019 only to appear at useless engagements so that people and the press wouldn’t call him lazy. Priorities.

    • Becks1 says:

      Meghan was also working during that time on Vogue and Smart Set so its not like she was just sitting home by herself all day every day either.

      • ROAA says:

        He says every time he was coming home from London at that time he would find her crying in the nursery while breastfeeding Archie.

      • Becks1 says:

        I mean she wasn’t working 24/7, but we know she was working during that time frame. You’re acting like the only reason Harry was working was so that he wouldn’t get called lazy and that was his #1 priority when there was more involved than that for him. And he has said that he wished he was less of a royal sometimes when it came to her mental health, so it seems he understands that he made mistakes.

    • ChillinginDC says:

      Yeah that part of the book had me shaking my head. I will say this, he didn’t hold back on crap he did and what others did. It was very honest. I don’t know if it was about him being called lazy or just him not understanding at all what was going on with her and how much help she really needed. Or maybe denial? I think up until the pregnancy she was no holds barred about a lot of things and then he knew he needed to take steps for her mental well being.

    • Jais says:

      I can’t remember which interview but at some point he’s talked about feeling ashamed that he didn’t do more, that he was more concerned at times about how it looked, and wishes he could do things differently. Eventually, he took Meghan and his kids away from that and now they’re set up in Montecito. So he admitted his priorities were off and then changed that. Maybe it was the Netflix doc?

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        An AHA moment @Jais. There was something more about ROAA’s post that bothered me that I couldn’t quite grasp why. Now I do, thanks to rereading your post. ROAA is conflating two different situations to suit the narrative put out by Valentine Low. He (a very Low low) has said he heard of Meghan’s suicide ideation as early as June 2019. We know through Meghan’s & Harry’s words, that situation became known in January of 2019. Either Low is lying, was lied to or he is a guilty party in spreading misinformation or is trying to equate Meghan’s suicidal ideations in January 2019 to PPD. That theory supports the Palace’s bs.

        One can experience PPD without feeling suicidal.

    • kirk says:

      ROAA – useless engagements? Isn’t that why Britain keeps a royal family? That and tourism?

      • ROAA says:

        Yes, useless engagements. He attended the Anzac Day with Kate in April 2019 when Meghan was literally heavily pregnant (and he was NOT expected to attend). He also attended the Easter service with the rest of the family, although he had not attended since he was a child. And after they had Archie, he attended the Nazi’s daughter’s wedding (Lady Gabriella).

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        ROAA, how do you know that he was not expected to attend the Anzac Day event? If Harry was there, where was William? I assume you’re not quoting a British tabloid. I think Harry was kept deliberately busy to keep him away from Meghan when everyone knew she was having serious mental health issues.

        The Windsors are nothing if not cruel and ruthless.

      • Nic919 says:

        Kate showed up to Anzac as the add on because Harry as the actual veteran was the royal scheduled to go, along with the Duke of Gloucester. Kate was the tag along and because William wasn’t present she was ranked behind Harry and Gloucester in the seating. Harry also wasn’t patient of her bs that day. There is a video of him waving her to get into the car with some snappiness.

    • MrsBanjo says:

      @ROAA – Did you read the book? Or are you just looking to have a go at him? Because he addresses quite clearly how he was still stuck in the royal family mindset (a cult he was immersed in his *entire life*, mind) during that time and regrets not doing better by Meghan.

      • Lorelei says:

        @ROAA, I’m only speaking for myself, but when I was heavily pregnant, there were for sure times wanted nothing more than some time alone, to just be by myself for a while, so it’s entirely possible that Meghan encouraged Harry to get out of the house for a few hours.

        Secondly, we don’t blame Harry because his father is an asshole. Or Meghan because Thomas Markle is a POS. Or Eugenie because her father is a freaking child rapist.
        I know absolutely *nothing* about Gabriella Windsor, but for all we know, she’s lovely, and mortified about her parents’ behavior. She could also be terrible— as I said, I don’t know— but I do know that you shouldn’t automatically judge her because of who her parents are and things they might have done that she had absolutely nothing to do with.

        Harry seems to be a pretty good judge of character, so maybe let’s give him the benefit of the doubt here?

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        @Mrs.Banjo, they’re just having a go at him. Doria flew in before the baby’s due date (Archie was more than a week overdue from whatever the exact due date was) and stayed with them through May 21st. It’s speculated that Jessica M. flew in with her daughter around the time Doria left. I’ve no doubt Meghan had a lot of visitors.

        Harry didn’t have the option to not go back to work/royal engagements. We also don’t know if he had to do all his work away from home.

    • Anna says:

      There’s no defending the indefensible, but hindsight is 20/20. Harry admitted to feeling ashamed for not doing more at the time, and then he did.

      We can judge his past actions all we want, but that doesn’t change the fact that he worked to do better (and has, if we’re viewing his present actions) and got his family out of there.

      Do you want him to invent time travel and make better past decisions, would he be showing enough remorse for you then?

    • QuiteContrary says:

      Are you seriously arguing, ROAA, that Harry didn’t prioritize Meghan? He writes in “Spare” of how he acted like a “royal” instead of a husband when Meghan revealed she was suicidal. He seems to have beaten himself up for that initial response.

      But he snapped out of it. I mean, the guy left England and royal life to keep his wife and children safe. I think he’s made his priorities crystal-clear.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      @ROAA, if you could share a link where it shows Harry was given the option to take a 3 month paternity leave that would be great. I couldn’t find one from back then.

      The excerpt shared here from Spare is from the 2015 timeframe. When it was known he would be leaving the army in June of that year. After serving for ten years, I would be willing to smack down Fleet Street for Harry if they called him lazy.

  19. Brassy Rebel says:

    Really, William should send Harry a very nice thank you gift for being so kind to him in this book, instead of being “incandescent with rage” and authorizing his staff to tell the media about how calm and dignified he is in spite of this “great betrayal”. I mean, both he and Kate should actually try reading this book. Clearly, they have not.

    The same goes for Charles.

  20. scarytimes says:

    aren’t all rich ppl generally “lazy”? minus the small percentage that built an empire and live to work and continue to flaunt how much they work. honestly if i were as rich as them and knew i had centuries of generational wealth to help me, i would focus on my kids and my family too while doing the min required of me. this whole “lazy” narrative is drummed up by capitalism to shame us into not enjoying life. do they work? yes, do they not work as much as you want them to? seems like that’s the problem. but most of us dream of having their resources to spend more time on life and raising THREE kids. maybe if chuck and the queen had spent more time with their kids and family, harry and william wouldn’t have turned out so f**** up. at the end of the day, chuck failed both of his kids by being such a stunted emotionless man who learned how to parent from the queen, who honestly sounded like the worst mother. maybe both of them should have spent less time working for a make believe fake dynasty and focused more on their kids.

    • Grace says:

      I think royal families who are public figures and symbols of a nation, and who get public funding are in a different position than other rich people who hold a totally different position in society. If public has to keep funding the royals and accept their privileges, the royals must give something in return.

      • scarytimes says:

        i think it’s more complicated than that. the fact is the monarchy owns a crap ton of property (crown estates) and it provides a lot of revenue for the government in exchange for the sovereign grant, which is tax-payer funded money for the monarch’s expenses. the revenue from these estates outweigh the tax payer dollars that is allocated for the sovereign grant. put in the tourism dollars the monarchy brings…the monarchy is a boost for the UK economy as of now. and take away tax payers dollars, this family will continue to be far wealthier than your average millionaire that can hire 3 nannies and holiday 70% of the year. not saying it’s right one family by no merit other than their bloodline gets so much wealth…but they would be just fine if they said they no longer wanted to work for the UK. aka i think short of the british saying they no longer want these token heads, they don’t have to work for a living.

      • Becks1 says:

        Yes, we know how the sovereign grant works. Imagine if the monarchy went away and the government got to keep all the income from the crown estates! and the income from the duchies of lancaster and cornwall!

        The royal family does not really drive tourism the way monarchists insist it does. Sure, maybe there’s a boost for something like a wedding or coronation, but is that worth the millions of pounds a year the royal family gets from the sovereign grant? People aren’t visiting Tower of London, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace etc to get a glimpse of the queen. (or now the king.) they go for the history.

        but yes, as long as the public has to keep funding the royals in any way shape or form, they should work for that funding. If they don’t want to, they can step away and take their vast personal wealth and just go be wealthy aristocrats. But they won’t, bc they like having people bow and scrape before them and they like all the other privileges that come with being royal. They’re not going to give up those perks, including the sovereign grant and the duchies.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      scarytimes, you do know that these royals have nannies and household staff, right? They don’t work much, so they have LOADS of time to spend with the children if they want to. It’s their choice, because they can easily do both.

      I think you missed the part about the brf needs to be seen by their ‘subjects’. In order to remain relevant, they have to show up and be seen. If they suddenly stopped taking the public money and went and lived their lives, how long do you think the Monarchy would last? Their entire goal in life is to make sure the Monarchy lasts. That’s it.

  21. Nightshade says:

    I wonder if this section and others like it were set up as a way of establishing how lazy and petty his family are without having to be the one to call them out on it. Like, “this is the bullshit excuse that Will gave me for being a lazy POS, and *I* believed him.” Knowing full well that anybody reading the book would roll their eyes and see right through Wills laziness and ineptitude. That way, Harry can bring attention to Wills laziness, make Chuckles look like the petty, small man he is, then step back and let people make their own decisions without it looking like that is what Harry believes.
    I’m petty as hell, and that’s exactly what I would do. But then again, Harry is a better person than I am.

  22. Hamburg says:

    Meghan is so powerful. Her presence alone made William do a 180 and start grovelling for the press he had spent his life before that ignoring and sneering at. It made Charles stop being threatened by William and Kate because he realized they were actually just trash at PR and the more people saw, the less they would idolize them (the back-to-back flop tours have borne that out). It made Camilla, who had spent years cultivating ties with the British press and media, the most powerful member of the family (minus H+M), and turned “stupid”, forgettable Harry (who they basically treated like a yellow lab for his entire life) into the most distinguished man in the family. Just one woman. The power

  23. Jay says:

    Two things can be true here: Charles tried his darndest to keep William and Kate from overshadowing him, AND they were happy to have the excuse of “having a young family” not to work. I also think that Harry’s point about what he would have done if he’d been called “lazy” (ripped fleet street a new one) tells us a lot. William didn’t seem to mind being called lazy, and did nothing to counteract it ( until, of course, a certain American duchess came along).

    • Nem says:

      Duke and duchess of doolittle and waity kate nicknames are so disserved.
      w and k weren’t even able to look interessed and engaged with people in their visits.
      They were unprofessional, both saying idiotic and offensive things, Kate wearing bright clothes to solemn occasions and places, showing off bum until eugenie ‘s wedding,William being an pain in the a*s for the ambulance team, not doing properly his customized agriculture cursus, avoiding learning welsh or diplomatic service…
      Not only they did very few work, but they did it so wrong, there was no way to ask newspapers for rectifications.
      I would pay a lot to know how the situation would have turned without meghan to scapegoat.
      It was already visible they were using Harry to help maintain public good will.
      Earthflop refocusing on the winners, and pathetic excuses for snobbing will’s godparent funeral, after the spare revelation of his hidden misdeeds are signs duchess of sussex time as wales human shield is finished

    • Well Wisher says:

      @jay
      Agreed.

  24. ChillinginDC says:

    I don’t know why we believe Harry when he says one thing and not the other. This part rang true to me since apparently Charles and Camilla are jealous jerks. And if you follow who was leaking what about Meghan, some of that came from CH and then there was the crap coming from KP. I think if at this point if Harry has not confirmed it via his book, I am not going to keep thinking something else occurred. Case in point, Frogmore. Many Sussex supporters thought that was the Queen punishing Harry and Meghan and until Spare, didn’t realize they chose that place and the Queen offered them bigger accommodations.

    • kirk says:

      IIRC another reason supporting Frogmore was that fixing up one of the KP apartments (Apt 1?) was going to require asbestos removal and cost ~2X as much as Frogmore.

      • Becks1 says:

        Yes and that’s something H&M mentioned in their departure statement – they were offered a place at KP but it would have cost too much to renovate.

        @Chilling – the queen did not offer them bigger accommodations. She offered them FC once Harry called and asked her for advice. Other accommodations were being discussed but FC was the queen’s idea.

      • ChillinginDC says:

        Yep.

      • Lorelei says:

        Wasn’t their only other option an apartment at KP? I think by then, they wanted to GTFO and as far away from W&K as possible.

  25. MrsBanjo says:

    The book read to me like it was written as his mindset at the time the events in it occurred. His taking at face value at the time that Will and Kate’s lack of work was purely due to Charles and Camilla being assholes about the purse and schedule is unsurprising in that context. Then, gradually, he starts to experience William turning on him and you see the confusion and gradual understanding that William is playing the same games. He’s said repeatedly in interviews that he’d like to have a closeness to them but he knows damn well it likely won’t happen as they’re uninterested in changing, so it’s quite clear that he knows the deal with them at this point.

  26. Tessa says:

    William apparently got permission from the Queen, not Charles to go into the Air Ambulance (where he missed shifts and had photo ops and had to take his security guard with him). She wanted him to start full time work and got KP renovated and then he asked if he could do this other work. I think when he really wanted something he would go after it. I don’t think he cared one way or another if Charles gave him “more work” or not. William also “generously” said he would donate the $60,000 salary he would get from the work (it was not said where that went) and donated a freezer to the unit.

  27. Smee says:

    Why did Pa & W want him to quit the military?

  28. Over it says:

    Let’s say for arguments sake that Harry is correct and he was being told by willy that chucky was doing these things to him . Okay fine , that was then , this is now . Willy has been the Duke of Cornwall along with duchess Cornwall for months now so they both have their own funds and therefore the means to do more work, and yet we barely see them . Infact we probably see them less now than when Kate was pregnant. Willy and Kate are lazy and it doesn’t matter who controls the money , these two will look for any and all excuses to do as little as possible

    • Lorelei says:

      @OverIt, I think by now, both William and Kate have successfully convinced enough royalists that they’re doing things differently, in that the public may not see them out and about as much as they have in the past (i.e. Anne and Charles), but that’s only because they’re toiling away behind the scenes on one or two big issues that they’ve chosen to focus on. We know that’s absolute bullsh!t, but I really think their supporters believe it.

      I mean, for the love of god, we’ve been told that Kate literally spends her time reading the scientific literature on the early years. She just cares SO much! Kate’s team had the audacity to talk up her “landmark project” for years, and it turned out to be a five-question survey that anyone in a Psych 101 class could have thrown together in ten minutes, plus, the methodology was so flawed that it was basically rendered useless. But sadly that propaganda works on more people than I’d like to believe.

      Everything about their foundation is incredibly sketchy, and from what was released, we know for sure that William spent more money promoting Earthshot than he did actually giving that money to the people on the ground doing the work. How that didn’t trigger some sort of investigation is beyond me.

      The British public doesn’t seem to be questioning the way W&K operate (the one exception being the Caribbean tour, because that was too egregious to ignore), so they probably see no reason to change anything now.

      It’s all such a scam. But W&K seem to have been successful in their, “We can make so much more of a difference if we only focus on the one or two issues we’re PASSIONATE about!” campaign.

  29. HarryforLifei says:

    I think it’s interesting that the point keeps getting raised here, and elsewhere, that Upchuck should know the assets he has in the Wails and the Sussexes (and even Diana when her had her) to position the RF well. For argument’s sake, let’s say even if he was smart enough to do that, the Petty Patty BM then fans the flame of “ooohhhh, look Charles is getting outshone”, “loooook the Yougiveyourself polls say he’s 6th popular”. It’s a lose lose and an endless melodrama and I think that was part of Harry’s point too. That and the fact that “Pa loves” the media’s love. Diana said it in her Panorama interview, after a while, even when you use your assets well, you get criticized. Even Harry, trying to uplift Meg, was called a cockhold. The monarchy and its toxic pet the media are just a zero sum game.

  30. HeyKay says:

    To quote Ace Ventura “Well, why don’t you cry about it?”

    Unfair? Your entire family weaponizes the press against each other. Don’t give me unfait.
    Try getting decent medical care for a loved one these past 5 years. The cost of food, heat, basic needs, homelessness, etc. after working and struggling your entire life = THAT is unfair.
    Go soak your royal head in a bucket William.

  31. BeanieBean says:

    I think the ‘no more than one royal event per day’ concept is stupid, but if that’s what they really want, it’s not that hard to coordinate calendars. A standing weekly or monthly meeting among the various office staffs would take care of that. Shoot, the outlook calendars do the work anyway. Do they not know how to share their calendars?

    • Jay says:

      Right? Companies and governments do this all the time to coordinate the appearances and events of their principals, to make sure they are not being overexposed or duplicating work. It’s not rocket science. In a streamlined monarchy, that’s what they’ll have to do.

      I think another factor is the competition between the palaces:
      Maybe now that Charles is the monarch things will just run through him, but for awhile there BP, CH, and KP were basically warring little fiefdoms and it showed.

      Finally, if Charles can’t deal with Kate’s popularity, he could start doing events with her rather than complaining.

    • notasugarhere says:

      It isn’t true, though. There are frequently multiple royals at events on the same day. Because they do not share their calendars, you and end up with three royals in the same town the same day.

      I lean into Harry being overly nice here and believing the lies William told him.

      Kate has no popularity nor does William. W&K are boring, worse than watching paint dry. If Keen had spent 5000 pounds total on a WORK wardrobe, she could show up 365 days a year as ‘work’ and no one would notice. The ONLY thing she gets notice for is her hair extensions and her 2+ million pound excessive wardrobe. If Charles wanted them not getting attention? All he had to do was remove Kate’s clothing budget, so I’m not buying the idea that Charles didn’t want them to work.

  32. Jaded says:

    The thing is, William starts these initiatives (heli ambulance, bespoke farming course at Cambridge, etc.) but never finishes them or succeeds at making *something* out of himself. To me that shows he’s A) lazy; and B) struggles subconsciously with low self-esteem so he doesn’t have the confidence to succeed. He’s the product of a totally f*cked up family environment hung up on position and prestige rather than real accomplishments. Throw arrogance, anger and entitlement into the mix and you have someone trapped in a life over which you have very little control.

  33. aquarius64 says:

    At the end of the day it’s all about image. To portray an ideal that doesn’t allow you to have flaws but allows you to be arrogant enough to get away all sorts of mess. But that system allows forces like the media to put you on a leash and virtually control your life. The BRF is trapped but it chooses that situation. I’m glad the Sussexes got out.

  34. Bama says:

    I think the tragic death of their mother combined with the general lack of love and affection in their extended family (minus Diana) made Harry particularly receptive to any excuse William made that was based on his kids and being a “real parent”. And William knew that and took advantage of it.

    That was William’s trump card – “I’m not lazy, Harry! I’m doing things better than Mummy and Pa did because I’m breaking the cycle! It’s imperative that I be there for Kate so she doesn’t end up like Mummy! I must be there for George so he isn’t raised by nannies like we were! Plus, Pa won’t give me the money!”

    Will knew Harry would be supportive of that and would buy that excuse. Because he knew that’s how Harry felt.

    Whether William actually meant it? Well……..

  35. Ihatepeople says:

    Yeah I believe it. I know we all hate Willian now but he is a product of that awful selfish father of his. A lot of the blame about how he turned out can squarely be laid at Charles and Elizabeths feet.

  36. Emily_C says:

    I find this part really interesting, and actually more plausible than a lot of people do. Because Chuck is Like That. He cannot stand anyone having attention but him. At all. He feels like it’s “stealing” from him in some way — Chucky is supposed to be the absolute center of world, around which all else revolves at all times. Camilla realized this about him and that’s why she’s queen now. He will not, ever, take his attention away from himself, and anyone who asks him to is his enemy. Anyone in his orbit who draws attention is also his enemy, because that attention belongs to him, damn it, like everything else on the planet does.

  37. The Recluse says:

    Man, if Camilla outlives Chuck, it ain’t going to be pretty to see how William punishes her, because he will. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts rocking the boat right after Charles becomes King. Does William actually control the Duchy of Cornwall yet, or is Charles delaying that too?

    • Feeshalori says:

      William became Duke of Cornwall automatically as soon as Charles became king, so he got control of the duchy and his hands on its income immediately.

  38. Jen says:

    Unlike most of us, W&K cannot retire. They’re workload actually increases as they get older. It’s guaranteed. I don’t blame them for spending time with their kids while they can.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Guess what? Most of the people in the UK will never be able to retire either, because of having to work seven days a week until they die.

      The excuses for these two pampered poodles are far past ridiculous by now. Oh, poor babies. They work 100 HOURS per year and live in four massive homes for which they don’t pay a penny. Their workloads are DECREASING.

      I see no need to give them a pass for being parents. The rest of us work and parent – all while paying our own bills and doing all of our own childcare, housecare, etc. All the other working royal parents 1) worked more 2) while they had young children. W&K do none of the heavy lifting of paying their bills, doing the housework, doing the cooking, or doing the childcare. They have a separate set of housekeepers, cook, cleaners for each home and at least three full-time nannies.

      The taxpayers funding this racist sh!tshow are working multiple jobs trying to keep a roof over their heads, 1 in 4 children in the UK go to bed hungry, the UK is in massive financial trouble. Kate is prancing around in 2 million pounds worth of ugly clothing, posing for photographers, while he’s posing at homeless shelters and doing nothing.

      Both of them saying *for years* they think working parents are bad parents. Even if W&K were each working 500 engagements a year? They’d still only be working 20 hours a week, five months of the year. They could work the middle of the day while kids were/are in preschool or school. Instead he was off hunting with his exes and playing with helos while she was off shopping. They have plenty of ability to work around the kids schedules but they’re too lazy and selfish to do so.

  39. Tessa says:

    I see no noticeable increase in wails workload. The children are in school and will be grown ups perhaps by the time will is on the throne

  40. Lizzie says:

    It seems to me that if William had gone ahead and did whatever work he wanted to do, but quietly with no pictures or praise from the df and no court circular to bother his father, then Harry’s would have written about that, and it would raise his standings immeasurably. People would talk about William continuing to work but hiding it from his father the same way the talk about the queen working during WWII.

  41. Suusan says:

    I don’t buy this. It sounds like Harold-lol- is making fun of William while giving him an out. William wants to be king and doesn’t want any criticism. He doesn’t work encase it goes bad. Kate wants to be considered the next Diane but doesn’t want to be bothered by people and doesn’t want to be shown up. Charles isn’t holding them back. You see Anne still work, even Edward does the foreign royalty trips thing. They might not want to make him mad but they do stuff.