It’s been almost a month since King Charles’s coronation and we still haven’t gotten any confirmed news about Prince William’s investiture as the Prince of Wales. William is actually on holiday right now – his kids have a school break, so William and Kate are in the wind, not doing a f–king thing and absolutely not planning for any investiture. Before the coronation, there was some reporting about how Charles and William had significant disagreements about what the ceremony should be or if William should even have one. Post-coronation, it sounded like William was simply refusing any kind of investiture and there are zero plans in place. This goes alongside William and Kate’s refusal to learn Welsh and their refusal to do much of anything in or for Wales. William couldn’t even be bothered to support a Welsh national team. So, obviously, now a royal biographer is talking openly about how the new Prince of Wales needs to get his ass in gear.
Prince William has some “catching up to do” as Prince of Wales and could be about to launch a “supercharge” to woo the Welsh, according to a royal biographer. Huw Thomas, a BBC journalist who has written a book about the King’s relationship with Wales, told an audience at the Hay Festival that Charles had been the most attentive Prince of Wales in history and that William was lagging behind.
“He’s got a lot of catching up to do in terms of the public perception of him as a Prince of Wales,” Thomas said. “The impression I get as well is that, after the coronation, there’s going to be a bit of a supercharge on the relationship of William with Wales. We’ll see what comes.”
It is not clear what form any charm offensive by William would take, with a formal ceremonial being unlikely. An investiture as Prince of Wales, akin to the one the King took part in, has not been planned. Before that ceremony in 1969, Charles immersed himself in Welsh culture and language, developing a connection that persists to this day. In comparison to the King, William has done little extracurricular work before his new role, although supporters point to the fact that he lived in Anglesey during his period as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot.
The bestowal of the title on William in September prompted discontent among some Welsh people. A focal point for this was the match between England and Wales at the Fifa World Cup in Qatar last year, which was a tricky moment of divided loyalties as William had previously been a passionate supporter of England. He was criticised by Michael Sheen, the Welsh actor, for sending a message of support to the England football team.
Thomas, whose book is entitled Charles: The King and Wales, said that William was already starting to adapt to his new role and was trying to fashion the office of Prince of Wales in his own image.
“Maybe now there’s a focus on mental health initiatives or outdoors,” Thomas said. “It’s a bit more targeted to make sure William is seen to be doing stuff that suits William.”
Thomas said that the King was not an easy act to follow as Prince of Wales as he had brought such a high level of dedication and interest to the role. “Certainly, up until Charles, there wasn’t a Prince of Wales that paid anywhere near the attention that he has paid to understanding Wales and Welshness,” Thomas said.
I agree that while the Welsh people didn’t really believe that Charles should carry the Tywysog Cymru title, Welsh people respected the fact that Charles treated them with respect, learned Welsh and did a lot of outreach within Wales. When it came down to it, the Welsh people overwhelmingly believed that Charles should simply be the last Prince of Wales. Perhaps they’ve gotten their wish, because William is going to do f–k all with the title, he has no interest in an investiture and he barely wants to spend any time in Wales at all. This cracked me up: “It’s a bit more targeted to make sure William is seen to be doing stuff that suits William.” It’s an open secret that William is an utter intellectual and diplomatic lightweight who can’t be bothered to learn new things or show respect to diverse cultures within the UK. No, Peg just has to do stuff that suits Peg.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, visits the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, in Cardiff on November 16, 2022.,Image: 737950875, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: GEOFF CADDICK / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales sit for an official photo with The Prince of Wales’s company at a St David’s Day parade with members of the 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards in Windsor England, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. It is the first time The Prince has visited the Welsh Guards since becoming Colonel of the Regiment.,Image: 759474294, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales sit for an official photo with The Prince of Wales’s company at a St David’s Day parade with members of the 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards in Windsor England, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. It is the first time The Prince has visited the Welsh Guards since becoming Colonel of the Regiment.,Image: 759474406, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales sit for an official photo with The Prince of Wales’s company at a St David’s Day parade with members of the 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards in Windsor England, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. It is the first time The Prince has visited the Welsh Guards since becoming Colonel of the Regiment.,Image: 759474448, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales take part in training activities during a visit to Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team on their 2 day visit to Wales on April 27, 2023 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting the country to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Central Beacons Mountain Rescue and to meet members of local communitie,Image: 772384905, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jules Annan / Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales take part in training activities during a visit to Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team on their 2 day visit to Wales on April 27, 2023 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting the country to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Central Beacons Mountain Rescue and to meet members of local communitie,Image: 772384962, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jules Annan / Avalon
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Aberfan memorial garden, to pay their respects to those who lost their lives during the Aberfan disaster on October 21st 1966. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Wales, United Kingdom When: 28 Apr 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Aberfan memorial garden, to pay their respects to those who lost their lives during the Aberfan disaster on October 21st 1966. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Wales, United Kingdom When: 28 Apr 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Aberfan memorial garden, to pay their respects to those who lost their lives during the Aberfan disaster on October 21st 1966. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Wales, United Kingdom When: 28 Apr 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Charles really raised a lazy bum didn’t he? So different from Harry and his work ethic and heart for people. Will doesn’t care enough about the Welsh people to make this a priority. How unfortunate. Just a lazy mole rat looking bum.
Nah, Charles didn’t raise either of them. He doesn’t even get credit for the flop that is Wails.
William looks very tense and unhappy here. With a bit of anger tossed in. One photo of both of them, looking dow and terribly depressed. I wonder what is going on there.
Peg would actually have to have a functioning brain to do any catching up plus the fact that he has no interest in anything other than tending his rose garden and tormenting his brother.
Yep, on the functioning brain part….
Nothing new in this post.
William is a lazy man who is not going to change.
@heykay, yes boneidle and pointless, but I’m afraid this article missed the point. William is doing sod all to impress anyone in the UK, not just Wales. Wales, and the country deserve better. Even here in Cornwall I have a feeling we will soon be putting up posters with his face on, underneath the caption, “has anybody seen this man” one day soon the press is going to start headlines with Catherine and her husband, but not “the Prince and princess of Wales. Next outing for BULLYAM will be a BIGGY to conside with Invictus
“Next outing for BULLYAM will be a BIGGY to conside with Invictus.”
Wait. You mean… Bullyam is going to try to… pull focus?!? The audacity!!
P.S. Totally agree, @Mary Pester! You just know they will do anything to sabotage Invictus.
if only he had had forty years to plan for this role
Can someone please tell me how Huw is pronounced. I think it’s Hugh but I was way wrong with the pronunciation of Ioan Gruffudd’s first name, I thought it said Ian.
@Lady D, your right with Hugh, and the other is pronounced IOAN, I. O A. N
@Lady D, as someone living in Wales and hearing this name often I can categorically tell you it’s pronounce Yo-Ann.
Many thanks @ Emme!!
They’re giving William an out because a Prince of Wales having little to no interest in Wales is the norm, while Charles’ immersion is the anomaly. The problem, of course, is the Welsh people really not wanting a Brit in the role, and one showing a compete lack of interest isn’t going to go over well with the public.
Proclaiming Little Willy the Prince of Wales the same second he became king and saying there will be no investiture was a smart move from Charles. William would get booed into the Irish Sea.
The best he can do for Wales is to stay away and lay low and not to piss them off even more. And make George do all the charming as the future PoW.
Charles really showed how he felt about the Welsh when after becoming King he chose to visit Wales on the same day that Wales remembers the last Welsh Prince of Wales. He gave the title to William as soon as possible so that it would stop debate about whether they should continue to have a PoW. If William is invisible as the PoW, perhaps it’s for the best.
Every time they use the phrase “charm offensive,” I cringe. It is so unbelievably
obnoxious and condescending.
Harry’s got all the charm. The rest are just offensive.
The statement about mental health initiatives being something that William is interested in rings hollow. He’s spent the past 6 years trying to gaslight and mentally break drown his brother and sister-in-law. He’s an utterly cruel POS who doesn’t give a whit about anyone’s mental health.
Isn’t that the truth!! Though I do laugh from time to time as I remember when QEII had to take Willie by the hand to show him, step by step, after the disastrous offensive charm tour to Scotland that he and KKHate committed in 2021!! I tried to find it but couldn’t, but I distinctly remember a picture of Willie walking along some steps with his fists clenched and his jaw about to break from the how hard he was holding in his anger.
Has anyone notice that William more than ever seems ‘checked out’,he seems to be doing less than the bare minimum and visibly miserable. Something is brewing inside him, I can only hope it’s a conscious and guilt finally eating him up due to the mess he helped create with his brother and sister in law.
He does seem completely checked out. He hardly does anything nowadays, not that he was setting the world in fire with his work ethic before. Even his weekly incandescent with rage updates have died down. He seems completely over it. No wonder they are trying to deport Harry back to the UK. They need his to pick up William’s slack.
I wonder if Charles has sidelined him. Not that William would need an excuse to be lazy, but Charles really does not want to share the spotlight.
He has the duchy money now, he no longer has to beg Chuck for money. There is absolutely no incentive for him to do anything anymore.
@christine, does he have Duchiy money yet? Without an investiture is William the Prince of Wales? Can Charles just make a statement to that effect and it is so?
@Mary, yes, he has the Duchy money, he is the duke of cornwall. That was automatic the moment the queen died.
And yes, Charles named him PoW and he is PoW. The investiture is a ceremony only, much like the coronation.
Okay, I am a bit confused because, per wiki, “(a)n investiture is ceremonial, as the title is formally conferred via letters patent issued by the monarch.”. So, Charles can’t just say that someone is the Prince of Wales, he needs to make it official. These letters patent are usually published in the London Gazette and, as of February, this had not happened.
Does anyone know if Charles has issued letters patent formally declaring William the Prince of Wales? If he hasn’t and I put on my tin foil tiara, I wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with an impending divorce.
@Mary – yes, he issued letters patent. It was sometime in early 2023. But when he named him Prince of Wales the day after the Queen died, it was with the clear understanding the LPs would be coming so everyone just called William Prince of Wales.
But again, he was duke of cornwall the minute the queen died, so had access to the duchy money in some form or another at that point.
ETA I just looked it up. the letters were published in the Gazette on 2/13/2023.
Thanks for the info! Bit odd though that it took that long for Charles to issue the letters patent. 🤔
Maybe he can tag them on social media – it seems to have worked for Kate.
🤣🤣🤣
Tagging works?
Or peg them…
The delish irony of repeatedly calling it [an] offensive…
William spent several years living in Anglesey with Kate before and after marriage. It boggles the mind that while he was there, he didn’t bother to learn Welsh or immerse himself in the culture, knowing he would be Prince of Wales one day. It’s like how Kate is still learning her role even though she’s been married for 12 years, and spent ten years before that as William’s girlfriend.
Kate and will technically did not live together pre marriage. She was living with her parents but spent weekends with William at Anglesey.
Kate and Willy lived together (with roommates?) while still in college. I remember reading that somewhere.
^^ This 100%
I always thought that maybe he was taking the time out to do lessons.
They were there for just under three years, which was more than long enough to have a good level of proficiency.
And let’s not even mention the fact that Kate didn’t even have a job the whole time.
Looking back now I am convinced that William had some sort of breakdown around the time they were both living there which is was precipitated WanK getting back together and eventually getting married. All those snippets from Camilla Too-Many-Gins about William resting his head on Carole’s lap and her being the mother he never had around that time.
It was the only place he could escape without them both having to wear a daily mask.
There is debate on how long they actually spent together in Anglesey – rumour is is that she often stayed at her parents esp when George came along. William was off doing whatever or whoever he liked. When she was there she made sure to be papped – papped grocery shopping in the local Waitrose for instance.
Yep and looking back I think those Waitrose pics were her way of saying ‘I’m still around’.
Again I think something was going on with William because even the Rota backed right off.
I always thought the Waitrose pics were part of the deliberate “normal Cambridge” PR push – look, Kate is grocery shopping bc she’s going to cook for William! The Cambridges, they’re just like us!
As much as I loathe William, I don’t see why Kate shouldn’t also get criticism for ignoring her duty towards Wales. After all they both have coveted those titles since the day one and now they’ve got them they are doing next to nothing to show they’re worthy of them. The UK doesn’t need another expensive hat ceremony. However, showing genuine interest in Wales with regular weekly/monthly visits and highlighting good causes in Wales might go some way in helping both William and Kate have a more favourable image in both Wales and the UK as a whole.
Wales isn’t that far from Berkshire where she is most of the time anyway. She could definitely do more in Wales herself.
William should have been learning Welsh from the outset seeing as how he knew the job would be his eventually. There is no excuse for that.
And kate thinks wearing red and putting leeks on her coats will be enough.
As much as Charles has many faults, he did take the time to focus on Wales over the years. William should have announced he would step into the work Charles was already doing, and he’s avoided that altogether.
Maybe mrs wails already speaks Welsh. LOL, just kidding, mumbles barely speaks English.
William and Harry should have been raised to speak Welsh from birth. Charles already spoke it fluently so he should have been teaching them from the beginning.
They should also have been taught Scots Gaelic as Charles was the lord of the isles, and now William is. The Isles was a separate independant country more recently than Wales, before it got swallowed up by Scotland and the title given to the Scottish heir, as happened with the pow title and England.
THIS. It’s the parents’ failure, even more than William’s.
Charles was always going to be a hard act to follow as Prince of Wales. He has many well-documented faults but lack of interest in Wales is definitely not one of them. I don’t think William and Kate could even find Wales on a map.
I didn’t realise that the PoW title was not automatically given to the heir until C3 became king. I, personally, think the title should have been “rested” until William stepped up a lot more. Now he has the title and all the Duchy money, he seems to think he can do even less than he did before.
For all his faults, Charles had good work horses doing his work for him and setting up all his ventures from the Princes Trust to his Duchy’s Originals. His other advisors may have been terrible but he created a legacy because he actually has hobbies and interests.
William on the other hand comes across at the typical British disinterested ‘blokes bloke’ who likes football and chatting up other women.
Who knows if this is true but they say Wales was working its self up to reclaim their title. So Charles hurry up and declared William pow.
Makes sense, That’s why the website was updated haphazardly.
In an effort to do something with his jowls the photo people just make him look worst.
I think William may have an anxiety disorder brought on by his father/family, sooping press, and his mothers death. The effort he puts into hiding is unreal. He seems totally adverse to criticism. He doesn’t want to show any work encase it fails. That’s why he doesn’t want an investiture. He will get boos.
“It’s a bit more targeted to make sure William is seen to be doing stuff that suits William.” — I laughed at that line, too.
These people have twisted ideas about service. It’s not about doing what suits you — it’s about meeting other people’s needs.
Reading this article and the comments I realised that this is the first time there has been any specific expectation on Bulliam. There was always an assumption that as a ‘working royal’ he would do ‘stuff’ and before that he made the helicopter and air ambulance work for him so he could say that’s what he ‘did’ but now there is a very specific expectation that he is Prince of Wales and however he does it he needs to show up for that country. And if there’s one thing we know about him its that he does NOT like being told what to do.
This should be interesting.
Burger King is almost 41 years old and he is still being coddled like a toddler. The only way to get him to work now is if it has to do with football? (I’m ignoring the mental health claim made in this article since we all know Burger King causes mental health problems instead of supporting healing.)
Yeah, well he won’t learn Welsh and he will always be an unwanted usurper. The last true Prince of Wales was Welsh and was murdered by the English (hundreds of years ago). I’d hate any English prince taking that Welsh role if I were Welsh, especially a stupid, lazy one who won’t even learn Welsh.
Per Mary under #9 above,
“Okay, I am a bit confused because, per wiki, “(a)n investiture is ceremonial, as the title is formally conferred via letters patent issued by the monarch.”. So, Charles can’t just say that someone is the Prince of Wales, he needs to make it official. These letters patent are usually published in the London Gazette and, as of February, this had not happened.
Does anyone know if Charles has issued letters patent formally declaring William the Prince of Wales? If he hasn’t and I put on my tin foil tiara, I wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with an impending divorce.”
Can anyone speak to the letters patent issue? Has this been done? This is really interesting.
I replied above, but yes, it was done in February 2023. He’s the Prince of Wales, that’s not going away lol unless something major happens to all titles etc.
Oh my gosh! We’re getting into ridiculous territory now!
Why is everyone obsessed with divorces on both sides of the fandoms….
His title has nothing to do with that. Let’s all step back from the crazy conspiracies.
@kd, a “tin foil tiara” is just for that purpose, crazy conspiracies! Besides, it’s not so crazy if you consider that, given the troubles in the Waleses marriage (among other things, pegging and throwing things at each other!), that what title Kate might leave with is important to her (for example, Kate, Princess of Wales vs. Kate, Duchess of Cornwall).
If we can’t wear our tinfoil tiaras to be crazy conspiratorial then the only occasion we have to wear them is at a coronation
LP were published on February 13th.
He knew his whole life he was going to be the Prince of Wales and he never even thought to learn the language???? He is 40 years old! It’s not like he became Prince of Wales at George’s age so of course he is unprepared. No ideas for Wales, no initiatives, no plan of any kind? You know if it were Harry and Meghan as Prince and Princess of Wales, Meghan would have done things for communities in Wales already and Harry would have known the language at an intermediate level by now at least. Charles is really showing me he was a hardworking prince and Will is just a prince.
Perhaps he could get a Welsh mistress?
I snorted at that one!
I’ve said from day one William isn’t having an investiture. The ceremony is an anomaly. It was suggested by the welsh David Lloyd George to have the future Edward viii invested. Then Charles was. That’s it. Two princes in hundreds of years. And times are different now. William should be an active POW, which he won’t be, but an investiture ceremony is out of step with the times.