In the past month, it’s felt like Prince William is just sleepwalking through his public events. Even the rage-briefings are feeling less urgent and more subdued. My theory is that William, more than the Princess of Wales, has been knocked sideways by the Sussexes’ return. It’s as if William has greeted his brother’s UK return with a mixture of fear, angst and self-pity. Then, to make matters worse for William, his uncle, the Earl Spencer, wrote and published Swan Song. Granted, I’m of the opinion that William wasn’t actually all that upset about the book. But he once again kept silent about it, and there were no rage-briefings about Charles Spencer coming out of Kensington Palace. Instead of asking what in the world is going on with William these days, royal commentators are praising him for finally showing some future-king-like reticence.

The Prince and Princess of Wales policy of silence during the fallout from Princess Diana’s brother’s explosive book was the right decision, claims a royal expert. The royals have faced a difficult few weeks dealing after the memoir took aim at the King and the Firm with a series of astounding accusations.
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Earl Spencer alleged in his memoir that then Prince Charles said ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’ following the tragic death of the late Princess of Wales. Since the book was released, Charles Spencer has been travelling across the UK and the US promoting the memoir, hitting back an unprecedented statement issued by the Palace after a controversial excerpt of the book was released.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

Now, almost two weeks on from the publication of the book, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes the royals have weathered the worst of the backlash from the book, and praised the King’s response to the allegations.

Jennie told the Mirror: “I think the Earl Spencer drama has peaked and the Royal Family have ridden out the storm. Opinion seems to be divided about whether or not Buckingham Palace was wise to issue its hard-hitting statement at the start of the row. I think it was the right tactic, and became especially pertinent after it became clear that there was at least one inaccuracy in Spencer‘s book.”

While the King was quick to put out a statement on Spencer’s memoir, the Prince and Princess of Wales have not spoken openly about the claims made in the book, which Jennie believes is a smart move for both William and Kate.

“Equally, I think William and Catherine made the right decision to ignore the noise – and the allegations – and simply get on with their work. As with Harry’s book, they rose above the row, refused to acknowledge any questions and just carried on charming the crowds who came to see them. It’s very effective and I don’t see them getting sucked into the drama now.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

As I said, I don’t believe William was even worked up about Charles Spencer. If anything, William stood back and let his father take a very well-deserved hit. My reading of the past two weeks has been that Buckingham Palace was trying to drag William into the Swan Song issue, and BP tried to tell people that William was also hurt and furious. And William said nothing and briefed nothing, because why would he protect the father he resents? Now, I think William didn’t even have the space to think about the Spencer stuff because he was and is so consumed, as always, by his Sussex fixation. It must be driving William bonkers that he still doesn’t know why the Sussexes returned too.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.