My strong belief is that Prince William, soon after becoming king, will quickly change his story and announce a brand new plan to live in one or several of the main palaces and castles. I still believe that Prince William and Kate’s whole “Forest Lodge is our forever home, we will live here even after Charles dies” story is just a placeholder lie from an office with zero credibility. But it’s been fascinating to watch the British press take the “forever home” story at face value and proceed to freak out. Royal historian/biographer Robert Hardman is the latest to comment about the forever-home Forest Lodge drama, and Hardman brushes up against the sad truth that not even the prime minister could conceivably “order” King William to move into Buckingham Palace.
Later this year, the Prince and Princess of Wales will move into their “forever home” with their young family – Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park. The future King William could easily commute from Forest Lodge to Buckingham Palace for official work, via the M4 or a faster helicopter, but how often would he realistically do this?
Royal Author Robert Hardman told GB News this week that Prince William residing permanently at Forest Lodge is not “tenable”. Speaking to Jacob Rees-Mogg, he said: “I don’t think that’s tenable. When the late Queen came to the throne in 1952, she and Prince Philip had just done up Clarence House as a sort of family home with their two young children. They loved it, and they didn’t want to move. The Queen Mother, who was resident at Buckingham Palace, didn’t want to move out. And so they presented [their plans] to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and it was Churchill who said no, no, no, you’ve got to move in [to Buckingham Palace]. The monarch has to live above the shop.”
Jacob replied: “Churchill’s advice was right, wasn’t it, that the King needs to be the sovereign, needs to be in Buckingham Palace, needs to be present in that central place and that somebody, maybe Keir Starmer, I hope it’s one of his long distance successors, will have to give that advice in due course.”
Mr Hardman conceded: “That will be a difficult conversation for whichever Prime Minister it is because when you had Winston Churchill, the greatest statesman of the age, in an avuncular way, saying to a 25-year-old mother of two who’s very much turning to him for advice. And when Churchill said. ‘I think you belong at Buckingham Palace, would you please go there?’ Then that’s what you did. Of course, [Prince William] will be a harder nut to crack for a future PM, but I think Buckingham Palace depends on having a visceral connection between the monarch and Royal HQ.”
“Maybe Keir Starmer, I hope it’s one of his long distance successors…” I mean, they’re now openly hoping that King Charles lives decades longer so they don’t have to deal with King Willy the Work-Shy. It’s true that Winston Churchill basically ordering a young QEII to move into Buckingham Palace was a much different situation than whatever is happening now. William will be in his 40s or 50s when his father dies, with three kids going to school full-time. Is William still going to say “no, I insist on hiding out in Forest Lodge forever” when all three kids are teenagers? It’s all a huge mess, but when in doubt, just assume that William and his office are lying.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Prince William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend a concert to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day at Horse Guards Parade, London, UK, 08 May 2025.,Image: 996697000, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to the Billion Oyster Project at the Liberty Landing Marina during a two-day visit to New York in the United States. Billion Oyster Project is a nonprofit organization on a mission to restore oyster reefs to New York Harbor through public education initiatives. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: New York, United States When: 18 Sep 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales with volunteers by the Hudson River during his visit to the Billion Oyster Project as part of his two-day visit to New York in the United States. Billion Oyster Project is a nonprofit organization on a mission to restore oyster reefs to New York Harbor through public education initiatives. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: New York, United States When: 18 Sep 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales and Chairman of Wrexham AFC Rob McElhenney share a drink during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Rob McElhenney Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales pours a pint with Chairman of Wrexham AFC Rob McElhenney during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Rob McElhenney Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales during a visit to The Turf public house at Wrexham AFC in Wrexham, to hear about how it plays a key role as a hub for the local area, and the support it provides to local causes Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Wrexham, United Kingdom When: 01 Mar 2024 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive for a visit to Southport Community Centre to meet the families of those caught up in the Southport knife attack earlier this year. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, died after a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town on July 29 Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales Where: Southport, United Kingdom When: 10 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales throws a football as he attends a community event hosted by NFL Foundation UK in London. The organisation focuses on tackling challenges faced by young people in some of the most deprived communities across the UK, through the provision of NFL Flag, a fast paced, inclusive and easy to access American Football format. Picture date: Tuesday October 15, 2024. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 15 Oct 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to the Seaweed Innovator Showcase at Portside Tower, Cape Town, to meet seaweed businesses from the region to celebrate local innovation, learn about the diverse applications of seaweed in Africa and the potential for it to repair and regenerate the planet, on the last day of his visit to South Africa Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Cape Town, South Africa When: 07 Nov 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
The heir Charles deserves. Charles never tried to rein him in during huevo nifgtclubbing years.
Why doesn’t William’s office just release a statement saying that his intention with his wording was to side step the exact kind of media frenzy that has popped up.
And that while William understands that his father – for all his steadfast dedication to work and seemingly endless service etc blah blah blah – is truly mortal and as such will not live forever – he has chosen to view his move as into a forever home because 1- he does not wish to create speculation regarding his father’s health and wellness and
2- as king the palaces he inhabits will not be his home, but places he resides and places he holds for Britain as a whole and for the continued generations of British monarchy to come and
3- the seclusion of the house they are moving into is what he has been advised to be the exact kind of seclusion that many British monarchs have sought to ponder, consider and to also take a short moment to breathe away from their duties.
Most monarchs or heirs don’t announce their move so many times the whole of the nation has no idea that they have a specific hideaway meant to be a momentary shield from the weight of duty and of the momentous responsibility he feels towards every single member kf the commonwealth.
Bring out the ghost of QE2. She talked about this all the time. That the palaces weren’t “hers” but places and items she kept for the glory of Britain blah blah blah.
So this is his forever and last home – but not the last place he will reside.
William seems determined to be the last monarch. I don’t know if this a conscious decision, self sabotage, or his unconscious pushing through
What’s interesting to me, Friendly Crow, is that we are all lay people who read and remark on the royals for fun and WE have come up with fifty-leven different ideas, excuses, reasons, and PR cover stories that make more sense than the “gold standard” professionals they pay!
They certainly are not getting what they are paying for with the lazy one. Good luck ordering him to do anything.
“Later this year, the Prince and Princess of Wales will move into their “forever home” with their young family – ” Maybe it’s me, but these two are middle-aged, so this “young” family business is stretching it. The youngest is seven; this is not a “young” family. The infantilizing with these two is bewildering.
The press will keep calling this a young family until Louis is off to uni lol
Who will be doing the uni runs?
So Hardman’s already starting to offer the cover Bulliam wants and needs to upgrade houses yet again, after Charles dies sooner or later: “The prime minister made me do it!”
And don’t forget the old standby, “Forest Lodge has terrible memories of my father’s death, so I need an emotional support palace.”
Whether or not Kate moves to BP with him is, of course, the million pound question.
Whether Kate moves with him? Of course she will. Mother Middleton would insist on it. All this work, all these years, for one goal, Queen.
It’s super grim but ….. let’s just say I truly hope she makes it that far.
CaThErInE will need to stay behind in Windsor so she can do boarding school runs to help the very tiny children study for their exams. So they will need to have 2 (more) forever homes!
Omg @kittenmom I forgot that was an actual excuse they used for her missing some kind of event. Smh
The bigger the residence the easier it is to live separately under the same roof.
William will have the copter to go elsewhere. I doubt he and keen will be living under the same roof
Nah. He’s going to decide it’s time to refurbish Hampton Court so he can live there. He’ll stay at forest Lodge until the job is done.
It does seem some of the mistake was letting the RF, at least the Monarch and the heir, have private as well as public homes. Also, these 99 year leases are ridiculous when there isn’t going to be financial support for royal grandchildren
I think security concerns will be force William to move to BP when he becomes King.
I don’t blame william for not wanting to permanently live at BP but the thing is that the forrest lodge is simply not suited for state matters. When he does become king wouldn’t he have to travel to London almost daily for work anyway? (Assuming of course that he is planning on working which is still a big ?)
In that case, and especially in times of political turmoil, it just makes more sense that he and his wife permanently reside in London. King Charles has clarence house. William has KP apartment 1A. But that would make the forrest lodge, and thus this recent move, completely useless.
Or someone would need to bring those red boxes out to him every single day, and isn’t that an information security risk? The helicopters doing the reverse commute with the red boxes.
Chloe, you nailed the “completely useless “ part.
I can’t get past the fact that he does no entertaining now. No turnip toffs stopping by for a fundraiser or an auction or a party.
(Weekend hunting trip orgies don’t count)
He doesn’t maintain ties or connections to the rest of the European royals – which are his family. Nor to his 1st cousins.
He doesn’t meet and greet with diplomats, envoys, or the PM.
He doesn’t ask to be briefed/ taught about the intricacies of global geopolitics or climate change.
He speaks on these issues like a small child – it’s important because it’s important to him and he’s important! He can barely show up at a state dinner and even then his disdain for his wilting disappearing partner takes center stage.
The European royals arent like this. They take their duties – such as they are – very seriously and spend their lives preparing to represent their people and to work in their interests. They aren’t controlled by a shadowy cabal who wants them to remain stagnant, manacled by 1950’s protocols and so willfully ignorant that they are easy to manage and control.
Just WTF is going on in that institution and when did the rot take such deep hold?
I don’t know about rot, more like erosion. The idea of the monarchy as a unifying force has been eroding – maybe since the end of the Cold War? When there was a threat from outside, it was all “This scepter’d isle, this earth of majesty, this other Eden, blah, blah.” When the problems are internal, the monarch just looks rich and ineffectual.
William’s a strange duck. He doesn’t have to be brilliant (Elizabeth certainly wasn’t) or have a lot of high minded interests, like Charles. He just needs a sense of duty, of gratitude for his entitlements and of respect for the institution. (A sense of humor might be nice, too.) Maybe it’s that it took too long for both him and Charles to assume their duties. If William had become PoW 20 years ago, maybe he would have grown into his position instead of building up resentment until he acts out like a toddler..
The UK PM will say – if you don’t behave like a king, you will no longer be king.
No more king money for you Willy!
All of this “King William” banter and ” when I’m king” coming from William can’t be landing happily on the present king who appears not to be interested in dying anytime soon. Fawning over the future Queen Kate is a bit premature as well ,as the current queen appears quite alive. Watch for C and C to strike back, and the Wales will be put in their place. Camilla has connections.
Agreed @Libra I was expecting Camzilla to leak the location of his current luxury destination last Sunday as payback. However as Will was busy shooting himself in both feet announcing his must have move to Forrest Green on Saturday, Camzilla decided to bide her time. She’s very strategic and is going to drop him in it with something juicy at the worst moment for him.
I am finding the press’s reaction to this move fascinating. It’s as if they’ve just realized that not only is William lazy now, but that he has no intention of changing when king. He doesn’t need a London base because he doesn’t intend to work in London. Or work much at all.
That said, I do think he’ll move into Windsor Castle with a quickness when he becomes monarch. This isn’t their forever home even if KP insists it is.
@Becks1 VJ unforgivable no-show followed the next day announcement of the Fooking orf to Forrest Green is a unilateral declaration of Funtime Frankie not reigning as a dedicated monarch. Did BM genuinely believe he’d snap out of decades of lethargy and become an effective king?
I’m assuming the men in grey will find a Dr who will work with them to create the perfect cocktail of meds to make William “manageable”.
I do wonder if they started the drug trials after whatever happened to Kate. Explains somethings. As do many other theories.
Unfortunately for the men in grey – malignant narcissistic personality disorder and unchecked ego/ entitlement can’t be “fixed” with medication.
Not to mention trauma and his toxic family system and his attachment issues are things that need to be actively worked through and not simply medicated.
In addition to whatever the heck has been going on with his for decades – the press started its William needs Harry by his side a long long time ago. That’s never been the case – that the stage is set decades before for a future monarch who is so lazy/ troubled / co-dependent that for him to carry out the duties he was born into and had a lifetime to prepare for is seen as impossible without his much abused brother to support him.
None of this is new information to those who wield the real power and hold the strings.
People know exactly what is going on with William. And instead of working to help him get to the root of his issues – to the extent that that’s possible – and to understand and be prepared for his responsibilities instead of being terrified of them or being “crushed” under them as the press reports – instead of doing anything remotely proactive to ensure he’s capable of living his life without destroying anyone who enters his orbit – they left him dangling and just kicked it down the road.
If you look at Kate and William – in the context of the changes in the past 5 years alone – they are husks of themselves. All the money in the world and they could not look more despairingly brutally empty.
How is this not addressed?!?
@Friendly Crow exactly how have things been allowed to slide off a cliff like this? I wonder whether he simply collapsed last February 24 , frozen and terrified at having to step up for KC? PR subterfuge can’t cover forever. I hope he is getting proper counselling. Living a lie is not positive way of coping. KC may have another 5to 10 years to live so Will may have that time to get help. Whoever you are and whatever you are going through, asking for help is the right thing to do. Talk to love ones and see a doctor as a start to access support.
@Lady Digby I’d buy that.
William had a complete meltdown so they decided Kate would have cancer to give him cover and this much improve separation home and lack of any expectation to work is her side of the bargain.
Yes, it’s like they just figured out that William thinks he can be King at home in his pajamas with just wi-fi and a laptop. And who knows, maybe he can – which presents a whole other problem.
Can he not just move to WC without having to live at BP? Will BP renos even be done? I’m not gonna lie. The insistence that he live in a palace seems odd to me. Can’t he just work in the palaces and then go back home? Obv the helicopter usage is a bad look but it’s not like he hasn’t been already doing that anyway. He uses his helicopters like a personal taxi service and that’s not going to stop just bc he has a castle residence. I’m loathe to give William much understanding but at the same time I don’t get what’s the insistence that he has to live in a palace? It ain’t like he’s gonna do more work whether he lives in a palace or not.
@Jais I think it’s because there are expectations that the head of state lives in state residence – technically he’s supposed to be busy as head of state with meetings, receptions, official diplomatic visits etc – it would just be easier and more secure if he lived at WC or BP.
Theres also a symbolism at play too – Buckingham palace as the official residence of the monarch is much more powerful on the world stage than it is as an office building. Charles gets around that bc he’s still using WC and he can use the renovations as an excuse.
If William isn’t using the castles as official residences – then why is the public paying to upkeep them via the sovereign grant?
WHY DO WE HAVE 1,000 ROOM PALACES THAT TAKE MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS TO MAINTAIN EVERY SINGLE YEAR IF OUR VERY SPECIAL CHOSEN BY GOD GUY AND HIS FAMILY WONT LIVE IN THEM?
It’s an existential crisis to the entire institution of the monarchy – why have castles and palaces and titles and jewels and estates and hereditary control over vast amounts of real estate and wealth if he won’t live in the palace that’s like THE SYMBOL OF THE MONARCHY.
Like if Mickey Mouse lit the Disney castle on fire and then flicked off every single person who had every loved a Disney movie or visited a Disney theme park or done a cruise calling them pathetic and worthless and then pooped on Walt’s grave. But like a million times worse.
It’s the same argument of Trump wanting to stay in his tower or his Florida mansion. What’s the White House for if it’s not being used by the HOS?
“The insistence that he live in a palace seems odd to me.” It’s the only way they can prove he is a king? He’s not doing it through words or actions, living in a castle is their only proof.
Okay, let’s say they open up the palaces to the public…they’ll still have to be kept up through some sort of public funding right? It just wouldn’t go through the RF which could mean that the SG could be reduced? I’m not sure if it works that way though bc I think money gets earmarked in different ways but I actually doin; t fully understand. But presumably if he doesn’t live in the palaces and they become public spaces wouldn’t there be a case for reducing the SG and putting that goes towards upkeep? The symbolism part I do get, but at the end of the day, just bc William lives in BP that doesn’t mean he’s going to be doing all those receptions. So really him refusing to live in a palace would be a good thing for the republican movement bc maybe it would mean the SG could be reduced. But once William sees that as a possibility, he’s going to say oh no I do live in a palace now, bet. But bullish-t would he be doing any more than he’d planned on doing so it would be just a facade. Let that man cloister wherever and reduce the SG. I know there’s a law that it can’t be reduced or something but they need to figure out a way around that fr. And William wishes he was as beloved and charismatic and cute as a Disney character, please. At best. William and Kate are the Disney villains. And I can’t even with the orange one.
Was reading somewhere that QEII didn’t want to move into Buckingham Palace but Churchill told her she had to. Something about symbolism. Charles keeps saying he’ll move in after the renos are done, we shall see about that. But I agree,
Maybe BP can fund itself by charging admission to tourists. And by renting out some of the many superfluous reception rooms for charity or other events (minus the priceless furniture and artwork, obviously), LOL.
I’m in the camp that he’ll live at Forest Lodge in name only and will continue to be based between KP and Windsor.
Once he’s King this will become official but they’ll keep FL as a base ‘for the children’ because they’re SUCH a modern and normal family. While Kate will also ‘primarily’ be based there while she continues to recover from ‘cancer’ and be there for the kids. Whatever age they are at that point.
Forest lodge is for Kate. They are very much lying about William ever living there.
He likely already has a suite of rooms at Windsor castle when kate was moved to Adelaide cottage.
NIC919 – exactly so.
And that’s the reason the UK press & media aren’t really up in arms about all these houses: the editors will know it’s KM’s separation forever home.
I always assumed Windsor castle was where they wanted to be. I thought he went to Adelaide Cottage to be closer to the Queen and for the kids School. After the Queen died I think Charles to ld them they could not move into Windsor so they were stuck at Adelaide.
IIRC Charles said no to the Wales’s moving into Windsor. Like so much, this crisis leads straight back to Chuck.
Will he become the first Zoom King? Will Forest Lodge become the residence of the divorced Queen Consort and her kids and mother?
William has been a stubborn ass since he was a kid. That is the result of a dysfunctional system where the eldest male child is placed above even his own siblings.
Many tried to make Harry’s comments in Spare about having less food or a smaller room as just complaining. But what Harry has pointed out is that William very rarely gets told no. He has no concept of reality and kate and the Middletons only added to it with their campaign of sycophancy and indulgence.
So good luck to the PMs who have to deal with this entitled twit.
Charles has similar tendencies, but Philip was strict with him and he faced opposition especially during the Diana years. William has never been told no or told he was wrong in his life. Harry is the only one who pushed back and William is still running a media campaign against him.
,@Nic919 that is an astute summation of the difficulty of trying to now corrall someone as overindulged as Will. He’s as stubborn as a mule and people kowtow to him because of his status and/or they are frightened of him or it is easiest to give way to his tantrums. Diana, Harry and Meghan have said no to them and earned his hatred . Before Harry was assaulted by Wil he said, “I can’t handle you like this!” Will is a scary, violent bully who erupts when crossed.
He got deservedly bad press from Platell and Liz Jones last week which he’ll shrug off but it was a warning not to be complacent about BM. It will be up to the PM to give him strong words of advice when he slacks off.If he going to react by charging at Sir Keir?
He’s an entitled twit who doesn’t take his role seriously or have any sense of duty. That’s the difference between him and Charles – Charles is also surrounded by “yes men” and does mostly what he wants but he takes his role as king seriously and he took being the heir seriously.
I can’t imagine William having weekly meetings with the PM.
Whatever whinge Chuck did in the Dimbleby book over his parents, Willy’s laziness shows tremendously the failure of Chuck’s parenting.
QE2 inculcated duty into Chuck as evident on his 21st birthday when he was crowned Prince of Wales complete with golf ball on the crown.
What did Chuck do? Too busy pleasing his mistress, protecting her and her drug dealing son…and FAILED to embed duty into Willy. Never saw them together in the immediate years after Di’s death attend an event. Chuck was a nasty husband but an even awful father. Ready to sell out Harry to protect the Rottweiler.
The army did save Harry’s sanity in that madhouse. The Middletons enabled the worst of Willy’s character. Sucks to be Willy.
Don’t want to say Charles was a great parent, but Harry has that sense of duty in him and he had it before the army when he started Sentebale.
William is just a selfish person. And not much different than Trump, except he’s younger and can’t be removed from his position.
Good luck UK.
It’s going to be impossible to make someone who’s entire life has been about being accommodated, all of a sudden do a 180 and be philanthropic and service driven if he didn’t already have those qualities innately. Which he clearly doesn’t.
The biggest difference between him and Charles to me as the heirs, is that Charles seemed to view his role as, I’m going to get Mummy’s job when she dies, so let me do my job to prepare. While William seems to view it as I’m going to get Pa’s stuff when he dies, so let me think about how I’m going to spend the money.
I do think Willy hates his father viscerally. The amount of disrespect he’s shown him publicly eg coronation, MIA events such as VJ80 are the surface issues.
Underneath, or even now, we know Willy is volcanic. Not just incandescent. He’s going to explode and bring this entire shitshow down. Bury Pompeii.
The rats are holding the fort but it’s going to be hard to completely cover him over the next year or so.
So 🍿
If this was an Almodovar film, it would be the Lazies on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
It’s time to stop calling William lazy. He doesn’t want to be king and he and Kate aren’t raising their kids with any expectation of royal service. He doesn’t care about the monarchy because he saw how his grandmother sacrificed for the crown and lived with a father who resented her for it. Will is selfish, shallow and unprepared but calling him lazy is being too generous.
The real concern is not location but vocation. We have an elderly King on long term chemo and an heir in retreat further and further into privacy and luxury. Past CV of coasting and crack baby cocktails on luxury holidays continues to this very day. KP are briefing that he is prioritizing his family because he’s a wonderful dad and husband. Modernizing of the monarchy is going to translate into tweeting, occasional video and maybe a balcony wave but lots of Sports finals. It couldn’t be clearer that he’s not going to snap out of it and start the transition onto being an active heir who takes on more work to ease the burden on dad. The discussion about where he lives is giving them the opportunity to discuss the concern that he is just NOT going to show up as King.
I agree. I think the panic over where William lives is just a cover for the press, and now the government, to express their frustration and fear the he will not do his job as king at all. Yes, the the job as king is mostly a symbolic one, but the symbolism of William f*cking off to live in isolation on Forest Lodge is showing how little he is committed to carrying on the British monarchy. The monarchy is built into every aspect of British life and how their government runs, what happens when the monarch doesn’t want anything to do with it?
Yeah, that’s pretty much where I’m at. The press is using this as a vehicle to talk about their concerns with William as king. And they should be concerned but meh seems too late now.
I think William is planning to use opening Buckingham palaces full time to the public as his tradeoff to do F*** all otherwise. He figures it will be seen as modernizing. And it might except his crappy work history gives nothing else for anyone to hang their “ why we still need a royal family” hat on.
That very well could be his plan and he does appear to be telegraphing that. But if it in any way meant a reduction in the money he gets, I bet he’ll be real quick hiring photographers to catch him carrying moving boxes into one of those palaces. At the same time, the public doesn’t seem keen to challenge their royals on money, even if William does f-ck all. They can just screech and cry and throw up over the sussexes. Or if the public is keen, the media sure as anything is not sharing that sentiment and happy to paper over it with yougov polls and Jeremey vine and Carole Malone and all those defenders. While crying about Meghan.
Opening it up to the public is a good idea. He can live in KP when he’s in London. Use BP for state dinners and whatnot. Have the gardens open to the public as someone else suggested the other day. They are 39 acres! I had no idea.
I do wonder if this will end up being one of those situations where someone terrible inadvertently does something good. If no-one wants to live there and make it a thing that the monarch lives at BP then that’s fine, use it for offices, events, and tourists. That’s a smart move.
It’s used to be a big deal to go past and check the flag to see if the queen was home but that’s in the past now.
I don’t understand why they get their knickers all in a twist about this stuff. Who cares where the monarch lives, as long as he does his constitutional duty? London isn’t lousy with palaces, the way it used to be, but it’s still got a few: St. James’s—the OG—is still around. Why can’t the king live there? What goes on at Buckingham Palace that the monarch needs to witness, every day?
When people argue that France doesn’t have a King but still gets tourists the UK press and royalists would respond that having a reigning monarch living in Buckingham Palace made them superior to France and Versailles. Whether or not that’s true, the real danger for royalists is that if the Monarch doesn’t live at least part time at his official residence which is Buckingham Palace it’s the start of a slippery slope to getting rid of the monarchy altogether.
The Spanish Royal Family live in the Palacio de Zarzuela whereas their big pile, the Palacio Real (Versailles/BP equivalent BUT BIGGEST IN W. EUROPE) is for state ceremonies.
Both piles are owned by the State, not the family. So I can see where whatever forever home we’re up to now is where Willy lives, and BP will be open to the public and for ceremonies. Of course, Willy has to turn up for such ceremonies and it’s clear he doesn’t want to.
The thing is tourists don’t go to catch a glimpse of royals. They go to see hostpruc homes like shakespeares.they go to the country theatre concerts. Not to stare at royals. It’s not like those old time tours of Hollywood to look.at movie stars homes and maybe see cary Grant.
Edit historic
So BP is open to the public. There’s an entrance fee but for certain months you can buy tickets and get a tour. You can’t see everything of course but you can’t see everything at Versailles or Windsor Castle either. So if it’s no longer an official residence it could be open MORE and bring in more revenue but I’m not sure what would happen to the SG money. Like does Tower of London get any SG money or is it covered fully by tickets and donations to Historical Royal Palaces (I think that’s who runs it, maybe it’s Royal Collection Trust?) I’m assuming it’s the latter. So if William refuses BP or WC then presumably the SG should be decreased.
🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ no clue if that will actually happen.
He already has a home in Kensington Palace and it’s also already right there by Buckingham Palace. Live at KP, work at BP, weekends at Windsor Castle. Kate will probably live full-time at Forest Lodge as her forever home.
“A monarch who isolates himself completely from his family, and becomes disconnected from his court, government, and people, is unlikely to end his reign well. See the examples of Tsar Nicholas II and Louis XVI.”
If the king needs to live at BP, why is Charles still at Clarence House?
He’s getting around it because of the renovations that are happening. I also think there’s not a lot of pressure since he’s still using Windsor and he’s based in London at Clarence House which gives him a London presence and enables him to conduct business at Buckingham as necessary.
I also the pressure for a 75 year old king to move is different from the pressure that William will face as a 45 or 55 year old monarch.
He has also hosted public event type stuff at Clarence House. What was that thing he hosted that the Beckhams went to? Pretty sure there was some type of dinner at CH? The press knows that there is no way in hell that FL will be used that way.
Charles lives in Clarence House from where he can walk to his offices in BP. We know he is a workaholic, I assume he spends more time in his office than at home. He also hosts smaller functions in Clarence House. Which is perfectly fine with everyone, BP is still under renovation (and everyone knows the RF hates to live there).
William doesn’t work, that’s the crux of the matter. He would happily stay at Forrest Lodge, Anmer, Windsor, KC, heck even Adelaide if he could just call in once a day as proof of life. All the expected work, what are the aides and Jason for?
I still wonder who Kate expects to sit at her new dining table.
What’s fascinating is that the monarchy has been subject to an evolutionary longitudinal diminishment in its power. But without a corresponding decrease in its funding. This is not just the nature of Charles III’s “slimmed down” system. Charles I was beheaded, the Commonwealth proclaimed, his son Charles II was exiled, at the Restoration, Charles II had to pledge to govern in tandem with Parliament, after his death, his heir & brother James II was eventually exiled, in favour of his daughter, Mary. James I was the first Stuart monarch and a character I would imagine in some way much like Charles. In a good way. Cut to William and Mary and you have a period from about 1625 to 1688 in which the monarchy was in a state of existential flux. William & Mary handed off to Anne, who held it together till 1714 but left no heirs. Then come the Hanoverians. And the struggle is acute. It’s farcical because they are German, fish out of water, and half the aristocracy treats them like substitute teachers for the Stuarts who are still at large. But it’s also tragic because of infra-family drama. George I, II, and III are all at daggers drawn in a weird father-son psychodrama. GIII has a couple of dissolute heirs and then Victoria accedes in 1837. That’s when you get the institutional shift to a monarch who is light-touch, hands-off, taking guidance from Parliament. The fact that she was a woman probably enabled this, as did the fact that she married an enlightened, progressive man. That’s the model that ultimately yielded Elizabeth II. Victoria died in 1901, and her heir’s main achievement was the Entente Cordiale, the alliance with France, where he spent a lot of time with sumptuous courtesans. His heir rejected the Russian royal family’s appeal for asylum, for fear of inciting domestic class war, which led to their deaths. That was the last time the monarch actually influenced policy, foreign or domestic. George V had no influence on the outbreak or end of WWI, and George VI had no influence on the outbreak of WWII. Elizabeth II arguably played a much more compelling role than either her father or grandfather, insofar as she presided over the construction of the welfare state at home and the creation of the Commonwealth abroad, to say nothing of the end of the Empire. She was a lynchpin, psychologically, for a country in flux. But if you do the math, since about 1625, they’ve had: about 60 years of volatility followed by 30 years of consolidation, followed by 120 years of awkward drama, (& porphyria) followed by about 60 years of stability, followed by about 50 years of innocent-bystander monarchs, who did little to influence the course of events. Then, Elizabeth II: 70 years of — as Mary Poppins put it — possibly perfect in every way. On balance, the monarchy has delivered about 180 years of protracted drama, and 210 of stability. That’s close to 50/50, assets / liabilities. But — and this is a big but — they have *cost* the country billions in that time frame. Simply put, the British are paying for a full-time, fully equipped, world-class, best-in-class monarchy, and what they’re getting is….. something less impressive and less effective than the “bicycle” monarchies on the continent by orders of magnitude. One of the Spanish princesses was here a few years ago to attend a college in Wales where she gave extemporaneous remarks in several languages to assembled journalists and came across as self-possessed, articulate, and authoritative. As a teenager. William — as heir — can’t even do that *now* so what on earth is the UK paying for? ….as an American, I leave the question open. Trump will be gone someday, but we’ll still be stuck with this nitwit, this posh twat. At least, those of us who pay taxes in the UK.
There’s also no empire anymore, no colonies, to cover the theft of public wealth to fund the Windsors.
Chuck and his family’s association with Middle Eastern and Russian billionaires are a bad omen. There’s no money to fund them.
As I can’t simply like or upvote your comment I’ll comment myself to say thank your for the history and observations, I find it fascinating to look at how we got here and you’re absolutely right. We pay top dollar and get very little in return.
Seconded.
This is an excellent synopsis of the monarch over the past several centuries. It clearly shows that the British people are getting very little for what they have to pay. Their tax money would be better spent on their own needs instead of on two man-babies living in luxury. The monarchy died with Queen Elizabeth.
THIS. Male primogeniture hereditary monarchy is no way to organize a society.
Although, one could argue that, compared to his Tudor predecessors, who had the power of the combined kingdoms’ entire coffers at their disposal, the current monarch is considerably financially weaker.
I also think the palace discussion is a proxy for the real issue: William’s incompetence.
No one can openly discuss the reality staring them in the face — that William is hopelessly incapable, so they’re talking about where he will live instead. As if a palace makes a king.
Exactly. They realize that William will embarrass them on the world stage. He’s not brilliant, he’s unattractive and incurious, and he does a poor job of managing his uncomfortable emotions. He’ll be a complete loser and they know it.
Even Edward his great-great-uncle who abdicated had more going on for him.
Edward was dapper and well dressed. He was relatively good looking.
Despite the fact Edward was a wastrel, lazy and self indulgent he did have a superficial charm. And he was popular with the public. People showed up to his events.
William is charmless, has lost his looks and he has a truly astonishing lack of charisma.
At least if he lived in a palace they’re hoping it might give an illusion of something kingly about him.
Exactly whether he lives in a forest stealing from the rich doesn’t make him Robin Hood and neither does residing at Forrest Green mansion and stealing from the UK tax payer make him a good king to be. They can’t openly admit that for whatever reason the Firm and QE2 and KC failed both Will and Harry. Both were emotionally neglected after Diana ‘s premature death. Both were damaged and needed love, support and intensive counselling. Harry married a mature and assertive and intelligent woman who could see how damaging that toxic bubble was. They were abused and punished by the Firm and press for leaving. Will remains trapped in his bubble and has shrunken since 2024 at the mere thought of being front and centre as king. This is a huge disaster, many years in the making as @Friendly Crow noted above. Very difficult to see how you correct the damage done without truth and being honest with yourself and others.
I wonder if William will actually attend the weekly PM meetings, and go through his red boxes.
Would disrupt his constant holidays.
And what would happen if he simply refuses?
Yes Samuel Whiskers I wonder about that too. If he stymies Government by refusing to sign off royal assent to Bills does the Cabinet Secretary tell him off or does the PM have a word? Private Eye noted Foreign Office were annoyed with his frequent travel for holidays but not at their request which indicates he’s been telling them no a lot recently. Bitching to the press is one thing but who has the authority to tell a King off? Would he listen to Princess Anne? What about the Men in Suits surely they would intervene if he was endangering “the prestige of the monarchy” or would they simply brief the RR to give him both barrels?
Apparently Willnot has inherited some unfortunate personality quirks from his great-great-uncle Edward VIII who detested the red boxes and work associated with the role of monarch. He was quite open about it and whined and bitched like a baby about it. At least he had some charisma, was a good public speaker with the “common touch”. William = nothing. An indolent lout with the personality and drive of a sullen teenager.
Whiskers, just imagine by then there might be a reform pm…
“Weekly PM meetings”. I remember in The Crown that Elizabeth met with the PM regularly, and yes, give opinions on State matters. That royalty doesn’t involve itself with politics is hogwash.
Everyone should just wait and see. You can predict what people will do by their patterns of behavior, and Will and Kate’s pattern is that they will move out of this new home within 3 or 4 years. It doesn’t matter if they are currently calling it their “forever home” because another pattern of Will and Kate is that they are prone to hyperbole or half-truths. AI photos, “ending homelessness” etc. Maybe it will be a home they’ll OWN forever, but live in permanently till the end of time… probably not.
OK, let’s assume it’s true–Churchill told The Queen she needed to ‘live above the shop’. But she also had Balmoral every summer, Sandringham every Christmas, Windsor every Easter. Am I missing something? She sure as heck wasn’t ‘stuck’ in Buckingham Palace by any means.
Wasn’t that about Clarence House being smaller than BP, more like home for a young, small family than the big one with apartments for many royals and rooms for state functions, hundreds of rooms and hundreds of servants??
My point was, she wasn’t ‘stuck’ in a massive palace year-round, she had other options & took advantage of those options. Every single year of her life. If they’re trying to make us feel sorry for her family–boo hoo, they had to leave the family PALACE because duty calls–and therefore the same thing for William & his family, it just doesn’t fly. They have plenty of other, smaller (ish) accommodations they can & do use throughout the year.
Some of the comments here about William not wanting the job, made me think. What if he really does not want it? What if he plans to announce up on Charles death, that he is not available as a king. And then to say: the British public can decide if they want to wait for my children to make their own decision, for that time Edward can serve as regent. Or what if his children are all old enough to also say no thanks. What would happen if he steps back. There would be some sort of negotiations about what incomes, buildings etc are his private funds and what buildings he has to give up. Anmer, Forest Lodge and KP Ap1 don’t seem such a big compromise for the government, when he gives up BP, Sandringham, WC, Clarence House etc. So it could be he chose a forever home of a size that he can realistically expect to also get to keep as a non-king. If not, it’s a 45 minute drive from Forest Lodge to BP, many commute longer. Charles and QEII were also not there all day every day. I kind of understand where he is coming from. I would want to keep some sort of private life as well. We shouldn’t forget that his parents‘ housekeeper, butler, and private secretary all wrote tell all books about their time with Diana. I would be super suspicious as well about living in a big palace with at least 20 staff knowing every step I take.
Fina, the moment he gives the throne up, he owns nothing. Or as Harry the only thing belonging to him is his mother’s inheritence.
And the so called private wealth going from sovereign to sovereign to not pay inheritence tax… Without being sovereign he would to have inheritence tax.
He would have whatever moneys he has squirreled away, in offshore accounts, under his personal name.
Never has Maya Angelou’s quote “when people show you who they really are believe them the first time.”been more apropos. William has been himself all these years. What are they going to do if he doesn’t follow through with his kingly duties? Remove him from the throne which is exactly what he wants. He, I’m sure, has privately invested his monies so I’m sure he’s just waiting for them to grow a pair and bump him out. He does more and more outrageous things waiting for them to do what he wants which is bump him out.