Times: Prince William ‘earned his stripes as a global statesman last year’???

Two weekends ago, we were dealing with the fallout from Prince Harry’s wildly successful visit to the UK and Ukraine. And by “fallout,” I mean “Prince William’s very public nervous breakdown. William was clearly raging out behind-the-scenes after Harry met with King Charles for nearly an hour in London. Even Peg-loyal media allies had difficulty making William sound calm, rational or mature in the wake of his brother’s visit. Well, in the past week, William attended the Duchess of Kent’s funeral and took part in Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK. Instead of using those events to turn the page and say “see, William is simply getting on with it,” it feels like William is like “well, now that all of those events are over, let me keep talking about how much I despise my brother.” Even worse is that William is apparently raging out about his uncle, Prince Andrew. From the Times of London:

For the Prince of Wales it was his biggest diplomatic test yet. Not only the incoming state visit from President Trump, for which the stakes could not have been higher, but a fortnight in which he also had to contend with two other challenges: his brother, the Duke of Sussex, and his uncle, the Duke of York. When the latter sidled up to him after the family funeral of the Duchess of Kent on Tuesday, it made William profoundly uncomfortable. It is understood that the prince was acutely aware that he was standing next to the grieving immediate family of the duchess and felt strongly that the solemn moment should have been a time of reflection for them.

As the royal family gathered to see the coffin being placed into the royal hearse, Prince Andrew chose to lean over and mutter a comment to William. Clearly finding amusement in what he had said, Andrew laughed, while William appeared to distance himself. One source who knows the prince described the awkward encounter, video of which was widely shared on social media, as an example of William “delivering a masterclass in trying to get away from someone”.

The problem of Andrew’s attendance at such events is a matter not only for the King but also something William will have to consider when he becomes monarch. How many public appearances of the disgraced duke can the royal family sustain? For the funeral this week, some mourners felt that the duke might have done well to enter via a more discreet entrance, rather than making a fuss of his presence. When he stepped out of a car at Westminster Cathedral in central London, some members of the public gasped to see him. Inside, a guest said that there was a similar response when his jolly demeanour created “a distinct chill in the air”.

“If he truly wanted to pay homage to her at her funeral he should have had the common sense to drop in quietly,” one mourner said.

On the same day, however, Prince Harry’s first meeting with the King in 19 months distracted the attention of the media. Sources close to William say he has now steeled himself for the long game, preferring to carry on with the day job while ignoring a brother he has no desire to see.

A Kensington Palace source said of William: “What we’re seeing is the man flourishing. He earned his stripes as a global statesman last year and you saw him this week wear those stripes with pride and ease.”

At the state banquet on Wednesday, William appeared to be reaping the rewards from this new perspective, despite some clumsy comments from the president in the past. William’s meetings with Trump, sources said, were “warm and friendly”, which is an improvement from the unwelcome, libidinous comments the president has made in the past about the prince’s wife and late mother.

While no meeting was planned for the recent state visit, the Trumps did find time to see the Waleses for a private meeting. Rather than being a snatched two minutes in the corridor at Windsor Castle, it was said to be a warm and friendly meeting, which had emerged organically from a mutual desire to get together.

Later that evening, Trump was on his feet telling a global audience how much he admired the prince and princess. Kate, he said, was “so radiant, so healthy, so beautiful”. Congratulating the King on raising “a remarkable son”, Trump turned to William to add: “We’ve gotten to know you and I think you’re going to have an unbelievable success in future.” That success as King may be helped by William coming up with a plan on how to deal with Andrew and Harry in future.

[From The Times]

First of all, the way the royalist media writes and speaks about that brief moment between William and Andrew tells you all you need to know about KP’s briefing machinery. The moment would have been a minor thing open to interpretation, except William’s aides rushed around and declared that William absolutely snubbed his uncle and he hates his uncle and he can’t believe he was seated close to his uncle at a distant relative’s funeral! The point is that everyone wants to see Prince Andrew excommunicated from polite society until it’s time to excommunicate him from polite society. As for the stuff about William “steeling himself for the long game” re: Harry… lol. “Steeling himself” = rage-shrieking for three years about how much he hates Harry and never wants to speak to Harry and how emotional-support polls show that everyone loves the bestest and peggiest prince!! And finally, it continues to amuse me to see how the royals were flattered by Donald Trump. They’ve really got their chests puffed out, they’re so happy to get the Nazi stamp of approval.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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27 Responses to “Times: Prince William ‘earned his stripes as a global statesman last year’???”

  1. Peg is not now and never ever will he be a global statesman! He is too stupid and too lazy. Sounds like the incandescent one is demanding these ass kissing articles and that in and of itself makes him look bad. If you have to get people to write ass kissing articles you just don’t get it and you never will Prince of Bone Idleness!

    • lungta says:

      For a “global statesman”, Willie was definitely invisible during the pomp & grandeur laid out for the Orange Felon last week. As someone commented, airport greeter was his role & nothing else.

  2. Eurydice says:

    “Flourishing” – flourishing? Is that what they’re calling the desiccated corpse we’ve been seeing for the past 18 months?

    I have so much work I should be doing, but this stuff is addictive.

  3. ParkRunMum says:

    my mother always used to say, discretion is the better part of valour, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, etc…. And whilst I can see the logic of that view, really, not to escalate when you don’t need to, not to confront people when you can just talk to them, to explain yourself in simple phrases, to speak your truth, as we now say, etc…. I also think it’s an enabler’s motto. And most enablers end up hating themselves for having set themselves up to fail, by failing to confront the thing that’s staring them in the face. In lifetime terms, it’s penny wise, pound foolish. Or seconds-wise, years-foolish. Hours-wise, decades-foolish. Those photos are not going to age well. Trump will be a bad memory at some point, and the royals will still be the people who puckered up to kiss his butt. QEII didn’t shrink from providing hospitality to unsavoury people, but she never appeared to relish it. She just tackled the job in hand, as you do. Like a professional. These people make *everything* personal which is why they can’t keep their stories straight. They’re bickering over whose feelings trump whose. Pun intended.

  4. jais says:

    “Sources close to William say he has now steeled himself for the long game, preferring to carry on with the day job while ignoring a brother he has no desire to see.”
    By all means then, William, carry on with the day job. What’s that? We didn’t see you doing your day job on Monday, the first day of the week? Huh. So surely we’ll see you every other day then, meaning not just Tuesday but Wed, Thursday, and definitely Friday right?

    • Wait I thought his day job was commenting on football forums and day drinking.

      • Dee(2) says:

        Lol they say it like Harry flies to London every Friday loitering outside the gates at Windsor, hoping to see William by Sunday. Harry trying to see him is NOT stopping William from his day job. If he had steeled himself for the long game he wouldn’t have people briefing articles like this he’d be busy working.

        They will never get it that the fact that he has ” sources” that apparently have the time because they’ve spoken to him recently to tell these reporters all about how he’s totally not thinking about Harry doesn’t make sense if he’s so busy and has moved on.

    • one of the marys says:

      @jais, I think Harry would be relieved if William ignored him. If William wants anyone to take him seriously he has to stop declaring how much he is ignoring Harry

  5. Jane says:

    It looks to me that he is replying behind the rubbing of his nose. I’m sure his gums are flapping behind there he just doesn’t want anyone to know.

  6. Anne-Marie says:

    They want proximity towards Trump and distance for Andrew. The hypocrisy is glaring.

  7. Over it says:

    Wank does not give two figs about his late mother or his dear wife . He only cares about him . He coughed to hide his laugh he wasn’t uncomfortable then and he wasn’t when he drove Andy to church that time. These clowns really are sad . And raging Peggy really needs to learn to let shit go and do his f-ing tax payer funded job .

  8. Me at home says:

    Is it me, or is there some shade in this article? The Times doesn’t claim William earned his Global Statesman stripes, instead it puts that phrase in the mouth of “A Kensington Palace source said of William: … ‘He earned his stripes as a global statesman last year and you saw him this week wear those stripes with pride and ease.'” Yet neither KP nor the Times is able to point to any incidents where Willy earned the aforementioned stripes.

    What exactly did Willy do last weekend? All eyes were on Kate. Sure, Willy had a scheduled short meeting with the Trumps, where presumably he sucked up to them, but he didn’t do it alone or even without Kate, and he definitely didn’t negotiate peace in Ukraine or Gaza.

    • Where'sMyTiara says:


      ….are … are the stripes in the room with us, right now?

      Maybe it’s time to hold a seance at Windsor Castle. They can find his global statesman stripes, his MIA work ethic, and his mum and gran can tell him what an unfathomable arse he’s been.

      The rota so enjoy putting words in the mouths of dead royals … let the women speak their piece.

  9. Jensa says:

    KP are really pushing this “global statesman” fantasy aren’t they. Do they not realise that just saying it doesn’t make it true.
    William’s role during the Trump visit was minimal. He was sent to greet Trump at the airport like a junior office boy. There were no accounts (or photos) of him schmoozing with the many politicians and diplomats gathered there – which a “global statesman” would be doing. He barely featured at all in the press coverage. There was an article in the Guardian about all the movers and shakers at the state banquet and who was sat next to whom, and William wasn’t even mentioned.

    Oh and he “prefers to carry on with the day job”?? What might that job be, I wonder? Does he mean the school run? Holiday planning?

    • lungta says:

      “pushing this “global statesman” fantasy”
      Each time they mention it in an article, the more ridiculous it appears, as there is NO EVIDENCE of that quality in him!!!

  10. Tessa says:

    Like a bitter ex saying I am ignoring you all the time.

  11. tamsin says:

    Was William not trying to hide his smile in his interaction with Andrew? Too bad he wasn’t wearing a scarf he could fiddle with.

  12. Becks1 says:

    omg, i’m so sick of the phrase “global statesman.” Its clear that either william came up with it for himself or someone at KP mentioned it to him and he was like yes, lets use that phrase and nothing else to describe me for years.

    and what has he done that’s “global statesman” esque? he attended a funeral that his father had to force him to attend? He went to a state dinner and rubbed elbows with a fascist? KP thinks that if they just call him that enough people will believe it but it really just sets him for failure because of the constant comparison with harry – who mingles with world leaders who WANT to meet him, who travels to war zones, who works on global initiatives and projects – while William wears a uniform he didn’t earn and just kind of waltzes around the UK aimlessly.

    finally – its “funny” how the royals are trying to distance themselves from andrew while cozying up so publicly to Trump. Fascism aside Trump’s relationship with Epstein was also quite problematic.

    • Eurydice says:

      Well, Trump comes with money and the UK government wants him. Andrew is a deadbeat who leaks secrets to Chinese spies. It’s like an algebraic equation – the common variable (Epstein) cancels out.

    • jais says:

      He’s not even a local statesman much less a global statesman.

  13. Lady Digby says:

    A Kensington Palace source said of William: “What we’re seeing is the man flourishing. He earned his stripes as a global statesman last year and you saw him this week wear those stripes with pride and ease.
    Actually Will looks moth eaten as if he sleeps in a skip after going on a massive bender. He had a short chat with Trump or rather Trump patted him on the head last year and that elevates him to global statesman?

  14. Libra says:

    Trumps support will help Wm in “dealing with Harry in future.” That really bothers me. Harry is truly at risk if Trump and William join forces to ruin him. Hate is something both these sick men have in common.

  15. Amy Bee says:

    A global statesman travels and holds meetings with important people. All William does is go on vacation and meet his dad’s guests at the airport or hotel.

  16. martha says:

    I’m just struck by the ego Prince Andrew displays. Front and center! Jesus – if he had half a brain, he would have attended quietly and waited until all the bigwigs had been picked up. He’d go to family events and just quietly slip into the background while hoping nobody mentions his presence because, when he is mentioned, Epstein is mentioned. Etc.

    What a tool!

  17. Jferber says:

    When? How? It never happened.

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