Prince William’s interview on AppleTV+’s The Reluctant Traveler was a flop. It barely got attention beyond the royalist media, and even the royalist media wasn’t wild about it. The Times called William “The Scooter King” and mentioned his lack of work ethic. Other royalists suggested that William basically has no plans for how he’s going to be a changemaker king, other than failing to show up for important events. So now People Magazine has stepped in with a convenient cover story, because they’re really trying to sell this peggy fairy tale to the American audience. A fairy tale about… a Scooter King who is trying to rebrand at the ripe age of 43. Some highlights:
William’s “change is on my agenda” statement: “It was a savvy move by William,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “By choosing a Canadian comedian as his interlocutor, William seems to be signaling that he wants to break out of the conventional mold.”
The rebrand!! That willingness to speak personally — and publicly — marks a turning point for the monarchy. After years of headlines dominated by family rifts and royal fallout, William is quietly reframing his image: one rooted in accessibility and evolution.
William’s vision for the future is not a rebuke of his father. “This shouldn’t be seen as criticism of King Charles,” historian Robert Lacey tells PEOPLE. “He is very close to his father and has been his most important supporter.”
William is not an ostrich: Instead, the Prince of Wales is defining his own path — one that honors tradition while embracing change. That openness marks a distinct break from the royal family’s old way of operating — by “ostriching,” as Bedell Smith puts it, “avoiding discussions of emotional problems in hopes that they would go away.”
He wants to live in the present: For royal watchers the striking admission is “fascinating,” says royal biographer Andrew Morton, author of Winston and the Windsors: “The two words ‘change’ and ‘monarchy’ don’t naturally go together. Monarchy is about continuity. To predicate your future life on the change you’re going to make to it…well, that’s a delicate mechanism.”
More accessible: For William, though, change doesn’t mean upheaval but rather modernization — a monarchy more emotionally attuned and grounded in everyday life. “Prince William’s been quite vocal about what he wants to do when the time comes,” says a source with ties to the palace. “[To be] more accessible, more approachable.”
Just a bloke: As the tour draws to a close, William emerges not just as heir to the throne, but as a father and husband trying to redefine it. “He struck me as one of the lads,” says Morton. “That’s different from previous generations. He seems very much one of us, even though he is the future King.”
The palace source said, “Prince William’s been quite vocal about what he wants to do when the time comes… [To be] more accessible, more approachable.” It’s extremely funny that the work-from-home future king needed to grab 150 acres of a public park so that he can have his very own country estate and his fifth forever home, and now his brand is “accessible bloke”? When have William and Kate ever been accessible? Their whole thing is NOT being approachable, to be inaccessible to the peasants, to not show up for charities or patronages or religious services. Personally, Charles seems WAY more accessible than his mother AND his heir. Charles is literally out amongst the people every week, shaking hands and meeting interfaith communities and highlighting important causes. Anyway, this rebrand is going poorly.
Photos and screengrabs courtesy of AppleTV+. Cover courtesy of People.
Did he hang up his ‘statesman’ cape?
He has morphed into a politician – he goes where the wind blows – who pivots over and over based on polling data.
Looking forward to another pivot down the line as he continues to wait for his father to die so he can finally be King and wear the big hat.
There is one visible thing that remains regardless of how many times he pivots or ‘rebrands himself’, his awkwardness. It screams at you when you look at him. That cover picture (seems over a year old) depicts him as glaringly awkward as ever, creepy even. Why did they use an old photo for a rebrand/change/future King conversation beats me. 🤷🏽♀️ 🤭
They finally realized that stay at home part time global statesman with priorities like school run being most important thing of all things in the world for him, didn’t make sense.
That pic with the large smile looking straight at the camera scares me and looks painful for him.
Harry’s coming back they say: he needs to shift his image to less incandescent brother.
I realize it’s not entirely his fault — it’s just the way his jaw is hung — but he always looks like he’s clenching and gritting his teeth when he smiles big for the camera. It’s almost a rictus spasm.
Accessible??? He will only be accessible if you want to day drink or got to a football game. What a big scooter riding joke!!
The absolute gall. The fact that he’s rebranding himself as the accessible king when he just kicked people off of 150 acres of public-accessible park space. Omfg. It’s Opposite Day bc he will be less accessible than Charles. Charles actually hosts dinners at Clarence House. How many dinners is William going to be hosting on the regular, whether at WC, KP, BP or wherever? Way less than Charles I’m willing to bet.
yes, its so accessible and approachable to live on a 150 acre walled off estate, and the most you’re seen in public is in the private box at your favorite football team’s matches. And you do 100 engagements a year, including phone calls.
sUch a people’s prince!
Just choosing that word. Accessible. It’s making me mad. Bc it’s clearly designed as propaganda to cover the fact of how very inaccessible William actually is. Whereas Harry is out there doing charity work with barely any protection. William is the one sequestering himself away from the masses.
Charles is also more transparent. He gives up far more financial information than William has.
Because of his role, he will naturally be invited here and there. It is precisely because of this role that he will be praised, regardless of whether he fulfils it well or poorly. With a huge team of compliant helpers, he will never have to worry about anything, and in the role of king, it will not matter at all how much or how little or how unprofessional he is.
He will always just be the role, which on the surface may be useful for his competitive problems, but ultimately, as a human being, he will never get what he needs. Genuine recognition and the love of people like his brother and his wife. The world has watched what has happened.
I was just thinking along the same lines. William will be forgiven a million sins by the men in grey suits, his fellow aristocrats who need royalty to continue so they can continue being aristocrats, and the common people who want or believe in royalty. Britain has a dozen terrible (horrible!) kings to look back upon to reassure themselves that the institution is sound despite a wobble here and there from an inept or cruel king, or two, or three.
Here we go again with “he’s one of the lads” nonsense. He’s a billionaire wealth hoarder. Millions of Brits are being forced deeper into poverty as Peg increases his wealth. GMAFB
Wow, Britain! This is what you get for your hard earned tax money.
Good luck.
To be pulled off successfully, personal branding must be based on some nugget of truth, and the presentation must have logical consistency. Something is very wrong with William, and the story he is trying to sell doesn’t work because we can see with our eyes that it’s a lie.
For a man who spends so much time scootering about, playing with his kids, and out of doors skiing and vacationing, why does he look so gaunt, unfit, and pale? For a man who is such a devoted father and family family, how is it he “overwhelmed quite a bit” by feelings and disruptions in his daily rhythm? Why do his children always look like stressed out hostages when they are around him? Why does he speak about them the way he does, without any joy or connection? Why doesn’t he take anyone but George anywhere? And why has nobody up until now ever mentioned that William shows up to meetings on a scooter instead of a helicopter?
I don’t know how much People is getting paid in this attempt to glow-up William, but it’s probably a lot more than Meghan was paid to show up in Paris looking like a goddess.
What’s sad is that, in truth, all they’re being paid in is accessible WhatsApp messages from William’s team. That’s it. Nothing more.
The children are in school during the day, do they get to see friends after school or have any activities to go to.
They’re at the school groups from like, 8-5 (they are not in class that whole time. They have games and sports sometimes in between.) Sometimes they even have Saturdays classes. The English private school set up is totally different than a “normal” school day.
Why did Charlotte go weeks without seeing him as his beard grew out?
Those scooter photos are hilarious. There’s something weirdly undignified about them. Walking or riding a bike would look less odd.
I’m convinced whoever on their staff advises them on this stuff hates them. Hates them with a fire of 1,000 burning suns!
I know! Despite their proliferation in the past few decades, I still see them as a children’s toy, and the fact that he’s so tall adds to the ridiculousness of the image.
I think it’s reminding me of GOB Bluth from Arrested Development. I know he’s not on a Segway, but it’s pretty close!
Well, he’s an abject failure as “man of dignity,” so he might as well go to clown school. It would be something else if he could embrace eccentricity, but the “authentic William” is dull, disinterested and lazy and there’s really no way to cover that up.
I agree with you and don’t understand the appetite for a rebrand. Who is demanding this propaganda and why?? The king is doing his own thing. Harry is doing his own thing. What a terrible fix William is in. He seems to feel inadequate and want some of their shine but he’s such a different person, he must be stressed trying to pretend to be something he’s not simply to please the public.
Sally, the Scooter Prince wants to be Lazy. I am glad I stopped buying People Magazine.. He looks really weird on the cover
Andrew Morton buys into this spin! So disappointing.
Peg has got to paying for these People Mag covers. I know times are hard in the magazine business and I think People is up to at least four bucks a pop now, maybe more. I dont know who is buying these things. I know People used to put out those special “Royalty” editions every quarter but since they only ever put Keen and Horseface on the covers, nobody wanted to buy that shit. So I haven’t seen one of those in ages. Anyway, I guess People wanted to capture all of the momentum from the AppleTV show that nobody watched soooo, good luck with that. Meanwhile Duchess Meghan became the hottest thing in royalty over the weekend in years.
They sit on the shelves until the next issues come in then they are wrapped up and discarded . Keens stories do not get snapped up by readers.
That was my first thought. Who in America is buying this?? And you know he told them not to include a big pic of Kate.
Completely laughable. A pathetic man.
I am finding this “crash and burn” rebrand funny.. I just can’t stop laughing at how horrible this is and he seems to dense to even understand he looks like a fool.
Is he going to try to channel JFK Jr next by going roller skating in the streets? Would not put it past him.
So after AppleTV the American streamer, comes People Magazine, also American. Copying Harry’s choice of communication outlets, basically repeating what Harry said. The only difference is, he briefed his royal rota to criticize Harry to the point of calling him a traitor for choosing American media over the tabloids. That was something the royals would never do, remember? It was an insult to the British press. Now the same rota is briefed to hype Scooter’s global reach.
Also the scooter king reminds me of that Steve Buscemi meme: “How do you do fellow kids?”
It’s the way he feels the need to cater to American audiences. He’s the king in the uk but apparently the British RF really really needs Americans to like him.
Well after Harry and Meghan ran away TO America I think that’s a lost cause
This is so embarrassing to watch. He’s so stiff and unnatural whenever he tries to act “laid-back.”
At the root of all of this is his desire to make it crystal clear that he’s going to do a lot less work than his grandmother or his father ever did. Reigning by tweet.
“Stiff and unnatural” is right. I keep thinking about that comparison TikTok someone made with Harry wearing a t-shirt and joggers, running an obstacle course and shimmying up a rope like no big deal, and then Willy walking a beam with a helmet and safety harness, and seven people standing by to catch him if he fell.
Excuse me, but William was wearing a Dukakis helmet, of all things!
(and I say this as a staunch Dem.)
Its also clear that at some point, he read or heard that to seem accessible or approachable or natural, he should chat with people in pubs over a pint. that’s his go to when they’re trying to him seem like “just one of the guys.” and maybe once or twice it worked. But now its so obviously staged and dull – its like okay, you’re 43, there are lots of things guys your age do when they hang out that are NOT just sitting in a pub and drinking a beer. I mean they do that a lot too, lol, but there are other ways to look natural without that.
I would feel bad about constantly comparing him to Harry, because its not his fault he lacks charisma*, but this is where Harry shines. He doesn’t have to try to act natural because he is just naturally good with people. He doesn’t need to arrange a setting in a pub with a beer as a prop (in more ways than one) in order to have a conversation that doesn’t feel stilted. But we never saw QEII trying to force this kind of personality because it wasn’t her. Even without being Queen she probably would have been reserved and introverted and stuck in her routines. But she made it work.
*I dont actually feel bad about the comparison bc he was such an ahole to Harry obviously.
Accessible to who? It sure isn’t the British public because we’ve not seen him out and about for a while now. When his father was POW he was here there and everywhere. Not only that, he built a reputable charity which has benefitted thousands of young people around the country. KCIII is a dogshite father but, he was a good POW and used his position to benefit a lot of people.
QEII famously said “we have to be seen to be believed” and it was only age and illness that stopped her travelling up and down the country to meet the people. William (and his wife) are not accessible and have very little sense of duty and responsibility unless it’s to themselves. I dread to think what they’ll be like when they finally get the “big job” but, I’m sure as eggs are eggs (pun intended) they will not be accessible.
The scooter riding pics remind me of Gob, from “Arrested Development.”
Which made me realize there are many similarities Wills and Gob share.
His smile doesn’t reach his eyes at all.
That’s what I thought, Kate seems to have the same problem, where as with Harry, you can feel his smile is genuine.
He is not the first heir to the throne to be a husband and father. All this talk of the “kids” is a bit much.
If you have to clarify and explain ““This shouldn’t be seen as criticism of King Charles,” …….. “He is very close to his father and has been his most important supporter.”” than it is definitely a criticism of his father Charles and they are not close.
Being so “personally” in an interview, as the MSM describe it, is Willi following Harry’s example who is very open and is not afraid to show emotions in interviews but Willi has a long way to go to come across as authentic.
As being “one of the lads” he needs a 150 acre security zone around his home separating him from the peasants. Willi is so normal! Lol.
The Scooter King.
I have visions of him just going round and round that courtyard making them watch him. He’s that clueless and self-absorbed. Like when a kid has just learnt something and makes everyone watch them repeatedly.
“look what I can do!!! be sure to get me from this angle!!!”
Recently Will teeth bearing smile reminds me of Jack Torrance Here’s Johnny rampage in The Shinning!
Is it a “rebrand” if this is the same image William has been trying to project for years? This very site nicknamed him “Normal Bill” long ago.
I have a question about the word “lad” – to me, this word has a specifically negative connotation so I find it interesting that People used it. To me, a “lad” is the sort of boorish man child who never outgrows his high school glory days. Not necessarily inaccurate to describe William, but certainly not flattering. They could have used “just one of the guys/blokes” instead. Is it just me? Does “lad” have a different and more positive connotation for you?
I don’t think “lad” is insult here. It really just means “guy.”
Now, if they’d said he was “being laddish” or “one of the likely lads” or a reader of “lads mags” or just another “Hooray Henry” that would rightly imply he was a rich entitled toff bore hound and a loser.
How are you accessible if you plan to be the Zoom king, or if you’re in your man cave most of the time watching football, drinking beer, and engaging in online chat? He is trying to sound like a man with a plan, but in reality he seems to be only planning how he can do as little as possible when he is king. He’s going to be the invisible king, and Kate will be the invisible queen, making it easier to hide that the emperor and empress have no clothes. As to the present, William looks completely dorky on that scooter. He should at least try to relate its use to the environment
somehow, but no, he uses it because he’s often late, but he’s always late anyway despite using the scooter. They say that being on time is the courtesy of kings. It appears, though, that Kate and William are both habitually late. Do either of them have some quality of character that can garner them an iota of respect?
Opening up about doing less, sincerely not yours, King Won’t instead of King Will LOL We pay but he doesn’t pose!
It’s pretty obvious that Pegs dislikes himself too.
It would be sad and a bit tragic if he weren’t such a racist assh*le.
I agree. I wish he would get a psychological assessment and some counselling / coaching so he could find some purpose and joy in his life. I don’t like him but I do pity him.
It’s shocking how different he looks compared to his university days.
He could start by moving up to a grownup bicycle and ditching the cute-for-kids/dorky-for-adults scooter ride!
Unless he’s afraid that’ll remind people of the Benelux/Scando bicycle monarchies that show up the British monarchy every time they step out.
So, after years of headlines dominated by family rifts and royal fallouts, William “Scooter” Wales is going to be different. But, isn’t Scooter also deeply involved in these same rifts and fallouts? Isn’t he leaking, at every turn, that he refuses to speak to his brother, and that he “hates” Harry? And, isn’t he the one who has violent diarrhea every time his father and Harry speak? That man is suddenly allergic to conflict? Right.