Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

0:00
0:00

Prince William holds future of British monarchy in his hands

While nearly all attention will be focused next week on Queen Elizabeth as she celebrates her 70th anniversary on the throne this year, for those with eyes on the future of the British monarchy, attention is switching to her grandson Prince William.

The British royals have suffered a bruising couple of years with the U.S. sex abuse lawsuit against Elizabeth's son Andrew, Prince Harry, William's younger brother, quitting duties to move to the United States in 2020, and police investigating alleged wrongdoing at the main charity of son and heir Prince Charles.

With the health of the popular 96-year-old queen an increasing source of concern, forcing her to pull out of public engagements, her Platinum Jubilee will mark not just a time to reflect on her past, but to look ahead.

Most polls show a majority of the British public support the monarchy, and, while his 73-year-old father commands less popularity, William - the second in line to the throne - and his wife Kate are the most liked royals after the queen.

But, surveys also suggest those aged under 50 are far more ambivalent about the institution.

"The future does rest on Prince William," Matthew Dennison, a biographer of the queen, said. "And we all know that public opinion can be unkind."

A decade ago, amid celebrations for Elizabeth's then Diamond Jubilee, there was a notable moment when she greeted crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace accompanied by Charles, his wife Camilla, William and his wife Kate, and Harry.

It reflected the long understood plan of Charles to slim down the monarchy effectively to his immediate family when he became king.

But the shock exit of Harry and his wife Meghan to the United States has put paid to that, placing even more pressure on William, 39, and his young family to maintain the institution's long term viability and popularity while navigating a rapidly changing society.


'LAST OF THE MOHICANS'

"William is the key person because William is going to be king one day," said Charles Rae, a former royal correspondent at the Sun newspaper. "He's the last of the Mohicans, basically. I think an awful lot rests on William's shoulders for the future of the monarchy."

William and Kate, 40, have enjoyed highly positive media coverage over the last five years as one of the world's most glamorous couples with Hollywood star appeal. The prince has shaken off the "work-shy Wills" nickname British tabloids gave him in the last decade when they suggested the couple were lazy.

"To be honest I'm going to get plenty of criticism over my lifetime and it's something that I don't completely ignore but it's not something I take completely to heart," he said in a 2016 interview to mark the queen's 90th birthday.

William has also received much praise for his work on mental health, homelessness and the environment, but the couple's recent tour of the Caribbean was a wake-up call after they faced protests over Britain's imperial past and criticism that some of the tour had echoes of a colonial throwback.

"I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future," William said in a highly unusual statement issued at the end of their visit.

According to the Sunday Mirror newspaper the visit has prompted William and Kate to rethink how the monarchy should look, with the couple saying they wanted to be known by their names and not their titles - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

"They want to try to avoid the bows and curtsies in public, be more approachable, less formal, less stuffy, and break away with a lot of the tradition and focus on a modern monarchy," an unnamed source told the paper.

Miguel Head, who was a key aide for the prince for a decade until 2018, said while William did not like ceremony, he understood its importance.

"When he gets the top job he won't do away with it all," Head told the Sunday Times. "He's mindful the monarchy represents something timeless that's above all of us, and many people like the magic and theatre of it."

William accepts the monarchy needs to move with the times to stay relevant, something the queen has been praised for. The prince in 2016 called her his best role model for the job.

"That's the challenge for me is how do I make the royal family relevant in the next 20 years time, and it could be 40 years time, it could be 60 years time... I hope that's something that I can do."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
×