Late Queen ‘feared William would become a celebrity monarch’ as her grandson’s ‘rigidity’ left her ‘frustrated’
Queen Elizabeth had certain reservations about Prince William as king, ‘fearing he might become a “celebrity monarch”, a new book has claimed.
In one excerpt of the book, exclusively serialised by the Daily Mail, royal author Robert Jobson revealed Prince William’s ‘rigidity’ sometimes ‘frustrated’ the late Queen, while sharing the inside story of her final engagement in England.
In July 2022, Queen Elizabeth, then aged 96, was set to attend the official opening of Thames Hospice’s new 29-bedroom facility by Bray Lake in Berkshire.
It was an engagement that had great significance for her, since a retiring staff member had looked after the budgerigars housed at the Royal Aviary and ‘she didn’t want to let anyone down’.
On the day of the ceremony, however, Elizabeth was feeling ‘particularly frail’ and asked William, now 43, to attend the event on her behalf.
‘William’s schedule might well have accommodated this last-minute duty, but he cried off, citing fatherly duties. This left his grandmother not only disappointed but irritated,’ Mr Jobson wrote.
‘She is said to have scoffed, “Isn’t that what nannies and policemen are for?”‘
For the late Queen, William’s decision to prioritise time with his children over royal engagements was a contentious one
In July 2022, the late Monarch asked William if he could attend the official opening of Thames Hospice’s new facility in Berkshire but ‘he cried off, citing fatherly duties’
Unwavering in her desire not to let anyone down, the ‘ailing’ monarch then asked Princess Anne to accompany her to the 45-minute engagement located just a short distance from Windsor Castle.
It was to be her final engagement in England before her death on September 8 that year.
But despite feeling apprehensive about the event, the Queen appeared to be on rather good form and even showcased her humorous side as she greeted staff and patients at the ward.
When Her Majesty was introduced to Graham White and his wife Pat, who had stage four cancer and was receiving respite care at the centre, his phone rang, prompting him to reach for his pocket in a bid to turn it off.
Quick-witted as always, the late Queen quipped: ‘Typical, his mobile instantly rings’, while Mr White sheepishly explained that his son had been calling.
William’s decision to honour his parenting commitments with his three children – Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10 and Prince Louis, seven, appears to be rather indicative of his ‘hands-on’ approach as both a father and husband.
According to Mr Jobson, the Prince also asked the King if he could cut down his official royal engagements to ten for the remainder 2024 as he navigated his wife’s cancer diagnosis
Across 2022, the Prince of Wales carried out just 190 engagements, compared with his father’s 497, a clear signal that, at this stage in life, his duty to his family comes ahead of his public role.
And, according to Mr Jobson, the Prince also asked the King if he could cut down his official royal engagements to ten for the remainder 2024 as he navigated his wife Princess Catherine’s cancer diagnosis and remission period.
Writing in his authoritative new book about the Windsors, called The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty of Secrets, Scandal and Survival, exclusively previewed by the Daily Mail, Mr Jobson revealed that the King had denied such request.
‘Think again’, Charles was said to have urged his son.
But, rather than being a sign of William wanting to lean into the public side of royal life or advance his ‘celebrity’ image, such shift appears to serve as a clear indication of his commitment to family life.
According to Jason Knauf, formerly Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s press secretary, ‘neither of the prince or princess would choose to be public figures’.
He adds: ‘They’re not that interested in the fame and celebrity that comes with it. I think that makes it quite interesting in today’s world to see people out there doing their jobs but for the right reasons.’
During a BBC documentary in 2018, William spoke about his desire to have more ‘family time’ with his hard-working father and young children.
Prince William was said to have undertaken an even more active parenting role with Charlotte, Louis and George after Kate’s cancer diagnosis
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond has praised William’s acutely different approach to royal life, with the father-of-three said to have intentionally prioritised being ‘around at weekends and holidays and whenever he can’.
Speaking to OK! magazine in 2023, she added: ‘With the late Queen’s ailing health, William probably had to step up to his full time royal job quicker than he might have hoped, but you can see how committed he is.
‘However, I also very much admire the fact that he’s not a workaholic like his father, he knows how important family life is… He seems to be a full on, hands-on, caring dad.’
When Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis last year, William was said to have undertaken an even more active fatherly role, being reportedly a ‘regular at the school gate’ and temporarily halting his engagements to be present for their children.
And during an interview with actor Eugene Levy in October, the Prince revealed further details about his and Kate’s hands-on parenting approach, including a ban on their children having mobile phones.
Adding that he wants to ‘do what’s best for my children’, William was also clear on his stance regarding family meals. When Levy asked if the Waleses and their children eat together, the Prince said: ‘Yes absolutely, yes definitely. So, we sit and chat, it’s really important. None of our children have any phones, which we’re very strict about.’
Perhaps it was William’s rather tumultuous upbringing – being the child of a broken home following Charles and the late Princess Diana’s divorce in 1996, that has also influenced his rather modern parenting style.
William told Eugene Levy poignantly he was actively trying to avoid the ‘mistakes’ of his parents
During the interview, William discussed how he was actively trying to avoid the ‘mistakes’ of his parents, explaining candidly how his childhood ‘feeling of safety, security, love’ was abruptly cut short following his parents’ separation.
He told Levy: ‘Getting the balance of work and family life right is really important.
‘Because for me, the most important thing in my life is family, and everything is about the future and about if you don’t start the children off now with a happy, healthy, stable home, I feel you’re setting them up for a bit of a hard time and a fall.’
Making clear his plans for his children to have a more stable upbringing than he experienced, the Prince added: ‘You try and make sure you don’t do the same mistakes as your parents.
‘I know that the drama and the stress when you’re small really affects you when you’re older.
‘Children are constantly learning and adapting. We try to make sure we give them the security and the safety that they need.’
Indeed, William is not the only royal to have openly discussed how his childhood has shaped his parenting approach.
His brother, Prince Harry, has often candidly discussed his feelings of despair while growing up as the ‘spare’, recounting in his tell-all memoir how he was ‘the shadow, the support, the Plan B’.
Prince Harry accused his father of struggling to communicate as a parent
Adding that his royal upbringing caused him ‘generational trauma’, the Prince also placed a great deal of the blame of his problems on his father, Charles – in particular, citing his father’s alleged coldness.
He wrote: ‘Pa and I mostly coexisted. He had trouble communicating, trouble listening, trouble being intimate face-to-face.
‘On occasion, after a long multi-course dinner, I’d walk upstairs and find a letter on my pillow. The letter would say how proud he was of me for something I’d done or accomplished.
‘I’d smile, place it under my pillow, but also wonder why he hasn’t said this moments ago, while seated directly across from me.’
According to royal author Tom Quinn, speaking on Channel 5’s Charles & Harry: Father & Son Divided, Charles’ seemingly detached parenting style may have been due to the fact that the now King often ‘didn’t receive any parenting’.
He explained: ‘His parents were away when he was very young, he was left with nannies in that very Victorian way.
‘Although Charles tried to be a more modern parent he didn’t have the tools because he didn’t grow up with them. Diana actually joined in their games, while Charles would have said “off you go”. He wouldn’t have joined in. He’s too stiff, too old-fashioned’.
In 2021, prior to the release of Spare, Harry issued a glaring blow at the Firm by claiming that Charles had ‘suffered’ because of his upbringing by the late Queen and Prince Philip, adding that his father had ‘treated me the way he was treated’ which had caused him ‘genetic pain’.
Diana keen to provide her son’s with a somewhat ‘normal life’ – even taking the young princes out for burgers and on trips to theme parks.
Speaking to Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, The Duke of Sussex blasted Prince Charles’s parenting and said he moved to California with his family to ‘break the cycle’ of ‘pain’ he suffered as a member of the Royal Family.
It appears that William may also have taken a degree of inspiration from his mother’s forward-thinking approach to parenting, with the late Diana keen to provide her son’s with a somewhat ‘normal life’ – even taking the young princes out for burgers and on trips to theme parks.
Explaining Charles and Diana’s different parenting styles, Ken Wharfe, former protection office to Diana, revealed during the Channel 5 programme how Charles was keen to foster a rather traditional upbringing for the young princes while Diana wanted them to be raised ‘as normally as possible’.
‘Diana would take them to Sticky Fingers in Kensington Church Street – which is owned by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones’ – it became a favourite.
‘The Prince [Charles] had a slight problem with it. When they came back [to Kensington Palace] there was this look of horror across the Prince’s face, he couldn’t work out why, with a brigade of good chefs at Kensington Palace that Diana would have to take them for a burger.
Meanwhile, royal expert Emily Andrews added that while Charles is ‘very sensitive and very caring, he never really could show it in the same way as Diana’.
She added: ‘Charles was a huge workaholic and Charles wouldn’t just stop his work because he had his sons for the day.
‘Whereas I think with Diana, she always made sure everything was done for them.’
Kate and William have placed an emphasis on being active and present parents
But for Kate and William, this detached style is a mere thing of the past – with an acute emphasis, at least in the short term, seemingly placed on their unwavering commitment to being active and present parents, rather than just royal figures.
This also includes their approach to the so-called ‘heir and spare’ dilemma, according to royal expert Mr Hardman – with the Prince and Princess said to be ‘very conscious’ of the prospect of such conflict repeating itself among their three children.
Speaking on the Daily Mail’s Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things podcast, the royal biographer said that both the Prince and Princess are working to ensure that Charlotte and Louis do not feel any ‘less loved or relevant’ than their older brother and heir to the throne, Prince George.
He went on to explain that such commitment to an equal upbringing is to prevent Charlotte and Louis from harbouring the same ‘resentment’ as other recent ‘royal spares’ including both Prince Harry and Princess Margaret.
As William looks towards the future as King during an incredibly turbulent time for the monarchy, he will undoubtedly be seeking to shape the lives of the Royal Family’s next generation while continuing to commit to his present role under Charles’ leadership.
But as the old saying goes – ‘progress is impossible without change’, and William must both foster and invest in his young family to ensure the Firm can evolve.
