Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, which may have led her grandson to believe he's got
decades before he ascends the throne. However, with the health of King Charles III in question,
William might be forced to take the crown before he's ready.
Though becoming king is an inevitability for Prince William, he has expressed misgivings
over assuming the crown. In a 2016 sit-down with the BBC, William was asked to address
persistent rumors that he's a reluctant royal and gave a surprisingly blunt reply.
"It could be 40 years' time, it could be 6 years' time. I have no idea when
that's going to be and I certainly don't lie awake waiting or hoping for it."
Considering that his entire life has been leading to the moment he ascends the throne,
it was an odd admission, though he did qualify it by acknowledging the sad fact that when he
ascends, it means some of his loved ones will have died. But the prince's supposed reluctance
to reign has apparently been present from a young age. According to veteran British
journalist Jeremy Paxman, who divulged royal gossip in the documentary Paxman
On The Queen's Children, William told Princess Diana repeatedly that he didn't want to be king.
Appearing in the documentary William & Harry: An Uneasy Truce,
Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, elaborated on this, saying,
"Harry always knew that his brother was destined to be king. In fact,
one day in the nursery, they had a huge row and William stamped his feet and said,
'I don't want to be King!' And Harry said, 'Well, if you don't do it, I'll do it instead of you.'"
Despite being a millennial, critics have questioned whether Prince William is
sufficiently prepared to modernize the monarchy when he takes to the throne. One major obstacle
to the future king is Gen Z's unwillingness to embrace him. In fact, an April 2023 BBC
poll revealed that a staggering 38% of 18 to 24-year-olds wanted the monarchy to be abolished.
While William has attempted to appear more modern
than his predecessors by addressing issues that affect ordinary Britons,
many remain skeptical. During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, historian Tessa
Dunlop argued that William is neither a modern royal nor a radical. Instead, she suggested,
"He is simply working out how to make the royal family relevant."
Furthermore, royal experts have argued that the prince still has much to learn
before becoming king, with the cogency of any potential modernisation plans being central
to his success. As professor and royal author Pauline Maclaran told Express,
"He has more to learn in his quest to modernize the monarchy. This period where he is Prince of
Wales will teach him a lot in this respect about what he can do for positive change without ruining
the intrinsic mystique of the monarchy that is a core reason why people are drawn to them."
In order to reign over modern, multicultural Britain, a monarch
needs to not only embrace the changing cultural climate, but acknowledge the
country's dark past. King Charles III did a decent job of this by addressing
the atrocities of colonialism during a state visit to Kenya in October 2023.
Unafraid of ignoring royal protocol that dictates political neutrality, Charles also condemned the
U.K. government's plans to send migrants to Rwanda. Sadly, the same cannot be said for
Prince William, who generally opts to adhere to the status quo when it comes to politics.
In 2022, William was widely criticized for a speech he gave in Jamaica,
in which he showed sadness over slavery but seemingly refused to apologize for colonialism.
"I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened."
The prince's statement was only magnified by his disastrous PR gaffes during his
Caribbean tour with Princess Catherine, when the royal couple were photographed
grinning as they greeted Jamaican children through a wire fence.
While that imagery alone evoked painful aspects of Britain's past, a photo of the
couple dressed in white as they passed through locals in a Land Rover also appeared a bizarre,
though likely unintentional, tribute to imperialism. To appeal to a diverse Britain,
the future king will have to address his racially insensitive missteps moving forward.
Monarchs are expected to represent stoicism and restraint in the face of adversity. But according
to insiders, Prince William is rather quick to anger. In Prince Harry's 2023 memoir, Spare, he
alleged that his elder brother became enraged when he called out his questionable attitude towards
Meghan Markle, going so far as to grab his brother by the collar and knock him into the floor.
While Harry stated that William denied these acts were an attack,
the estranged Duke of Sussex isn't the only person to accuse William of being
hotheaded. In his 2022 book William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch,
biographer Robert Jobson also alleges that William is cantankerous, writing,
"Even senior members of his circle will 'check which way the wind is
blowing' before becoming too self-assured in his presence
or raising problematic issues that might be better addressed at another time."
Several former aides have made similar claims against William,
and while his father has been known to occasionally lose his temper in public, the
Prince of Wales will need to keep those alleged tantrums in check when he ascends the throne.
For many years, Prince William was dubbed "work-shy William" due to his apparent
nonchalant attitude towards his royal duties. In 2017, for instance, William left his wife
and children behind to go on a skiing trip. In doing so, he missed out on the Commonwealth Day
service at Westminster Abbey, an event that Queen Elizabeth always deemed of the utmost importance.
During the trip, William was also spotted getting close to a woman at a nightclub,
allegedly enraging Princess Catherine. As a source told Vanity Fair,
"She thought his partying days and larking around with the boys was a thing of the past.
I imagine she'll find this humiliating and William will have come in for a pasting."
Since then, William appeared to make amends by taking his royal duties more
seriously. However, according to royal author Ingrid Seward,
Charles advised William not to forsake his family in the process. As Seward told Hello!,
"Charles always put duty first because that's what his mother did. And that's what Diana decided she
wouldn't do. I think Charles has encouraged William to spend more time with the family."
Prince William has been routinely criticized for wanting to play by his own rules and
disregard tradition, which some have argued is symptomatic of his entitlement. This is
something that Prince Harry drew attention to in Spare, noting that his elder brother
had a propensity to draw attention away from King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort.
In 2023, William came under scrutiny for seemingly attempting to outshine his father
on his inaugural birthday parade, casting doubt on the level of deference he reserved
for the monarch. That same day, William gave one of his biggest interviews yet,
sitting down with The Times to discuss his dream of ending homelessness. Shortly thereafter, he
released his official Father's Day photo in time for it to be splashed across the Sunday papers.
In doing so, he appeared to overshadow his
father on his big day. As a palace insider observed to the Daily Mail,
"The timing of the interview will certainly have raised eyebrows at Buckingham Palace.
The interview and the Father's Day picture have blown His Majesty off
the front pages on the weekend of his first King's Birthday Parade."
The insider also questioned why William opted to unveil his homelessness initiatives at that
particular time, considering that his scheme is still in its infant stages. He may want to do
things his own way, but the royal family is steeped in centuries' old traditions
that William will have to follow when he becomes king, whether he likes it or not.
Before her mystery illness was revealed to be a cancer in March 2024, a number of outlandish
conspiracy theories regarding Princess Catherine's absence began circulating on
social media. When Prince William was asked about Catherine's supposed disappearance,
he arguably fueled further speculation by outright ignoring the question. In response to
the growing concern over Catherine's whereabouts, a spokesman for the prince bluntly told People,
"His focus is on his work and not on social media."
Then, Kensington Palace released a manipulated Mother's Day photo
of the Princess of Wales and her children, bolstering conspiracy theories. Catherine soon
took responsibility for the gaffe, claiming she edited the photo herself. Subsequently,
William was accused of shirking the responsibility of the misstep onto his wife.
"I think it's very ungentlemanly of Prince William to put the onus
on her. For goodness sake, he's the one who took the photograph."
Additionally, William was accused of grossly misjudging his younger fans by perpetuating
the cloak of secrecy that senior members of The Firm have long sought to maintain. Moreover,
William was criticized for not being present with his wife during her cancer announcement. However,
PR expert Dini von Mueffling told Business Insider that the prince's
presence would have merely led to further speculation.
The start of 2024 was a dark time for the royal family, with both King Charles III
and Princess Catherine being diagnosed with cancer. Psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig told
Fox News Digital that caring for ailing family members takes an inevitable emotional toll,
but argued that Prince William should be sufficiently prepared for such challenges, saying,
"Wills has been trained his whole life to manage and prepare for these types of
challenges in both a professional and dignified way. I'm sure he also has a
lot of resources at his disposal, which helps."
However, according to some insiders, William has been finding it difficult to cope amid
his family's health issues. This is somewhat unsurprising, as regardless of his training,
having a sick father and wife would be a trying time for anyone's mental fortitude.
As royal biographer Tina Brown told CBS News, Charles' diagnosis led to William being faced
with the daunting prospect of becoming king much sooner than he anticipated. Coupled with
the significant challenges Princess Catherine will face throughout her
cancer treatment and caring for three young children, this pandemonium is undoubtedly an
unexpected strain on William. How well he deals with these struggles may be an
indication of his readiness to undertake the monumental public position of king.
There has long been speculation over the nature of Prince William and Rose
Hanbury's relationship. In 2019, rumors began swirling that William cheated on
a pregnant Princess Catherine with the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. However,
William allegedly sought to have the story culled from the British press,
invoking Article 8 to prevent U.K. tabloids such as The Sun and the Daily Mail from publishing it.
As former Sun journalist Duncan Larcombe observed, this is a fairly last-ditch move,
and one that breaks from the royal protocol to, quote, "never complain and never explain."
Despite his best efforts to contain them, the cheating claims have persisted. In 2022,
DeuxMoi, a celebrity gossip Instagram account,
began circulating an unfounded rumor that alluded to William cheating on Catherine.
Then, following the Princess of Wales' absence in 2024, Stephen Colbert joked about the gossip
on his late-night show and explicitly referred to Hanbury, who swiftly sent him a legal notice.
"So, I think we all know who the alleged other
woman is. Say it with me: The Marchioness of Cholmondeley."
Though Hanbury has stated that these rumors are untrue, they nonetheless evoke unpleasant
memories of Charles cheating on Princess Diana with Camilla, Queen Consort. Moreover,
one would expect someone as press-savvy as William to publicly deny such rumors,
in turn cultivating a more wholesome image when he's king.
Considering that his father waited over 70 years to ascend the throne, it's likely that
Prince William thought he had decades to mentally and emotionally prepare for such
a monumental undertaking. Although his parents were just shy of their centenaries when they died,
King Charles III was diagnosed with cancer at 75. The king may very well have decades ahead of him,
but his illness inevitably raises questions as to how soon William might take the crown.
Appearing on "CBS Mornings" in 2024, Tina Brown
claimed that William is scared about his potentially looming ascension, saying,
"Whatever the prognosis is for Charles, he's 75 and he has cancer. That brings William and Kate
far closer to being king and queen. That, I'm told, has plunged them into tremendous anxiety."
According to some insiders, the king's prognosis is bleaker than
initially believed. Despite waiting his entire life to be king, Charles
is allegedly planning on quitting his royal duties. This comes as bad news for William,
who apparently isn't ready to succeed his father. As a source told OK! Magazine,
"[Charles'] rapidly declining health has him staring death in the eye. He's decided
he wants to spend his final days quietly with the love of his life. But William is
beside himself; he's not ready and is begging Charles to reconsider."