It’s always amusing to observe Kensington Palace attempt yet another keen blitz, where they’re leaking to their favorite media outlets all about Prince William and Kate’s allegedly major, significant plans to be keen. There is never any pot of gold at the end of this keen rainbow, but it is truly entertaining to watch KP staff try. Even now, with their Wales titles in hand, William and Kate are doing less, needing more staff, and desperate for more hype to stay afloat and remain completely unimaginative.
Victoria Ward at the Telegraph was enlisted to pen another piece about how “no really, William and Kate are at the forefront of changing the monarchy.” The fact that the Caribbean Flop Tour is being cited as the start of all this so-called “change” is truly amazing, as is the fact that the Telegraph chose some of the worst photos from last year’s disastrous tour for the article. Some highlights from her piece include claims that Will & Kate will not do traditional royal events and have been working on these changes for years.
According to Ward’s piece, rather than the traditional “away days” that involved members of the Royal family sweeping into towns and villages across the UK, greeting crowds and unveiling plaques before leaving, William and Kate instead launched a fundraising drive during a visit to Scarborough to galvanize long-term support for young residents’ mental health. It was a pilot project but one that has since been repeated in towns and cities across the UK and will continue to be rolled out.
Ward’s piece also claims that Will & Kate have been working up to this change in approach for years. As she puts it, “Both laser-focused and determined to use their roles to instigate change, they recognize that today, we live in a different world to that of their predecessors.” They reportedly believe that the public wants more from its figureheads-from the Royal family – and they believe they have more to give. They want to be more relatable and use their time to create something more tangible that will actually change society for the better.
Oh, and William, apparently, is nothing like his father. Of course, William’s approach is not wholly unique. His father spent decades as Prince of Wales campaigning on issues such as the environment, and continues to strive for change as King. But whereas Charles has often been criticized for his approach, his son and heir is savvy enough to know that times are changing.
And about the Caribbean Flop Tour, despite the fact that it was a complete disaster, it’s being used as the genesis of this new approach. As William reacted to criticism that the tour, with its colonial overtones, was “tone deaf” and “out of touch”, he acknowledged that the royal world was shifting on its axis. With several Commonwealth realms demanding independence and slavery reparations, he made it clear he believed his family’s fabled “never complain, never explain” mantra was outdated.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September, William and Kate have slowly been unveiling their new model. The Prince and Princess are reportedly recruiting a new chief executive that will answer directly to them, rather than their private secretaries. The message is clear: Kensington Palace is, if not reinventing the wheel, then certainly shaking things up.
The shift in tone is being introduced slowly and carefully, with the couple cautious against abrupt change. They are determined to be authentic voices, focusing on a small number of key spaces in which they work: the early years, the environment, mental health, and homelessness. These themes are the focus of long-term projects that will last for years, if not decades, each rooted in their Royal Foundation. So, the Prince and Princess are absolutely hell-bent on doing this their own way, and they have never felt more ambitious.
Kensington Palace sources claim that if everyone could go back in time, the Duchess of Sussex would have put William and Kate on the cover of the British Vogue “Forces for Change” issue she guest-edited. According to these sources, William and Kate came up with the word “change” themselves, claiming it is wholly their own initiative to say “change” endlessly, and that they needed a year and a half to mull over questions of whether the British Commonwealth was ready for the British Royals to stop with their colonialist and racist nonsense.
All in all, it’s quite clear that William and Kate are indeed making efforts to change their approach to royal duties, shifting away from traditional events and gradually introducing a more relatable, authentic, and meaningful focus on key societal issues. Whether these changes will truly be as groundbreaking and impactful as they hope is yet to be seen, but it is amusing to watch the royal family attempt to adapt to the evolving expectations of the public. The future of the monarchy, as well as their personal legacies, will certainly be interesting to watch.
