Prince William's Suitability to be King


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I tend to agree here. It would be nice/fun to see the Cambridges socialize with other Royal couples in their age group, but strictly necessary? No.

What if they find that they have zero in common with the Continentals?


Strictly speaking, CP Victoria, who is actually about 5 years older than William, and HGD Guillaume, who is less than one year older, are the only European heirs in William's age group. Princess Madeleine and William are almost of the same age, but Madeleine lives in America and has practically quit royal life.
 
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Strictly speaking, CP Victoria, who is actually about 5 years older than William, and HGD Guillaume, who is less than one year older, are the only European heirs in William's age group. Princess Madeleine and William are almost of the same age, but Madeleine lives in America and has practically quit royal life.

The Counts of Wessex are the members of the BRF who are closest to European royal families (and I think they are friends with some royalty).
The Cambridges have sometimes been with other royals, but it still hasn't been enough to create a relationship. But maybe that will someday happen. I hope to see the Cambridges with other royalty more often.
But BRF has always been distant from other royal families.
 
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Edward and Sophie know the European royals very well. There have attended on behalf of The Queen most of the Royal weddings and some of the other important events like big anniversaries and milestone birthdays of Kings and Queens.
William & Kate visited Denmark for a Redcross event and they all caught up at BP for Prince Charles's 60 th birthday.
Naturally Royals catch up more often in private than we are aware of. Fred and Harry were deep in conversation at an event in the Netherlands. Like they knew each other quite well.
 
Edward and Sophie know the European royals very well. There have attended on behalf of The Queen most of the Royal weddings and some of the other important events like big anniversaries and milestone birthdays of Kings and Queens.
William & Kate visited Denmark for a Redcross event and they all caught up at BP for Prince Charles's 60 th birthday.
Naturally Royals catch up more often in private than we are aware of. Fred and Harry were deep in conversation at an event in the Netherlands. Like they knew each other quite well.


What event was that?
 
Fred and Harry were deep in conversation at an event in the Netherlands. Like they knew each other quite well.


If by Fred you mean CP Frederik, I don't think he knows Harry very well. Frederik is also much older (over 50 already).

I imagine Frederik and Harry may have a few interests in common though (sports, military life, etc.).

William and Kate seem to get along reasonably well with W-A and Maxima. They met a couple of times (in public, maybe more often in private) and always looked friendly on those occasions.

Felipe, on the other hand, has technically known William since he was a kid spending the summer in Spain. Felipe attended William's wedding as Prince of Asturias and officially met him twice as King (at the state dinner in London and, later, on Garter day), but I suspect that Felipe may be actually closer to Charles than to William.
 
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If there are all these "tense" meetings of Will and K and foreign royals, it doesn't seem worthwhile for them to try to pursue relationships with them...
 
I’m sure when William is the heir he’ll go socialize more. Right now The Earl of Wessex is the person dispatched to foreign royal events because it is a matter of protocol and courtesy. Although William is higher in the line of succession, Edward is the son of the sovereign- and thus better suited as a representative of the Monarch at foreign royal events his big brother can’t make it to.
 
I’m sure when William is the heir he’ll go socialize more. Right now The Earl of Wessex is the person dispatched to foreign royal events because it is a matter of protocol and courtesy. Although William is higher in the line of succession, Edward is the son of the sovereign- and thus better suited as a representative of the Monarch at foreign royal events his big brother can’t make it to.

When the large majority of the 'major royal events' were taking place, William and Catherine weren't full-time royals yet, so it made sense for Edward and Sophie to attend such meetings. It would be an interesting development if in future cases both couples attend together, so Edward and Sophie can start introducing William and Catherine by their royal colleagues.

However, we might indeed need to wait for Charles to be the Sovereign before William and Catherine take over. Hopefully, Edward and Sophie won't be completely pushed to the side as they did a great job all those years and surely build personal relationships that are easier to keep when you meet each other occasionally at royal events.
 
Let’s keep the discussion about William’s suitability to be king, and not turn the discussion into speculation/rumors about William and Catherine's relationship with various royals.
 
I think Prince William has made a lot of progress in learning about royal duties and is participating in royal events and ceremonies very well.
 
I know that it probably wouldn't happen, but when it comes to languages, I think it would be awesome if William and the future heirs would learn the native languages in the UK such as:

- Welsh (Wales)
- Manx Gaelic (Isle of Man)
- Irish Gaelic (Northern Ireland)
- Scottish Gaelic (Scotland)
- Scots (Scotland)
- Cornish (Cornwall)
- Jèrriais (Jersey)
- Guernésiais (Guernsey)

Considering that many of these languages are endangered, it could be a boon to these languages if British Monarchs learn at least some of them.
 
In most company, the one in the top most position doesn't necessarily the smartest or most knowledgable person in the company.

I've worked in an engineering company before and the CEO (and most ppl on the top management level) doesn't hold any engineering-related degree. It was a multinational company with office branch in 73 countries (last I know), and even when a manager has been assigned to foreign country (which mean he/she has to live and manage ppl there for at least 3 years), mastering the local language is not a compulsory.

Additional education (law, economy, language) for William would be a plus, but it also means his time to do royal engagements would be reduced (attending class, assignment, etc) and just like few years ago, we'd get "workshy" or "lazy Will" again, demanding Will to do his "royal duty".
 
I'm sure William will go on learning things but there is no need for him to be a "diplomat" or speak 4 languages or have 3 degrees to be king. The monarchy may fail but not because he can't speak German.
 
???

St Andrews definitely doesn't have easy access: it's a very good university.

I've got a first class degree from a British university. It didn't involve languages, because it wasn't a language degree.

I did French and Spanish at school, but they didn't come into my university course, and they wouldn't have come into William's geography degree or Kate's history of art degree.

I'm pretty sure that both William and Kate will have done French at school, because most people of our generation did, but neither of them speak it fluently because GCSE (the exam you do at 16)-level French isn't the same as being able to give a speech or converse about international affairs.

Language teaching in this country does leave something to be desired, but that's an issue with the system, not with either William or Kate, and certainly not with St Andrews. I don't think it's an issue with Eton, either: it follows the same language curriculum as other schools, because everyone does the same exams.

I'm surprised that the Queen didn't want William to learn another language fluently, though. She was taught fluent French, and I'm pretty sure that that was because it'd be useful for diplomatic reasons rather than some Jane Austen-esque idea of it being an accomplishment. But maybe, after Charles moaned so much about Gordonstoun, she decided to stay out of it and leave it to Charles and Diana to decide about William's education.

Certain subjects at university require language skills, simply because you must be able to read the sources. Latin&Greek for theology is widely known, but French&Latin for history f.e., English for psychology aso.....
Some universities lowered this standards due to the fact that many beginners simply and sadly enough do not know the required languages. Honestly i do not know how british universities deal with this, but surely not everything can be ignored or standards lowered.
 
I have a Ph.D in History and speak one language and one language only ... and I have had no issues because I don't speak any other language. I had no problems getting sources translated if I needed to do so.

The university where I did my undergraduate degree only offered Italian and French and only about 50 students studied either language in the first year and about half that in the second and even fewer in the final year.

The school where I teach has one language - Japanese and this year we have 15 students in Year 8, none in Year 9, 6 in Year 10 and none in Years 11 or 12 and it won't hold back any of these students from getting Ph.D's in any subject other than languages.
 
Certain subjects at university require language skills, simply because you must be able to read the sources. Latin&Greek for theology is widely known, but French&Latin for history f.e., English for psychology aso.....
Some universities lowered this standards due to the fact that many beginners simply and sadly enough do not know the required languages. Honestly i do not know how british universities deal with this, but surely not everything can be ignored or standards lowered.


Top universities in the US generally recommend at least two years of High School-level foreign language education, but that is very far from fluency or proficiency, which is normally not required for university admission. Some High School students take AP exams in foreign languages, as they may also take AP Calculus or AP Physics, but that is not mandatory.

In the UK, many students take a foreign language course for their GCSEs (the exams they take at age 16 as explained before by other posters). I don't know for sure, but I suspect William and Kate must have taken one language at that level too.

For A-levels (the exams students in England and Wales take at age 18), only three or four subjects are studied (but in greater depth). Foreign languages at A-level are not required for admission into most university degrees, unless you want to study a subject where a foreign language is strictly mandatory. For an engineering degree for example, most universities require A-Level Maths and Physics, and a third subject, preferably Further Maths (recommended) or another Science like Chemistry (no foreign language is needed then).

An alternative route to university admission in the English-speaking countries may be, however, the IB which Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant took and the Princess of Asturias will take from the fall of 2021. For the IB diploma, two languages (normally English and one additional language) are required, plus Math, one natural Science, one Social Science or Humanities subject, and a sixth subject which may be from the Arts group or a second subject from one of the previous groups. But again, UK universities will not consider your second language course for admission unless required for your intended degree; for example, an IB applicant who wants to study engineering will be expected to offer Mathematics HL and Physics HL plus a third Science or Math course at HL, and to have a minimum overall score in the combined six subjects.


EDIT: Canada is not much different. I checked admission requirements for the University of Toronto for example and, for engineering, they mentioned two Math classes (Pre-Calculus and Calculus) in Grade 12, plus Physics, Chemistry and English; a minimum number of foreign language credits may be required, however, for the High School diploma or equvalent in some provinces (?), but, again, far from proficiency.


I have a Ph.D in History and speak one language and one language only ... and I have had no issues because I don't speak any other language. I had no problems getting sources translated if I needed to do so.

The university where I did my undergraduate degree only offered Italian and French and only about 50 students studied either language in the first year and about half that in the second and even fewer in the final year.

The school where I teach has one language - Japanese and this year we have 15 students in Year 8, none in Year 9, 6 in Year 10 and none in Years 11 or 12 and it won't hold back any of these students from getting Ph.D's in any subject other than languages.


Yes, but that is a peculiarity of English-speaking countries. In Latin America, where the OP is from, many Ph.D. programs in History still require two foreign languages. The requirement is not very strict though. In Brazil, for example, I think you only have to take a translation test in the two chosen languages (without a dictionary, however) and only academic texts are chosen for the test. You are not tested for example in oral or writing skills, or in formal grammar and usage.
 
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Certain subjects at university require language skills, simply because you must be able to read the sources. Latin&Greek for theology is widely known, but French&Latin for history f.e., English for psychology aso.....
Some universities lowered this standards due to the fact that many beginners simply and sadly enough do not know the required languages. Honestly i do not know how british universities deal with this, but surely not everything can be ignored or standards lowered.

Since when do you need French or Latin for history??? I've got 2 history degrees and have not needed any of these languages...
 
It seems to me that Prince William is going to be a more traditional king than King Charles III.
I believe that some traditions of the British monarchy will be preserved more at William's insistence than at Charles's.
William is fit to be King, and I believe he will make a good match for Catherine.
William, in recent years, seems to have more maturity and a greater sense of duty, as does Catherine.
 
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Certain subjects at university require language skills, simply because you must be able to read the sources. Latin&Greek for theology is widely known, but French&Latin for history f.e., English for psychology aso.....

Some universities lowered this standards due to the fact that many beginners simply and sadly enough do not know the required languages. Honestly i do not know how british universities deal with this, but surely not everything can be ignored or standards lowered.



This is not even a requirement for Harvard, which requires two years of study in a language but doesn’t require proficiency. Some of the PhD programs in the divinity school have this requirement, but it’s a specialized skill set and certainly not required for most history majors.
 
I think Prince William has made a lot of progress in learning about royal duties and is participating in royal events and ceremonies very well.

Since the death of QEII I have slowly but surely changed my previously lukewarm opinion of William and his wife.

Very impressive and composed Prince and Princess of Wales. They are making it look nearly effortless, when we all know it's anything BUT.
 
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