I had no idea that public respect was based on how far away from home the public engagements of the royals were
!
What I meant is that she is unlikely to find enough things to do in just a local area to fill a varied and full agenda like full-time working royals are expected to.
Whilst the British public have a great hunger for all things royal, in the medium term, they will appreciate seeing a Princess going about her business with dignity and confidence and as a result, accept that the number of solo engagements she carries out will increase with time.
There will will have to agree to disagree. I firmly believe the British public will not be as understanding as you.
The Camilla example is a bit odd in the context of your argument for obvious reasons (Duchess Do-little anyone?)
If I recall correctly, Charles himself was not carrying out many public engagements when he was a serving member of the armed forces - just like Wills. It has taken a while for Charles to develop his interests, and as a result define his public role, and an even greater time for the public to appreciate what Charles does.
This is incorrect. Charles has undertaken a fair amount of public duties ever since being officially made Prince of Wales in 1969, as far as his army career allowed of course, but it was still a hell lot more than William has been doing.
You also forget that the Prince's Trust, his 'character-defining' cause and probably his greatest achievement, was created in 1974.
Charles's intellectual tastes and leanings were also known to the public. His curiosity for other cultures, his liking for cultural institutions, etc., all that was public knowledge.
As far as his public image goes, it was established before his marriage that he was a sophisticated, worldly, dutiful royal.
The reality is that as of now, he has a very limited public presnece in the minds of the larger British public .
Exactly my point.
As regards the party lifestyle, how many times has William been seeing partying in the last 6-7 months? He is just getting on with his life, and in time, the tabloids will eventually move on as well. How the believers of the tabloids will react, I cannot comment on.
You cannot possibly put down his image problem down to the press or the gullible public only.
For a long time all William seemed to be doing when not in Army barracks was stumbling out of nightclubs . The image stuck, whether you think it's fair or not.
It is not just the partying that was problematic, but also the percieved absence of other, higher forms of entertainment (the rabid paparazzi who supposidely follow him everywhere have yet to catch him exiting a theater or any place of culture on his free time), coupled with less than stellar TV interviews.
So far, imo, he has botched the opportunity the Army has offered him to restore his image (RAF wings, Chinook). He has been given another chance with that Search and Rescue gig. Hopefully he will use it wisely.
Since his joining full time royal duties is several years away, his "royal life" could be defined along with that of his wife.
Again, I will repeat what I have said in my first post. When he marries, the focus will shift to fashion and baby bump. If he hasn't established a profile by then, he will forever be a carton cut-out, imo of course.