What now for William & Catherine: Future Duties, Roles and Responsibilities


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2 year contract and he started July 2015, so next summer.

But we all thought when his RAF position was up he would go full time, and he didn't. So we may be surprised again.
 
When does his contract with Air Ambulance end?

IIRC it was something around a 2 year contract...which would mean 2017 it would end...IF I am remembering correctly.


LaRae

2 year contract and he started July 2015, so next summer.

But we all thought when his RAF position was up he would go full time, and he didn't. So we may be surprised again.

No I don't think so...I think the interview made it pretty clear he will be shifting into more royal duties when the contract ends.


LaRae
 
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I don't like the title. I don't like how the question of becoming king sounds always misleading and reluctant. Yes, I sad that.

By the way, my favourite interview was the one with sky news. It went straight to the point as well.

Could you provide a link to this interview? I would really love to watch it.
 
I mentioned this a couple of days ago. I did think that it was a 3 yr contract but that could be wrong. With Georges name being put down for Wetherby school in London, it all makes sense.
 
I mentioned this a couple of days ago. I did think that it was a 3 yr contract but that could be wrong. With Georges name being put down for Wetherby school in London, it all makes sense.

I just did a search and a couple articles said 2 year...but not sure what was ever confirmed officially.


LaRae
 
I was surprised that the reporter was quite so blunt in asking William who he thought the best role model as monarch was, (after making a pretty explicit comparison between QE and the PoW), but not surprised that William chose his grandmother. William's character and temperament seem to be similar to that of the Queen.

Anyway, I thought the interview was interesting and William did very well with questions that were a little tougher and more in depth than what he's been used to in the past.
 
Yup, the Cambridge's duties will be increasing. I think they will handle the transition very well and just carry on with things.
 
I don't see why the two things (private family life and public duty) should be incompatible. After all, we all work full-time and still have a private family life, don't we ? And it is not like Prince William is a terribly busy person to the point of having to be away from his wife and kids, as was the case with his grandmother who became queen at a much younger age than William is now.

William may have the excuse that he is not the heir (his father is), but, still, I think his sense of duty as a person directly in line to the throne is lacking compared to some of his royal counterparts in continental Europe.
A very young Queen travelled by boat and was away for over a month. William lives in the jet age. Nothing I have seen or heard has changed my opinion that he is reluctant to be tied down in any way.

I was surprised that the reporter was quite so blunt in asking William who he thought the best role model as monarch was, (after making a pretty explicit comparison between QE and the PoW), but not surprised that William chose his grandmother. William's character and temperament seem to be similar to that of the Queen.

Anyway, I thought the interview was interesting and William did very well with questions that were a little tougher and more in-depth than what he's been used to in the past.
Well since there is only one monarch the question is redundant but I would have to take issue with your assertion that William's character and temperament seem similar to the Queen.

The Queen accepts that she is who she is, so when she comes out of the church at Christmas she knows there will be people who've stood in the cold just to see her. She is the personification of grace under pressure. William comes out and gets snarky that there are people waiting for him and Catherine and pouts because 'it's private'. If he's not 'on duty' he doesn't want to know.

Until I see the same enthusiasm that he shows on tour, all smiles and no pouting, I remain unconvinced.
 
I'm afraid Prince William didn't strike the right tone in this interview. To me, he often came across exactly as his critics portray him, i.e. as a self-centered person who puts his family life and personal interests above public duty. I was particularly surprised that he actually implied that taking a publc role might weigh someone down "at an early age". That is quite offensive IMHO for a person who lives a life of privilege (unlike many really "weighed-down" people of a similar age) and is expected to serve the country in return for the privilege that is extended to him.

ITA, He came across as a selfish man.
It came across very much as is he not willing to volunteer to help to his clearly overworked father, elderly grandmother or elderly grandfather unless they specifically ask for help or delegate some work.
Prince Philip is not the type to ask for help.
And as William has repeated stated the Queen does not instructs but allows family members to find their own way. He has stated that she gently guides by example. The Queen is not the type to push. (Maybe William is the type that needs pushing.)

.... William hides behind the excuse that he is not the heir (his father is), while at the same time conveniently ignoring that his grandmother is 90 years old and must be far more "weighed down" than he and his young family are. Whether that is the Queen's will (as William claims) or not, William should know better and ask his father and grandmother to have a bigger role.

I think that the "problem" is that William would rather be doing something else than being a full-time royal. ... William loves being an air ambulance pilot because it combines two of his passions: flying and helping others and that he feels incredibly blessed that he has the support of his father and grandmother, and that they are both going strong in their roles [despite their advanced ages] so that he does not have to make the hard choices that others have had to make, I can totally get on-board with that message, and in fairness to William I think that has been somewhat articulated, but then other comments get thrown in that come off to me as slights against royal duty.

ITA with your quote and the highlighted below is an excellent example.

His comment when asked if he was being partially exempt from royal duties due to his young age he
“No, I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s more that they understand that there’s the flexibility right now while I’m still relatively young and they’re still very, very active. There’s an order of succession and I’m at the bottom at the moment so there is the time and space and future to take on more and develop more.”
When he was reminder of the Queen will be 90 and Philip will be 95.
“But like I said, my grandfather is so active as well and he’s unwilling to slow down and my grandmother is very much at the helm, and my father is extremely busy, so there’s a lot of very hard-working members of the family in place and I look up to that and I see they do a fantastic job.”
The red highlighted tell a very telling story and IMO, accurately portrays William's attitude toward his royal duties. As long as others are doing the work he can do what he truly enjoys.

I don't see why the two things (private family life and public duty) should be incompatible. After all, we all work full-time and still have a private family life, don't we ? And it is not like Prince William is a terribly busy person to the point of having to be away from his wife and kids, as was the case with his grandmother who became queen at a much younger age than William is now.

William may have the excuse that he is not the heir (his father is), but, still, I think his sense of duty as a person directly in line to the throne is lacking compared to some of his royal counterparts in continental Europe.

THE problem that I have with William, and that is the message that royal duty gets in the way of him being the kind of father he wants to be and the implication that it is royal duty itself that is incompatible with him being a good father....., it is not as if the Queen is going to be send him off to some outpost of the British Empire for months on end.

I think he is wisely taking advantage of the opportunity he has to not be a full time royal right now and concentrate on his family, something his mother nor his father had the opportunity to do given their roles as the Monarch and POW. Also, I am sure he thinks back to his own unstable childhood and wants to give his children as much stability as he possibly can. I really don't blame him and think it is admirable to put his family first while he has the opportunity.

It is not like it was years ago when a royal tour took 6 months. The Queen traveled by ship and was away for 6 months at a time.

In the early part of C&D's marriage they also traveled by ship and spent a month away. In Australia they took William with him so no excuse.

Now foreign tours are usually 7-12 days. It is not the same. There is no comparison

duchessrachel, I believe you meant grandmother.
William did not have unstable childhood. He had the same nannies taking care of him when his parent or parents were away.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/19/prince-william-queen-support/
 
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We get answers to questions that have been debated forever straight from William's mouth and people still want to believe ulterior motives or dramatic behind the scenes conflict.
 
The Queen accepts that she is who she is, so when she comes out of the church at Christmas she knows there will be people who've stood in the cold just to see her. She is the personification of grace under pressure. William comes out and gets snarky that there are people waiting for him and Catherine and pouts because 'it's private'. If he's not 'on duty' he doesn't want to know.



Until I see the same enthusiasm that he shows on tour, all smiles and no pouting, I remain unconvinced.

From the shots and video clips that I've seen from the Christmas Day over the past few years, I didn't get the impression that William is pouting, or ignoring the people that stood and waited outside to see him and his family. There were plenty of clips of him and Catherine stopping and chatting to people in the crowd and both were smiling and appeared to be engaged. Also, let's remember that smiling doesn't mean enjoyment. I know plenty of people who show their pleasure in other ways. William, and his wife are amazing when interacting with people, especially children. They're hands-on and appear to really shine while interacting. I have yet to get the impression that he's not enjoying what he is doing. Perhaps he prefers engagements where he can be a bit more relaxed and I get that. I think he has shown appropriate demeanor when on serious engagements and the more relaxed ones. I know that not everyone has a favorable impression of this couple, but I get the feeling that some are just looking for ways to be negative.



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:previous: William has always reminded me of QEII. They're fairly reserved people at heart, but IMHO appear to be focused and engaged when speaking with people.
 
A few thoughts on what William said:

“No, I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s more that they understand that there’s the flexibility right now while I’m still relatively young and they’re still very, very active. There’s an order of succession and I’m at the bottom at the moment so there is the time and space and future to take on more and develop more.”

I don't think William comes across as selfish. It sounds to me like everyone is being pragmatic and understanding. William is fortunate in that he's not the heir, that his grandparents and father enjoy a long life, good health and want to stay active. I have little doubt that if they'd had the option, they'd have stayed part-time Royals a little longer. I'm quite certain Phillip would have liked for his naval career to continue on a bit longer; he's said as much, and he clearly loved it.

Because they can, they're letting William multi-task- allowing him to devote more time to his family and to his passion- flying. Why not? Once William becomes a full-time royal, that's it. There won't be any going back, and he'll undoubtedly have less flexibility with his time. I don't think it means he isn't interested in his role and what he can bring to the table as a full time royal and later monarch. But, that's his role for life. Why not ease into it if he can and pursue some other passions while he has the chance? The demands on his time will only increase over the years, not decrease.

“But like I said, my grandfather is so active as well and he’s unwilling to slow down and my grandmother is very much at the helm, and my father is extremely busy, so there’s a lot of very hard-working members of the family in place and I look up to that and I see they do a fantastic job.”

That's just William being honest. They DON'T want to slow down, and they're not at a point where they have to. That's just a simple fact from where I sit.
 
:previous: William has always reminded me of QEII. They're fairly reserved people at heart, but IMHO appear to be focused and engaged when speaking with people.

Agreed.

I suspect that QEII and William both married people who are more out-going by nature. That's what comes across to me anyway.
 
I would like to see examples of William pouting etc while on duty.

If he's on his own time he doesn't have to interact with the media, no one should expect him to.


LaRae
 
I accept what William says at face value. He has the 'space' currently to serve the public, do royal duties and spend time with his family.

Charles wasn't so lucky. Never mind the marriage - HMQ told him to leave the navy, which he didn't want to do; bored ( going from active life to zip because the Queen didn't give him any responsibilities ) he founded the Princes Trust. WIth hindsight, error by Queen because this interest in helping others and interest in the environment has taken him occasionally into conflict with Government. But she still didn't give him more responsibility. She caused some of the issues that dog the PoW. What was he supposed to do? Sit on his hands, or mirror the life of Edward 7 when PoW? No way did he ever have the freedom William has.

So no surprise that HMQ and PoW give William the freedom he currently has.
They are "training" him, developing his sense of responsibility for others and giving him space for family because it's more difficult the higher up he gets.

Past experiences influence current actions. William is v lucky with the attitude of HMQ and his father. I think we will all benefit from that.
 
Well said cepe...ITA.


LaRae
 
We might benefit from that. On the other hand, experiencing tons of freedom beforehand to do your own thing doesn't always lead to a heartfelt acceptance of a full time Royal existence with its sometimes boring routines and a life stretching before you of the same.

I always thought that Charles began the Princes Trust in a very small way while he was still serving in the RN. I remember reading that reports on the people being assisted with sums of money or equipment were posted to him at whatever naval station he was at the time.
 
Thanks, Skippyboo.

However, Charles left the RN in December 1976, didn't he, and I'm sure that earlier that year he got in touch with Fred Pervin after hearing him talk on the radio (while he was on shore leave) about his work with young people in depressed areas and with young first offenders.

They met and Charles said he would like to help. Pervin found several deserving youngsters and Charles provided some finance and helped with things like ex army tents for camping trips.

I think that's how it all started and Pervin would write out reports and submissions and post them to Charles when he was in Portsmouth and other places.
 
Charles chooses to work that much. Camilla even said he isn't one for chilling. Philip is the same way. They don't want to stop working.

Twenty years from now, with kids grown and his marriage solidly secure, maybe William will be like that too. However, right now is firmly trying to build the family foundation for his little family that will benefit himself, his wife and his children for the years to come.


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Charles chooses to work that much. Camilla even said he isn't one for chilling. Philip is the same way. They don't want to stop working.

Twenty years from now, with kids grown and his marriage solidly secure, maybe William will be like that too. However, right now is firmly trying to build the family foundation for his little family that will benefit himself, his wife and his children for the years to come.


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I agree. In the sky interview Edward says something along the lines of "Haha, you try telling them that, good luck to you!" when the interviewer mentions that the Queen and Phillip might wanna slow down a bit :p
 
Most people stop working or easing off there workload in their 60th - and enjoy a retiered livestyle for 20+ Years.

Royal live isn't like that - if you are going to be the monarch you work till you fall of your perch or you abdicate when you can't cope anylonger; Monachrs who abdicated where at least 10 or more older than when most other people retire.

So why shouldn't young royals - who are in the direct line of the succession, enjoy family live with a bit more freadom and time than other people have?j

Their live is made up in a diffrent manner to ours - so it is only clever to adaped. I'm sure this is what the Firm is very aware of - and this is, why W&K are left to raise their children as much as possible themselves. It is so important to build a good foundation of familiy trust and relationship to surviev living in a fishbowl.
 
Mmm most people scape by on a very little money when they leave work so not so sure about enjoying it.
Also there are lots of loving families where both parents work full time
I can't but think of him going to a wedding so away from his family for Easter. Anyway JMT on the article.


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Some valid points made here.
 
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I believe William's BBC interview and especially his "weighed down" comment will eventually prove to have been a big PR disaster.
 
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