General News for the Wales Family 3: March 2025-

[PrincessofEurope]

Considering the family's horrific year in 2024 - I think they all deserve some time creating memories together and enjoying private time with the children.

I don't think they take an excessive amount of holidays - in line with what others (including myself) will take in the UK, granted I've not been to Mustique.

Once the kids go to boarding school I can see them increasing their term time workload. but school holidays should be a time for the family to be together

 

[An Ard Ri]

Here are a few more photos from the Paris Saint-Germain vs Aston Villa match in Paris last evening.
Wonderful to see William and George in attendance!
PPE Agency

 

[tommy100]

I've always thought an easy win would be for William to do more of the Windsor investitures. Anne does so many (bless her) as neither Charles nor William actually do that many. If he took on the majority of them with Anne and Charles splitting the rest it would result in William doing another 20+ events easily.
Last year Anne did 27, Charles 5 and William 8 (out of all investitures) and there were around 30 at Windsor. I get last year was not a normal year for William and Charles through ill health but going forward it might be a good way to work it.

I have absolutely no problem with them holidaying in school holidays or William taking George to football. Thought Ive just seen that their visit to the Aston Villa game is even on their official twitter account which is a bit much IMO - surely its not counting as an official event so it should just be a private thing rather than posting all about it IMO.

 

[Hallo girl]

Considering the family's horrific year in 2024 - I think they all deserve some time creating memories together and enjoying private time with the children.

I don't think they take an excessive amount of holidays - in line with what others (including myself) will take in the UK, granted I've not been to Mustique.

Once the kids go to boarding school I can see them increasing their term time workload. but school holidays should be a time for the family to be together

That is an excellent point about holidays in the UK>
Like you, considering the year they had , I say good luck to them. Although it was Charles and Catherine that were ill it must have put a great strain on William as well, along with other additional pressures.

 

[tommy100]

You can also bet their holidays are in line with what others in their social circle, other families at the kid's school etc are taking.

 

[Hallo girl]

You can also bet their holidays are in line with what others in their social circle, other families at the kid's school etc are taking.

I also admire them for keeping the holidays private, William must recoil in horror at the thought of his children posing like he had to do with this family when they were on holiday. Yes we do see his children but there are lines drawn which I totally agree with.

 

[PrincessofEurope]

Maybe we will get a picture for Louis birthday that was taken during this ski trip - I recall one of George’s birthday pictures came from their holiday to Mustique.

I imagine they are back in the UK (I have an expectation to see the family ay the Easter service at Windsor next week) - maybe the French media waited until the family had left to release. I could see them travelling yesterday home and William & George went via Paris

 

[Marengo]

Genuine question, do you have the numbers for other royal houses to compare? Because I've seen comment by a Dutch royal watcher on twitter moaning about William-Alexander going to another holiday of the year while doing less than the UK's lazy Will. (I honestly doesn't follow other European Royal families closely, so i don't know how "busy" they actually are)

Once I made comparison of the number and found that no member of Japan Imperial Family could even compete with William's number during normal year (back when William's number was 200-something. I don't have the number now, I lost it with everything else in my broken hard drive), nor any of them ever do multiple engagements in different sides of the country a la Anne. But then again, I only counted based on what's being reported since i didn't know how to find any info about closed door meeting similar to William's foundation meeting which was reported in the Court Circular.

During Workshy Will era, I remember reading an old article (I think it was The Sun) which mentioned that Charles (and Diana) doing moderate number of engagements (the article basically comparing him with his sister's and parents' higher numbers) and Charles's number only pick up significantly post-divorce (whether it was because his marriage or that his kids were both in boarding school). But back then, that article made me think that maybe it will be similar with William (that his number will increase after his kids are in boarding school, not that he would divorcing Catherine for his number to pick up). I'll link the article if google can find it, (or maybe @Iluvbertie could kindly help with the tally ) so we can compare apple to apple of two Princes of Wales with young children instead of comparing them while in different stage of life.

I agree though about William's reluctance. He always gives me the impression that if he could, he would abandon his position, prefering living an aristocrat life than being royal (or even king) . He surely doesn't seem as eager (ambitious) of becoming monarch as Fumihito, the Crown Prince of Japan for example . And with his comment about being royal with little 'r' instead of big 'R', I'm inclined to think that he plans to continue doing this way: big projects with less traditional public engagement (like the older generation royal have been doing) and more social media appearance (and I don't think recording social media message have ever counted as engagement). Would it be a correct move or not, time will tell.

Comparisons are difficult. Of some we will know exactly when they go on vacation. For example: there is a plane-spotter in the Netherlands who dedicates his time to see when the King and Queen go on vacation or use a plane for other things. In Belgium a vacation seldom gets reported, though they will surely be a lot in France as most Belgians -and many others - especially as they have a house on Île-de-Ré.

Counting events: counting them yourself was clever as it will give a more consistent view over the numbers than what the courts present. You can count a state-visit as one event or as 20 seperate ones f.e. The Prince of Wales has young children indeed, but so do nearly all people his age, most of whom will probably have full time jobs. But it could be that there is some work in the background going on. The transition from QEII to King Charles will have entailed a lot of changes and a lot of scripts and scenarios -including f.e. of his own future reign need to be thought through and put on paper.

He might be more introvert than some others, maybe that could be mistaken for reluctance. But my impression if you see photos of these visits is actually that he seems relaxed, talkative, engaged and he seems to be enjoying himself. Also -as you say- the playing field has changed a lot. A video on social media will have much more impact than a visit to a market square in Woking on a dreary monday afternoon. A new time needs other strategies and perhaps that is part of what we see.

If a comparison can be made we can look at Victoria of Sweden, who is of a simular age, simular position and has children in a simular age group. Her activities seem more frequent -more reported at least- but she has been a crown princess for a much longer time of course.

 

[tommy100]

Hmm I have my doubts for the future of the British monarchy if W&C move to "well we can just do it via social media" attitude. There is absolutely a place for social media but I hope they don't go all. People need to feel a more personal connection than just through social media.

 

[Ghost]

Really, so 3 in 4 months is normal but 4 would be outrageous?

I have edited my post to 3

Most people do. Different destinations, accorded to the budget - Egypt or Dubai instead of Mustique, somewhere less than Courchevel but skiing alright as much as possible. Middle class people with mortgages and ten year old cars.

 

[OwlBranch]

Am afraid If Charles going to be remembered in history as the Environmentalist, William will be remembered as the Reluctant!

This just highlight to me just how pointless this whole thing is. William didn't go to the BAFTA and the show went on just fine. They keep on publishing articles calling him a "Global Statesman". How is that possible if he keeps taking vacation every other month?

 

[duke of poliganc]

Most people do. Different destinations, accorded to the budget - Egypt or Dubai instead of Mustique, somewhere less than Courchevel but skiing alright as much as possible. Middle class people with mortgages and ten year old cars.

Some people who have full time jobs do so, if you are working less than part time for almost 14+ years and now you are going on 3 vacation within 4 months, excuse me but you are having a vacation from what? if we count school as working then George and charlotte are the hardest working members of the Wales’s who deserve the vacation!

But I digress fans will always defend the indefensible acts from the Wales’s and am not interested in hearing that it was saving cost as going on a vacation is cheaper than the heating bills for Kensington place

 

[Ghost]

Well, there are people who are wealthier than middle class. The are also people far more money rich than the royals.

 

[tommy100]

This is my issue with them not doing much and not doing "old school" royal duties. Once people realise any old celebrity can come and open the local library, new school, etc what is the point in having a monarchy? The biggest loss IMO is that people feel a personal connection to the royals - when the late Queen died people were full of stories of "when she came here" and it connects people to a rather abstract person, yes social media does that to a degree but not as much.

 

[tommy100]

Another question would be why this kind of question is always raised only to the Wales family in this forums (a forum covering every royal family including the defunct one) but not to other royal families.

Could William (and Catherine) do more? Sure, of course. But sometimes I think for some reason people (royal watchers) always put them in higher standard than the other royal families which i think is a bit unfair.

I think it is asked of others - certainly I get the impression people feel Maxima and WA are on holiday a lot. But otherwise who else is there to compare to?

Victoria of Sweden - seems to work pretty hard and often holidays in Sweden

MM and Haakon - certainly get their fair share of stick for not doing as much as some people think they could / should

All the others are either too young to be in full time duties, or sovereigns themselves which brings about a certain set of responsibilities and duties.

 

[Hallo girl]

Some people who have full time jobs do so, if you are working less than part time for almost 14+ years and now you are going on 3 vacation within 4 months, excuse me but you are having a vacation from what? if we count school as working then George and charlotte are the hardest working members of the Wales’s who deserve the vacation!

But I digress fans will always defend the indefensible acts from the Wales’s and am not interested in hearing that it was saving cost as going on a vacation is cheaper than the heating bills for Kensington place

If the worst they are doing is having 3 holidays in 3 months I can cope. I am not sure how this is indefensible, please explain your thought process other than it appears that you do not like William.

 

[duke of poliganc]

If the worst they are doing is having 3 holidays in 3 months I can cope. I am not sure how this is indefensible, please explain your thought process other than it appears that you do not like William.

Again as I said if they were working hard and having many vacations then I would not mind it but having a vacation from setting in home is what is confusing


My thoughts on him is that he comes off as a reluctant heir who is not enthusiastic about his future role, that he would do everything in his power to do the least amount of work that is expected of him!

 

[tommy100]

I think it is hard to tell that just yet. Under the late Queen's reign is seems quite clear William and Catherine were given quite a lot of leeway, probably in recognition that one day when William would become Prince of Wales their life would require much much more of them and, whilst there was a sovereign, heir and supporting royals there was plenty of room to allow W&C not to pursue full time duties. Then Charles became King, they ere just adjusting to the role when Catherine got cancer. I am honestly not one to make excuses for them but I don't think yet we can judge what their commitment is now William is Prince of Wales.

 

[Somebody]

Compared to 2023, William's public workload increased by a factor 1.5 in the first three months of the year. Note, that a lot of things are going on behind the scenes that are not covered in the CC/visible to the public.

We do know that their philosophy is fewer patronages (and related visits) but more concentrated efforts on specific issues, so we should not expect their numbers to ever compare to that of the older generation. So, that makes it really hard to compare how 'hard' they work, if the way they work is very different from the generation before them.

 

[tommy100]

That is also a good point. They could go the way of the Swedish Royals and start having photos taken at every meeting, audience etc.

 

[Hallo girl]

Again as I said if they were working hard and having many vacations then I would not mind it but having a vacation from setting in home is what is confusing


My thoughts on him is that he comes off as a reluctant heir who is not enthusiastic about his future role, that he would do everything in his power to do the least amount of work that is expected of him!

The late Queen always regretted that she had to forfeit time with her young children when she became Queen , William also missed out on a childhood with his father for a number of reasons. The royal family have been criticised on this forum for their lack or poor parenting, if William wishes to prioritise his children, good on him. I am sure when the time comes he will step up to the plate, let us hope it is a long way off.

 

[HenRach Dominion]

When a person has a job, it's usually for three reasons or some combination of them: necessity, passion, or obligation.

Necessity? Actively working for the institution is not a necessity for HRH The Prince of Wales. He's independently wealthy thanks to the Duchy of York.

Passion? Maybe. On the surface, it seems as though he's only passionate about his personal project and not many of his duties, but as Somebody said, there's probably a lot behind the scenes that we don't see.

Obligation? Of course there are high expectations for HRH The Prince of Wales being the heir to the throne. Without necessity or passion, however, obligation can only get you so far. For argument's sake, let's say that HRH The Prince of Wales is reluctant to take on all of the duties expected for a future king (therefore a lack of passion)? Since he's independently wealthy (lack of necessity), what exactly does he get out of working harder than he has been? Heck, what does he lose if he doesn't work at all?

 

[Hallo girl]

When a person has a job, it's usually for three reasons or some combination of them: necessity, passion, or obligation.

Necessity? Actively working for the institution is not a necessity for HRH The Prince of Wales. He's independently wealthy thanks to the Duchy of York.

Passion? Maybe. On the surface, it seems as though he's only passionate about his personal project and not many of his duties, but as Somebody said, there's probably a lot behind the scenes that we don't see.

Obligation? Of course there are high expectations for HRH The Prince of Wales being the heir to the throne. Without necessity or passion, however, obligation can only get you so far. For argument's sake, let's say that HRH The Prince of Wales is reluctant to take on all of the duties expected for a future king (therefore a lack of passion)? Since he's independently wealthy (lack of necessity), what exactly does he get out of working harder than he has been? Heck, what does he lose if he doesn't work at all?

Going back a few generations the extended royal family did not do any duties. It was the monarch on their own.

 

[duke of poliganc]

Going back a few generations the extended royal family did not do any duties. It was the monarch on their own.

Going back a few generations the male members would join the military once adults until they are retired, and the female members would do charity work for the sick, poor and orphaned!

 

[HenRach Dominion]

Going back a few generations the extended royal family did not do any duties. It was the monarch on their own.

Exactly. And unlike many members of the extended royal family, HRH The Prince of Wales is not beholden to the charity of HM The King to fund his or his family's life. If he doesn't want to do any royal duties until he has to when he's king, there's nothing really preventing him from doing so. He could spend the next 15-20 years galivanting around the world rather than working, and there's no real penalty towards him for making that choice. Sure, it may cause bad press, but, unless I'm wrong, it would take a constitutional change to take the Duchy of Cornwall from him.

I'm not making a value judgement one way or the other. I'm just pointing out that there's no real incentive for HRH The Prince of Wales to work more than he has nor any downside for doing less.

 

[Somebody]

When a person has a job, it's usually for three reasons or some combination of them: necessity, passion, or obligation.

Necessity? Actively working for the institution is not a necessity for HRH The Prince of Wales. He's independently wealthy thanks to the Duchy of York.

Passion? Maybe. On the surface, it seems as though he's only passionate about his personal project and not many of his duties, but as Somebody said, there's probably a lot behind the scenes that we don't see.

Obligation? Of course there are high expectations for HRH The Prince of Wales being the heir to the throne. Without necessity or passion, however, obligation can only get you so far. For argument's sake, let's say that HRH The Prince of Wales is reluctant to take on all of the duties expected for a future king (therefore a lack of passion)? Since he's independently wealthy (lack of necessity), what exactly does he get out of working harder than he has been? Heck, what does he lose if he doesn't work at all?

The duties that are expected of the heir to the throne/Prince of Wales are very limited (I can think of being a Counsellor of State when the monarch needs him and manage the Duchy of Cornwall) - we've seen that the duties for the monarch itself are also limited - so limited that they can be carried out by a 90+ year old lady taking months long holidays (while still receiving government correspondence) each year at her various estates.

Of course, there is a lot of room to take on additional work to add meaning to the role of both monarch and heir but the official duties of the monarch and heir are rather limited.

 

[Ghost]

I don’t know, Centerpoint, Big Issue and Homeward do not fulfill that “charity” requirement? I thought William is more involved, seriously involved in these projects. Anne and Save the Children level of involvement.

 

[Hallo girl]

The duties that are expected of the heir to the throne/Prince of Wales are very limited (I can think of being a Counsellor of State when the monarch needs him and manage the Duchy of Cornwall) - we've seen that the duties for the monarch itself are also limited - so limited that they can be carried out by a 90+ year old lady taking months long holidays (while still receiving government correspondence) each year at her various estates.

Of course, there is a lot of room to take on additional work to add meaning to the role of both monarch and heir but the official duties of the monarch and heir are rather limited.

That is why when the heir in waiting that Charles set up his various charities and trusts , as has William with Homewards and Earthshot. There are many things that go on behind the scenes that are not necessarily on the court circular. Of course when people can’t find fault they bit pick.

 

[tommy100]

I think William and Catherine have a different way of working that is less geared towards the court circular type engagements. Possibly no bad thing. But I do think they could do more. If they are filling every day the kids are at school with "behind the scenes stuff" they need better advisors who don't waste their principals time as much.

 

[Somebody]

Different methods can exist next to each other: that different generations do things differently, doesn't mean that they don't value the other generation's way of approaching royal duty but nor does it mean that they have to do it the same way. Charles had to develop his own path as Prince of Wales; and now William has to find his way.

Will he do everything right, of course not, nobody does. Did he learn something from the past, yes, they are prioritizing family life much more than previous generations (and that clearly was needed). Do they go over board with that? Maybe at times, however, in the long run we will be able to hopefully see the positive effects of raising their children in a warm and supporting environment - even through hard times. And given the royal family's terrible track record, I do understand rather erring on the side of focusing too much on family than too little.