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/