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When the former Prince Andrew was forced to relinquish his titles and was removed from his home at Royal Lodge, there has been a sense that Prince William had something to do with it. Perhaps it was only because King Charles had long refused to take any actionable step against his brother, while the Prince of Wales recently looked very displeased to be talking to his uncle. Either way, the narrative took hold.
But William recently chose not to address it directly while on a fireside chat with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour during his Earthshot Prize trip to Brazil. When he was asked about his recent comments about pursuing change for good, “given there’s been a lot of change in your family recently,” William didn’t take the bait and address the Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of it all in any way. Not the loss of titles, or the connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and of course, not how long the royal family knew about it without doing anything.
Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth
Instead, he took the time to focus on Earthshot and celebrate “the brilliant people in this room,” adding, “Change will come from backing them not by what I do.” Then, he added, “I want to surround myself with people who want to make change and do good in the world.”
William even brought his children into it, saying, “And for my children, particularly, knowing that the planet’s going to be in a better, healthier state because of the people in this room is something I love to tell them when they go to bed – it’s going to be great, your future is going to be as bright as futures gone by and that’s a really important message for all us to hear.”
All of this comes amid reports that William has big plans for change when he’s King, and that advisors have cautioned that his “revolutionary” instincts must be tempered. A source told RadarOnline.com that William “needs to be careful” to make sure the monarchy remains strong, even while he makes changes. “The monarch’s role demands that duty always comes first,” they added.
“It isn’t about personal preference – it’s about responsibility, branding and presentation. Being monarch is a lifelong commitment, and it’s an exhausting one,” the source said. This, ironically, comes as new reports about William and Kate’s many vacations have surfaced online.
A palace insider added that some are worried. “There’s real unease among the old guard. The Men in Grey Suits – the advisers who’ve served multiple reigns – think William is moving too fast, too freely. They understand his wish to be a hands-on father, but they fear he could forget that the monarchy’s strength lies in its visibility and ritual.”
This all comes after it’s been widely reported that William wants to “slim down” the royal family. “William is reshaping things on his own terms,” a source said. “He’s convinced that a leaner monarchy is the way forward. But if he pulls back too much, and if the public stops seeing royals out meeting people and doing engagements, that bond begins to weaken. He really needs to tread carefully.”
Will he or is he set in his ways? We’ll have to wait and see.
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