William Accused of ‘Abuse of Power’ After Reports Dying Charles Is ‘Hurt’ by His Son’s Plans to ‘Overhaul’ His Monarchy
King Charles isn’t getting any younger, and he has been battling cancer for a while. So, it makes sense that the preparations for Prince William taking over have begun. It also makes sense that William has, at least, given some thought to what he wants the monarchy to look like. But has he been taking it too far?
Prince William is being accused of making the lives of everyone who lives near his new home at Forest Lodge endlessly complicated. Why? Well, considering who is living in this new home, a security buffer zone around the home has been established, which has left people in the area cut off from some places and having to take long detours to get to others.
Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth
For example, recently, it was reported that the buffer zone has forced Christmas tree shoppers onto a one mile detour, according to the Daily Mail.
Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-Monarchy campaign group Republic, told Newsweek about it, “The Christmas trees issue might seem silly, but the point is this is all public property and William should not have been able to close those roads and close access to that land. It’s not his to do what he wants with.”
And that’s not all. “He’s also forced two people, two families to move out of their homes,” Smith said, referring to two families who lived too close to Forest Lodge and had to move.
“They were relocated to other places on the park but this is just another example of William just basically sticking two fingers up to local people and then just grabbing land that isn’t his just so that he can move from one house to another. So it’s just an abuse of power and privilege for me.”
This all comes as reports indicate William is set to “overhaul” the monarchy once he becomes King. According to the Times, he will start by making the coronation service “much simpler.” The outlet reports this has to do with William being “mindful of how much the monarchy costs” and how that reflects on the monarchy in general. “He wants to make sure the whole thing has even more impact and remains relevant,” a friend said.
“He has been thinking about the future for years, and he knows that what his grandmother did and what his father does is an evolution,” Jason Knauf, CEO of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, explained. “There are traditions and things that won’t change, but this thinking about the next [role] is how is this going to be reflective of him?”
But is Charles on board? Ingrid Seward, author of the Charles biography My Mother and I , told Newsweek in June 2025 that Charles is “hurt” by William’s plans to change the way Charles and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth ran the monarchy. “This is exactly what William is going to do, he’s going to adapt and I think he’s right to do this. His father hates change, everyone tells me Charles hates change so I don’t think he’ll be 100 percent happy about what William is saying but I think he’d understand,” Seward said. “It probably would have been best unsaid. Maybe these views are a little bit insensitive but it’s understandable that he should wish to express them.”
