Prince Charming: Reluctant King
With the pin-up looks of a film star and an enigmatic air of mystery born of a natural reserve, Prince William, who has just “come of age,” has been hailed as the saviour of the British monarchy. William’s popularity has remained undimmed, despite rife republicanism on the shores of his home country and the string of recent scandals that have plagued the royal family. The most recent was the “what-the-butler-saw” trial of Paul Burrell—Princess Diana’s butler and confidante.
William stands an athletic six-foot-three, with “dreamy” blue eyes and a tousled mop of blond hair. His undeniable good looks– an inheritance from his late mother–his status as heir to the throne and a multi-million-pound fortune have seen him hailed as “one of the most eligible bachelors in the world” by magazines on both sides of the Atlantic.
In fact, each Valentine’s Day, the young royal receives hundreds of cards from lovesick teenage girls around the globe. His visits to Canada and republican USA have been met with a frenzied hysteria from both the press and a legion of female fans, the like of which has not been seen since “Beatlemania” hit in the 1960s.
During a skiing trip to Canada in 1998, William’s hotel was besieged by hundreds of screaming, swooning, weeping teenagers. Months later, again in Canada, the young prince was mobbed by pathetic young women who pulled at his clothes and hair and held up posters proclaiming “William, it’s me you’re looking for” and “I’m yours.”
Applications to St Andrew’s University, Scotland, where he has chosen to pursue a degree in art history, rocketed by 44 per cent when he enrolled in 2001, as thousands of girls clamoured to study alongside him. Female students reportedly update each other on the prince’s whereabouts on campus by sending text messages on their mobile phones. His popularity with young women is a source of much teasing from his friends and younger brother, Prince Harry, but William has learned to deal with it.
When it comes to girlfriends, William has his pick of the beautiful, wealthy and well connected, but going on a date isn’t a simple proposition. William shares a house with two fellow students–and a police guard. Two armed officers in suits, wearing concealed guns holstered under their jackets, follow him everywhere.
If that’s not enough to kill the romantic mood, then the ever-present paparazzi probably is. Pick the wrong girl and William risks having her run to the voracious tabloid press with a kiss-and-tell tale.
Nevertheless, wherever William goes, a bevy of pretty young things follow, and they’re not backward when it comes to throwing themselves at him. At a disco he once attended with his Eton school friends, four bodyguards had to shield him from the throng of girls queuing up to ask him to dance.
Rumours about William’s love life abound, but so far no serious relationship has been unearthed by the media. William is notoriously publicity-shy, so when quizzed by journalists about potential girlfriends, he’s always responded determinedly: “I prefer to keep my private life private.” But when he does choose a mate, it will be a weighty decision, as he must consider his duty to his future role as king as well as his personal preferences and desires.
There will be immense pressure on him to select a “suitable” wife when the time comes. His uncle, Lord Spencer (Princess Diana’s brother), believes William has the strength of character to choose a wife for himself, rather than succumbing to an arranged match, like so many royals before him. Lord Spencer said: “I think William’s got it in him to choose whom he wants to marry. I don’t think he’ll be told.”
But not every young woman who is interested in the prince is necessarily willing or able to cope with the enormous pressure the role of wife to a king would entail. William knows just how difficult it can be from observing his mother’s bitter unhappiness, and then the way she buckled under the strain of marrying into the royal family. He also knows the importance of being able to deal with the constant intrusion of the media and may decide in the end to wed a woman who is already used to fame and media scrutiny.
The question of who will succeed William’s grandmother to the throne has been the subject of much public speculation and debate since Princess Diana first aired the issue on national television in 1995. Blaming Charles’s liaisons with Camilla Parker-Bowles for the breakdown of her marriage, Diana called into question his suitability to be king, thus propelling her young son into open competition with his father for the throne. This was a challenge that William was reluctant to participate in.
He’s made no secret of the fact that he’d rather not become king. As a child he once told his mother: “When I grow up, I want to be a policeman and look after you, Mummy”—to which his brother, Harry, replied: “Oh, no; you can’t. You’ve got to be king.” It is this very humility and reluctance to be in the spotlight that perhaps best qualifies William for the throne.
Princess Diana was determined that her sons would lead as normal a life as possible and that they would not lose touch with ordinary people, despite their privileged upbringing. The princess said: “I want them to have an understanding of people’s emotions, of people’s insecurities, of people’s distress, of their hopes and dreams. . . .”
To this end she took both boys to visit the homeless, people with AIDS and people with terminal illnesses. His mother’s compassion for the ill, the dying and the underprivileged, and her continuing work with various charities– including AIDS and landmine removal charities–did make an impact on William. He has himself taken an active role in supporting charity—it was his idea for his mother to auction her designer gowns, an initiative that netted around £2 million for various charitable causes.
Later, William undertook a sponsored polo-playing event to raise money for his South American trip he undertook during his gap year—a break between high school and university during which many students elect to holiday or work.
William covered his own costs for an expedition with Raleigh International to Chile, where he worked on various environmental and community projects for underprivileged villagers. His fundraising efforts also enabled another student from a disadvantaged background to participate in the same expedition.
“I wanted to do something constructive with my gap year,” William said. “I thought this was a way of trying to help people out and meet a whole range of people from other countries and at the same time helping people in remote areas of Chile.”
The trip affected William deeply and he later told of the great satisfaction he gained from helping people. He added that his experiences had also been confronting on a personal level but that he’d learned from them. Surprisingly, the privation, rough accommodation and tough physical work he undertook each day were not the most difficult aspects of the experience for him. He found the lack of social barriers more challenging.
“The living conditions here aren’t exactly what I’m used to,” he quipped. “You don’t have any secrets. You share everything with everyone. I found it very difficult to start with, because I’m a very private person, but I learned to deal with it.”
Others on the trip had nothing but praise for the way the young prince handled himself.
“He’s really laid-back and easygoing,” one of the expedition leaders enthused. “He gets on well with absolutely everybody, whatever their backgrounds. He gets stuck in and has a good laugh. He’s earned the respect of venturers and staff, and is very well liked.” He added that William was liked on his own merits, not because of his position in the royal family.
“He gets on with the work; he’s very humble and likes to be normal, and there’s no reference to his background. He’s a very ‘comfortable’ person, a very genuine person—very open and honest, and puts everyone at ease,” the expedition leader said.
“He’s a real peacemaker among the group, if it’s needed. His ‘star’ quality is that he’s completely human and normal, and one of the gang.”
William’s capacity to relate to people positively and earn their trust gives him a leadership quality that transcends his natural birthright. His popularity with the public and understated charisma have led to comparisons with so-called US royal John F Kennedy, Jr. Some have even suggested that, should the monarchy falter, William would be a strong contender to be the country’s first president.
But whether or not William becomes the saviour of a failing monarchy, it is clear that he is born to lead, and will one day play an important role in shaping the destiny of his nation.
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