Prince William aiming to carry out duties Prince William has given his clearest indication yet of how he thinks the monarchy should operate – by carrying out his duties “with a smaller R in royal”.
The Prince of Wales spoke of how he was “trying to do things differently” as he prepared to leave Cape Town after his week-long tour of South Africa, adding that he believed there should be “more compassionate leadership around the world”.
Asked if he deliberately approaches royal tours and engagements differently, William said: “I can only describe what I’m trying to do, which is try to do it in a different way and try to do it for my generation.”
“And to give you a better understanding of that, I do it with maybe a lower R in royal, if you like, that’s probably a better way to say it.” Storie News
Explaining what that means to him, the 42-year-old said: “It’s more about charitable work that has impact and collaboration and coming together and helping people.
“And I’ll also add compassion to that, because I really care about what I do. It helps to impact people’s lives. I think we need more compassionate leadership around the world.”
Speaking about his environmental and homelessness projects, as well as his potential future role, the first-in-line to the throne said: “That’s what I’m trying to do, and that’s what Catherine is trying to do as well.
“And I’m sitting here now doing Earthshot and doing all the projects that I do, like Homewards as well. Who knows what’s going to happen next, but it’s all about these values of trying to help make a difference and make these people’s lives better.”
A ‘brutal’ year
In the same interview, Prince William spoke about how “brutal” the past year had been, with his wife and father both diagnosed with cancer.
When asked if Kate might join him on more occasions and visits, he hinted at more overseas travel.
“I think Catherine will be working more next year, so we might plan more trips.”
But when asked about the children joining them for more duties, he added: “Family-wise you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer because they’re obviously in school and I think that takes priority (over) anything else.”
Prince William spoke at the end of his tour of South Africa to mark the fourth anniversary of his annual Earthshot Prize.
On Saturday evening, he was joined by the Princess of Wales as they arrived at the Festival of Remembrance at London’s Royal Albert Hall. SKY