A royal biographer has summarised Prince William’s character with three brutal words: “controlling”, “suspicious” and “secretive”.
Andrew Lownie, who released the book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York last year, sat down with The Telegraph to promote the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor biography, while also painting a picture of what his nephew’s future reign could look like.
At first, the author was “cautiously optimistic” about Prince William, 43, and his plans as King, saying: “From the things I’ve heard, he is more prepared to move to this more European-style monarchy.”
According to Lownie, this means there will be fewer people with titles who are not working royals.
However, the royal expert was quick to criticise William’s lack of transparency when it came to the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate that generates over £20 million ($37 million) annually and was established to provide an income to the heir of the British throne.
“But at the same time, he’s not declared the tax that the Duchy pays. His father did,” Lownie said, refferring to King Charles.
He then went on to describe William as “quite controlling, quite secretive, quite suspicious of the media.”
Lownie’s words echo those of a well-placed source within William’s circle, who reportedly told The Times: “Three words come to mind when I think of William.”
“Normal, private, control. These are the things he wants: as normal a life as possible; private time for his family; and control over how he organises his life and work.”
It comes after a Palace insider revealed that King Charles has locked in an official abdication plan to pass the throne to his son William.
It was revealed this week that the 77-year-old monarch has reportedly been working with officials behind the scenes to solidify preparations should he decide to stand down.
While no official date has been set, the insider claims there have been rehearsals for the historic moment as a precaution.
“[Charles is] 77 and still being treated following his cancer diagnosis,” the well-placed source told New Idea.
“He’s trying to keep up the pace but he’s tired.”
The King revealed his cancer diagnosis in February 2024 and has been receiving treatment for it over the past two years.
While it has not been revealed what kind of cancer he has been battling, Buckingham Palace confirmed in December last year that his treatment has been reduced and he would transition into a “precautionary phase”.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
