{"id":2065321,"date":"2025-10-02T22:17:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2065321"},"modified":"2025-10-02T22:17:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:17:24","slug":"prince-william-intends-to-be-known-as-the-changemaker-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/prince-william-intends-to-be-known-as-the-changemaker-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince William intends to be known as the changemaker king"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"article-body\">\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The Prince of Wales has revealed he wants to be a modernising monarch, when the time comes, and he won\u2019t be bound by the traditions of those who came before him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">He opened up in a rare personal and insightful chat with the Canadian actor Eugene Levy, best known for his roles in Schitt\u2019s Creek and the awkward dad in American Pie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The relaxed tone for the interview is cast at the outset when Prince William arrives to meet Levy in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle, riding an electric scooter. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">And here too, William is visually communicating that he does things differently from other royals. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIt gets around quite nicely,\u201d William says as he admits he\u2019s usually late for just about everything.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"cp_grid-legacy n1Jiz\" data-testid=\"inline-tile-list-container\">\n<article data-testid=\"tile-undefined\" class=\"_9ngZG cp_grid-legacy__item cp_width-legacy--one-half V42pZ\"\/>\n<article data-testid=\"tile-undefined\" class=\"_9ngZG cp_grid-legacy__item cp_width-legacy--one-half V42pZ\"\/><\/aside>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The filming took place earlier this year as part of Levy\u2019s Apple TV series <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2025-09-05\/prince-william-and-eugene-levy-joke-about-getting-drunk-together-in-new-show\"><span class=\"n6NlI\">The Reluctant Traveller<\/span><\/a>, but the contents of the interview have only just been released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIf you want to know about history, I\u2019m not your guy,\u201d William says as he offers to give the actor a \u201cpersonalised tour\u201d of the castle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">In fact, William admits that his eldest son, Prince George, who is 12 and in Year 8 at school, \u201cis way better at history\u201d than his dad is. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The older prince has to check his historical dates quite often with the younger prince, we learn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">And nor are directions William\u2019s thing: \u201cHow do you know where you are going?\u201d, Levy asks his host. \u201cI don\u2019t\u201d came the honest reply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">But throughout the hour-long episode, we do get a much clearer sense of the direction in which William plans to take the monarchy when he is king.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">It\u2019s a question many have asked, but it seems it took a Hollywood actor, born in Canada, to get the answers.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\"><strong class=\"_1ATDh\">Subscribe free to<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" href=\"https:\/\/itvnews.substack.com\/\" data-testid=\"fecp-link-anchor\"><span class=\"n6NlI\"><strong class=\"_1ATDh\"> our weekly newsletter <\/strong><\/span><\/a><strong class=\"_1ATDh\">for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Firstly, William says he refuses to feel overwhelmed by the weight of history on his shoulders (even though he admits that history is not his strong point).<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cOther things overwhelm me,\u201d he reveals. \u201cBut not history, no, because I think if you\u2019re not careful, history can be a real weight and an anchor around you, and you can feel suffocated by it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The reason, he explains, is because \u201cit\u2019s important to live for the here and now\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIf you\u2019re too intrinsically attached to the history, you can\u2019t possibly have any flexibility because you worry the chess pieces move too much and therefore no change will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">William adds, as if to make himself clear: \u201cI like a little bit of change \u2026 I want to question things more.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"A8Lwr mes-O\"><figcaption class=\"Ya3u6 SilLI\" data-testid=\"captioned-picture-caption\">The Prince of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis, the Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte, at Buckingham Palace on VE Day.<span class=\"mjYl8\"> Credit: <!-- -->PA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">But how do you \u201cquestion things\u201d when the institution he will one day lead is built on more than one thousand years of history following the 1066 invasion by William The Conqueror?<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Tradition will stay, he says, and &#8220;<a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2025-09-19\/after-all-the-pomp-of-the-state-visit-was-it-a-success-for-the-royal-family\"><span class=\"n6NlI\">tradition has a huge part<\/span><\/a> in all of this\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">But he builds on his ambition to speed up the process of change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cThere are also points where you look at tradition and go \u2018is that still fit for purpose today? Is that still the right thing to do?\u2019&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">So, will he be a disruptor in the monarchy, when the crown lands on his head, or a steady hand at the tiller?<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cI like to question things, is what I am really getting at,\u201d William says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">And then we get to the key point of William\u2019s revealing chat with Levy: his plans for the monarchy of the future. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">A different kind of monarchy. His monarchy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"A8Lwr mes-O\"><figcaption class=\"Ya3u6 SilLI\" data-testid=\"captioned-picture-caption\">Prince William with his parents in 1983.<span class=\"mjYl8\"> Credit: <!-- -->PA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cI think it is safe to say that change is on my agenda. Change for good. And I embrace that and I enjoy that change \u2013 I don\u2019t fear it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">&#8220;That\u2019s the bit that excites me, the idea of being able to bring some change. Not overly radical change, but changes that I think need to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">History might not overwhelm the future king, but family issues do. The prince admits that he does get unsettled by \u201cworry or stress around the family side of things\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cWhen it\u2019s to do with family, that\u2019s when I start getting a bit overwhelmed, as I think most people would, because its more personal, it\u2019s more about feeling, it\u2019s more about upsetting the rhythm,&#8221; he says. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Royal sources were quick to point out that Prince William was not referring to <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2025-09-15\/harry-makes-king-his-priority-as-uk-visit-passes-without-a-hitch\"><span class=\"n6NlI\">family problems with Prince Harry<\/span><\/a> and Meghan but, instead, to the recent health issues that he\u2019s experienced with his wife and father.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">&#8216;<strong class=\"_1ATDh\">Stuff to do with family overwhelms me quite a bit,&#8217; William said<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">As a younger prince, the prospect of becoming king clearly did weigh on his mind but those concerns about the day job have settled with \u201ctime and age\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIn terms of doing the job and things like that, I don\u2019t feel too overwhelmed by that. Not now anyway!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Which is why William and Kate insist that their children always come first: \u201cThe most important thing in my life is family and everything is about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The Prince and Princess of Wales might be a future king and queen, but for now at least, <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/granada\/2025-09-23\/william-and-kate-speak-to-staff-and-children-at-southport-school\"><span class=\"n6NlI\">meetings and official engagements<\/span><\/a> are organised around the school day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">When Levy asks the prince if he works \u201ca nine to five\u201d, William says: \u201cI do try and stick to school timetables as best as possible. So, most days we\u2019re in and out of school doing pick-ups and drop-offs\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"A8Lwr mes-O\"><figcaption class=\"Ya3u6 SilLI\" data-testid=\"captioned-picture-caption\">The late Queen and Prince William during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.<span class=\"mjYl8\"> Credit: <!-- -->PA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Those inside and outside the palace who have been critical of the light workload of the Prince and Princess of Wales might raise an eyebrow at that admission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">But William explains it\u2019s better for the children in the long-run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cGetting the balance of work and<a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/meridian\/2025-09-30\/exclusion-zone-coming-into-force-around-william-and-kates-new-home\"><span class=\"n6NlI\"> family life right is really important<\/span><\/a>,\u201d he says, appearing to have picked up a lot of his wife\u2019s work and studies on the early years of childhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIf you don\u2019t start the children off now with a happy healthy stable home, I feel you are setting them up for a bit of a hard time and a fall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Which means a strict no phones policy in the Wales household and dinner times where they all sit and chat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cNone of our children has any phones, which we are very strict about,\u201d he says, which is why Louis and Charlotte spend a lot of time on the trampoline \u201cbeating each other up&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">He explains Charlotte also does netball and ballet whilst George loves his football and hockey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">When asked about his own son and heir and the pressures he might feel about his own destiny, William says: \u201cI want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do, a world and a job that actually does impact people\u2019s lives for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"cp_grid-legacy n1Jiz\" data-testid=\"inline-tile-list-container\">\n<article data-testid=\"tile-undefined\" class=\"_9ngZG cp_grid-legacy__item cp_width-legacy--one-half V42pZ\"\/>\n<article data-testid=\"tile-undefined\" class=\"_9ngZG cp_grid-legacy__item cp_width-legacy--one-half V42pZ\"\/><\/aside>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">And in a protective note, the prince says: \u201cI hope we don\u2019t go back to some of the practices in the past, that Harry and I had to grow up in \u2013 and I\u2019ll do everything I can to make sure we don\u2019t regress in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Which includes avoiding the mistakes his own parents made \u2013 and he does say &#8220;parents&#8221; in the plural.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">As he speaks about creating the right atmosphere at home for their children &#8211; \u201cwe are an open family \u2026 we talk about the things that bother us\u201d &#8211; William reflects on the difficult childhood he experienced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The feelings of \u201csafety, security, love\u201d lasted only \u201ca short period of time\u201d and so he and Kate \u201ctry and make sure you don\u2019t do the same mistakes as your parents\u201d because \u201cthe drama and the stress when you\u2019re small really affects you when you\u2019re older\u201d.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\"><strong class=\"_1ATDh\">Williams said he intends to keep a lid on the media intrusion that was such a big part of his parents\u2019 life when he and Harry were young<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">When the then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana separated in December 1992, William was ten years old and Harry was eight, but the marriage had been falling apart for many years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">During a chat over a pint in the Two Brewers pub &#8211; William has a sweet cider and Levy orders a Guinness &#8211; they turn to the painful subject of cancer, which has affected both William\u2019s wife and his father in the last 18 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201c2024 was the hardest year I\u2019ve ever had, trying to balance protecting the children, Catherine, my father needs a bit of protection, but he\u2019s old enough to do that himself as well\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Reflecting on the hysteria that surrounded Kate\u2019s illness before she revealed her cancer diagnosis, William says: \u201cI enjoy my job, but sometimes there are aspects of it such as the media, the speculation, the scrutiny, that make it a little bit harder than other jobs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"A8Lwr mes-O\"><figcaption class=\"Ya3u6 SilLI\" data-testid=\"captioned-picture-caption\">The Princess of Wales with the Prince of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in September 2024.<span class=\"mjYl8\"> Credit: <!-- -->PA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The couple just wanted a bit of space, William tells Levy whilst sipping his cider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">And he intends to keep a lid on the media intrusion that was such a big part of his parents\u2019 life when he and Harry were young.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cGrowing up, I saw that with my parents, that the media were so insatiable back then, it\u2019s hard to think of it now, but \u2026 they wanted every bit of detail they could absorb, and they were in everything, literally everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">That childhood experience is the reason why this future king is so protective of his wife and children when it comes to the press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cThe damage that can do to your family life is something that I vowed would never happen to my family. And so I take a very strong line about where I think that line is and those who overstep it, I\u2019ll fight against.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\"><strong class=\"_1ATDh\">This is the Talking Royals &#8211; our weekly podcast about the royal family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"vWpZr\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=4266790&amp;playlist=show&amp;color=0B6472&amp;hide-playlist-images=true\" title=\"Podcast playlist embed\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">As the prince takes Levy around Windsor Castle, they enter the the King\u2019s Drawing Room, which looks out over Eton College.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">When William studied there as a teen, he used to pop over to see his gran for tea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cShe had the best teas ever. So I used to get well fed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">His <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"qNUzV q7LZa\" data-testid=\"next-link-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2025-09-30\/prince-william-i-miss-my-grandmother-theres-been-so-much-change\"><span class=\"n6NlI\">relationship with his grandmother<\/span><\/a> used to be more formal, he acknowledges, when he was a younger boy and would go to visit the late Queen and her consort, Prince Philip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cBut as they got older and I got older, it got warmer and warmer, and I definitely think my relationship was best with my grandparents when they were more in their 80s when they had relaxed a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">William said his grandfather was \u201cincredibly amusing\u201d, although he admits the jokes happened \u201csometimes by accident\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The late Queen also had a sense of humour, William said, but it was definitely Prince Philip \u201cwho would create quite a few laughs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cThere was always laughter, there was always a family feel and my grandparents loved having the family around them so we were always encouraged to turn up and be around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">When Levy asked about the 1992 fire which famously destroyed large parts of the castle, William told how St George\u2019s Hall (now carpeted) used to have an old wooden floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">It would often give him and his cousins \u201can enormous splinter\u201d or two in their feet, he recalls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">But William said his own family does now sneak into the hall from time to time to play: \u201cWe come in after hours and chase each other around sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">The interview is both personal and surprisingly revealing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Sources in Kensington Palace said they didn\u2019t plan for this show to extract so much out of the Prince of Wales.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\"><strong class=\"_1ATDh\">&#8220;I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do,&#8221; William said<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">Perhaps, as Eugene Levy told me, it\u2019s because William watched him in American Pie playing the part of Jim\u2019s Dad &#8211; William admitted watching it with his friends when he was a child.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">But Levy has that knack of being wonderfully disarming when he is doing interviews with a heavy dose of self-deprecation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">So when the Canadian actor asked Prince William about being a future \u201cKing of England\u201d (we should of course note he meant the future King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories, and Head of the Commonwealth), we get an answer which reads a bit like William\u2019s manifesto for his reign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIt\u2019s not something that I wake up in the morning and think about because, to me, being authentic and being myself and being genuine is what drives me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">\u201cIf I am not true to myself and I\u2019m not true to what I stand for and believe in, then it doesn\u2019t really matter who you are &#8211; it gets lost. <\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">&#8220;I take my roles and my responsibilities seriously.\u201d he says, but the roles don\u2019t \u201cown you \u2013 you have to own them\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">And that means William intends be a very different kind of monarch to his father and grandmother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\">If Queen Elizabeth II was about constancy, and King Charles III will be defined by quiet modernisation, then the future William V intends to be known as the changemaker king.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p class=\"A8Lwr BVYCX\"><strong class=\"_1ATDh\">Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"vWpZr\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=4266833&amp;playlist=show&amp;color=0B6472&amp;hide-playlist-images=true\" title=\"Podcast playlist embed\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.itv.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Prince of Wales has revealed he wants to be a modernising monarch, when the time comes, and he won\u2019t be bound by the traditions of those who came before him. He opened up in a rare personal and insightful chat with the Canadian actor Eugene Levy, best known for his roles in Schitt\u2019s Creek [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2065321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2065321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2065322,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065321\/revisions\/2065322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2065321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2065321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2065321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}