Last week, Prince William, the King in waiting, appeared as a guest on the Graham Norton Show, ostensibly to promote The Earthshot Prize, which awards those hard at work in the name of sustainability with a cash prize of £1 million. But the timing of his appearance raised some suspicion.
Two days prior, news broke that Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas, is a suspected paedophile. The story goes that his son, Thomas Jnr, found a stash of graphic images purported to show acts of sexual abuse against children at his home in the Philippines. The evidence against him seems damning. The Philippine Interior Minister told the Guardian that Thomas Snr is ‘a possible sex offender of the worst kind’.
Naturally, Meghan released a statement that ticked off all the expected points: she is estranged from her father, she has had no contact with him for some time, and he has no relationship with his grandchildren. Poor Archie and Lillibet. They have a grandfather and great-uncle who are alleged paedophiles. What are the chances? I asked ChatGPT to satiate my curiosity. It’s 0.01%.
The Sussexes’ scandal aside, Prince William’s appearance on the Graham Norton Show was important for another reason. In the informal setting of a chat show, it provided the public with a glimpse into the Prince’s character and personality, and this matters because he will one day be King: a constitutional monarch to 15 nations.
I believe that the role of a constitutional monarch, especially in this age, is of great value and importance. Good leaders are in short supply, and the public have grown fatigued and distrustful of the divisive nature of partisan politics.
Plato correctly suggested in his book ‘The Republic’ that a person who is bred from birth to pursue a singular vocation will very likely excel at that vocation. Study the lives of the GOATs across sports, music and art, and you will find that they committed themselves to their respective vocations from an early age and did not waver in their dedication to their chosen pursuit.
The same principle applies to monarchs. They are trained and educated from birth to excel at diplomacy and public service, unlike politicians, many of whom built careers in other fields before deciding to help their fellow man, or their ego. The lines are often blurred.
Since time immemorial, we have assigned to the concept of a king and queen the best of human virtues: strength, dignity, diplomacy and respect, among others. And the greatest of kings and queens possessed these virtues. A recent example to illustrate my point: Queen Elizabeth II. The matriarch of a nation, she was unwavering in her sense of duty and respected as head of state for the quality of character she possessed, qualities that the sitting Prime Minister would come into contact with during their weekly meetings with her.
For all of King Charles’s well-publicised misgivings – he is, after all, human – I believe that, like his mother, he too possesses the virtues and qualities that make a good leader, qualities that were put on show during his state visit to America last year, when he stepped up as an ambassador for Great Britain when our stock on the world stage was low. He served up a masterclass in showing the world how to diplomatically and artfully deal with Trump the narcissist.
Prince William will one day have to fulfil this role. The role of British ambassador to the world. An important role as we move toward an uncertain future. A country needs a steward when its prime ministers fail, and as we have seen in the past decade, they fail often. A prime minister’s days are always numbered. Only illness and death end a willing monarch’s duty.
Watching Prince William on the Graham Norton Show, I was impressed. I sense a dedication and desire to do what is right and just, and he conducts himself with an easy confidence that most of our politicians lack. Like Mamdani, he is part of the first crop of millennial leaders to emerge as the greying and ageing figureheads of yesteryear begin to fade out. How they will change and influence the world remains to be seen.
If I had one criticism of William, it’s his sense of style, which I suspect is carefully crafted in an attempt for him to appear ‘humble’. But the thin lapels and shrunken suits do not flatter a man of his stature, literally and figuratively. I think the public would like to see him dress the part. Wider lapels, sharper shoulders and maybe a double-breasted suit or two. If only there were a street in London that could help him out.