Times: Prince William ‘earned his stripes as a global statesman last year’???

3 weeks ago 6

Two weekends ago, we were dealing with the fallout from Prince Harry’s wildly successful visit to the UK and Ukraine. And by “fallout,” I mean “Prince William’s very public nervous breakdown.” William was clearly raging out behind-the-scenes after Harry met with King Charles for nearly an hour in London. Even Peg-loyal media allies had difficulty making William sound calm, rational or mature in the wake of his brother’s visit. Well, in the past week, William attended the Duchess of Kent’s funeral and took part in Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK. Instead of using those events to turn the page and say “see, William is simply getting on with it,” it feels like William is like “well, now that all of those events are over, let me keep talking about how much I despise my brother.” Even worse is that William is apparently raging out about his uncle, Prince Andrew. From the Times of London:

For the Prince of Wales it was his biggest diplomatic test yet. Not only the incoming state visit from President Trump, for which the stakes could not have been higher, but a fortnight in which he also had to contend with two other challenges: his brother, the Duke of Sussex, and his uncle, the Duke of York. When the latter sidled up to him after the family funeral of the Duchess of Kent on Tuesday, it made William profoundly uncomfortable. It is understood that the prince was acutely aware that he was standing next to the grieving immediate family of the duchess and felt strongly that the solemn moment should have been a time of reflection for them.

As the royal family gathered to see the coffin being placed into the royal hearse, Prince Andrew chose to lean over and mutter a comment to William. Clearly finding amusement in what he had said, Andrew laughed, while William appeared to distance himself. One source who knows the prince described the awkward encounter, video of which was widely shared on social media, as an example of William “delivering a masterclass in trying to get away from someone”.

The problem of Andrew’s attendance at such events is a matter not only for the King but also something William will have to consider when he becomes monarch. How many public appearances of the disgraced duke can the royal family sustain? For the funeral this week, some mourners felt that the duke might have done well to enter via a more discreet entrance, rather than making a fuss of his presence. When he stepped out of a car at Westminster Cathedral in central London, some members of the public gasped to see him. Inside, a guest said that there was a similar response when his jolly demeanour created “a distinct chill in the air”.

“If he truly wanted to pay homage to her at her funeral he should have had the common sense to drop in quietly,” one mourner said.

On the same day, however, Prince Harry’s first meeting with the King in 19 months distracted the attention of the media. Sources close to William say he has now steeled himself for the long game, preferring to carry on with the day job while ignoring a brother he has no desire to see.

A Kensington Palace source said of William: “What we’re seeing is the man flourishing. He earned his stripes as a global statesman last year and you saw him this week wear those stripes with pride and ease.”

At the state banquet on Wednesday, William appeared to be reaping the rewards from this new perspective, despite some clumsy comments from the president in the past. William’s meetings with Trump, sources said, were “warm and friendly”, which is an improvement from the unwelcome, libidinous comments the president has made in the past about the prince’s wife and late mother.

While no meeting was planned for the recent state visit, the Trumps did find time to see the Waleses for a private meeting. Rather than being a snatched two minutes in the corridor at Windsor Castle, it was said to be a warm and friendly meeting, which had emerged organically from a mutual desire to get together.

Later that evening, Trump was on his feet telling a global audience how much he admired the prince and princess. Kate, he said, was “so radiant, so healthy, so beautiful”. Congratulating the King on raising “a remarkable son”, Trump turned to William to add: “We’ve gotten to know you and I think you’re going to have an unbelievable success in future.” That success as King may be helped by William coming up with a plan on how to deal with Andrew and Harry in future.

[From The Times]

First of all, the way the royalist media writes and speaks about that brief moment between William and Andrew tells you all you need to know about KP’s briefing machinery. The moment would have been a minor thing open to interpretation, except William’s aides rushed around and declared that William absolutely snubbed his uncle and he hates his uncle and he can’t believe he was seated close to his uncle at a distant relative’s funeral! The point is that everyone wants to see Prince Andrew excommunicated from polite society until it’s time to excommunicate him from polite society. As for the stuff about William “steeling himself for the long game” re: Harry… lol. “Steeling himself” = rage-shrieking for three years about how much he hates Harry and never wants to speak to Harry and how emotional-support polls show that everyone loves the bestest and peggiest prince!! And finally, it continues to amuse me to see how the royals were flattered by Donald Trump. They’ve really got their chests puffed out, they’re so happy to get the Nazi stamp of approval.

As family bid farewell after yesterday’s royal catholic funeral for the Duchess of Kent, Prince Andrew appears to want to strike up conversation with his nephew & says something he finds funny.
William has no desire to respond.
In fact, he doesn’t say a single word… pic.twitter.com/cywSFAIbFM