William's non attendance to important events

[Spectre8]

Since there is a flurry of discussion on another thread its probably best to create a thread for it to take place here and not derail another one.

So William is not attending a number of important events the recent one being the VJ day..lots of you think he should have after all he is the future King and if he can't make time for these things then it begs the question what is the point of them?

So discuss away...what should he turning up to, what is his actual role if he starts to not do these types of things...

That is such a reasonable and fair post and I agree with you.

The summer video was one step too far for me. They need to read the room.

The point being she’s only taking time out from work when it suits her, I.e. when the engagements aren’t ones that interest her.

You don't seem to understand the roles they play in these areas which you see as " hobbies". Maybe you need to wise up on these roles?

You think...

How do you know that?

She isn't a 'normal' person (whatever that is). They are a wealthy family who can afford to take more time out than other people.

Fair enough but then they need to drop the trying to be relatable shtick "that they are just like a normal family".

I am aware they are heads of associations etc.

William has also served in the forces. I see no reason why, if they have both been able to attend the tennis and football over the summer, they couldn’t take a morning out of their lives to attend a memorial for the war dead.

From the engagements she is completing?

Well that's a bit of a glaring error considering it is the person who started this thread 😬

He has spoke out about it before...💁‍♀️

I think William is sensible to pace himself .Catherine had Cancer around the same time as me .I still feel very tired, and feel for her .Lifeofashowgirl There is no template for getting over it and everyone is different Im afraid .The Queen would attend some events and PC others. He is entitled to his holiday and needs to put his family first

Hear hear👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿💯💯💯. My thoughts exactly!. They can't have it all. They are taking the puss. They can spend more time with their kids and give up a lot of what they have. 20m a year is enough to live off!

William didn’t go through cancer treatment. William was happy to fly to the euros final last year when his wife was in the midst of chemotherapy, risking bringing back all sorts of bugs! There is absolutely no reason why they could not have attended the VJ memorial.

I consider myself a normal person ( others may disagree!)I was semi retired when cancer hit and fully expected to do part time work for a bit longer but simply wasn’t able to.
I now do some voluntary work and pick and chose what else I do . Outwardly I look fine but as anyone who has had cancer knows , the mental effects last forever.
W and C know that when they become King and Queen , that’s it for the rest of their lives so frankly I don’t blame them spending time as a family .

Or are you just making up a narrative to suit yourself

Don't all the Royal threads do this? Or do some have actual Royals posting on them?

No you don't know which ones interest her or not.

I don't really care what events W attends, but I do have a gap in my understanding around what he does in his role. I am aware it's not all attending events, but what else does he do?

I ask because (looking at this through the lens of an 'ordinary person' - no he shouldn't have to interrupt his holiday for a work event. If the work event was deemed ikmportant enough then he shouldn't have been permitted holiday over that period anyway. Presumably VJ wasn't deemed important enough - that's potentially a mistake, but it is what it is.

Equally, of course he can decide to spend time going to events that he considers enjoyable during his holiday - that's his pejorative.

The part I don't get is - let's say he gets a (pretty generous) month off a year for holidays. Let's say he's front loaded it, so he's only had ~260 working days so far this year (rough estimate). He's attended 93 events this year (from comments in the thread above). Let's say (fairly generously) all are on different days, and allow two days for each to allow for travel and prep. That's 186 days.

So there's 74 working days remaining not allocated for events ~30% of his working days so far this year. Is he only working part-time, or is there something else that's taking up 30% of his time? If so, what actually is it?

I'm all for a scaled back monarchy, but that obviously has to come with reform on the payment structure - if he doesn't want a full time job, then he doesn't get paid for one. I'd bin the lot of them happily and charge inheritance tax on their estates, but I suspect in a referendum the country would vote to keep them.

That said, I don't even really care about that - I mostly care about him actually getting involved in any important decisions and I worry that there's a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes still where he's consulted or gets to have input simply because of the family he was born into, rather than because he has any particular expertise. I'd be happier if that 30% was spent watching TV than if you tell me he's reviewing UK business deals!

Why not just do stuff she enjoys?

It is better than bored looking Royals who have obviously just shown up because of a sense of duty, not sure they really add much to an event.

I don't see an issue . All the engagements are pre arranged and agreed well in advance by their teams .

It is incredibly hard to survive on long term sick if you are the main earner.

A v good friend was diagnosed with cancer 6 months of chemo and an operation and is currently arguing with HR about what adjustments she can have being back to work full time

The problem with the Wales and the Sussex’s is a lifetime of privilege - previous monarchs always had this but most recognised the duty that comes with it. At the moment I can see that isn’t necessarily something the Wales understand.

the fact that for most of us the high profile media events I can remember them at for the past 2-3 months is The Euros Final and Wimbledon is not a good look. Whether it is true or just something in the media I don’t know but if they aren’t aware how awful a look it is they need better advice.

the monarchy may well continue to exist here because the constitutional change required is immense but there are 14 commonwealth countries that can dismantle it far far easier - I think William will oversee the loss of Australia/Canada/New Zealand etc within his reign

Expressing a different opinion to a Royalist is called 'making up a narrative'.

I think everyone on this thread should bear in mind that alternative opinions to what they might think are allowed!

I see that some posters have said they think it was a misstep by William and I appreciate that they are not defending him to the hilt, when in my opinion it was inexcusable not to give up part of a day for this.

He might (or might not) have had a good reason not to attend this particular event.

However, I agree that in general Kate and William need to step up a wee bit more. The children are no longer tiny and even with a considerably increased 'workload' they'd have tons of time to spend with them.

And even in a social media age, I do think visibility, in the sense of actually being physically present both at major events and shaking hands with 'ordinary' people, remains important. Royals need to be seen to be believed.

Are they doing the whole 'trying to be relatable schtick'?
If so that has passed me by.

Because she is a member of the royal family and should work as such.

As I’ve said, if they’re really not bothered by the work side of it, step down and live your life in private. Remove yourselves from the line of succession and quit as working royals. Take your children away and let them grow up in private, and you can go and do what you want. The irony of it is, I would absolutely follow them if they were private citizens as influencers or whatever. I’d find them fascinating. But as it stands, they come across really very badly.

You don't know this.