Harry meeting the king just now

[Justanotherdramalama]

I think he's going cap in hand to ask for money. I really hope he's not got the nerve to ask to come back!

LOL people whined when he worked 50% as an air-ambulance pilot that he wasn't doing royal duties

It's taking factory work as the example for how royal duties are carried out - it's like saying that teachers only work for 5 hours a day and get 14 weeks of holiday

A royal visit requires a lot of prep - William doesn't seem to go in for the "cut ribbon, shake hands and leave style" visits of the old school to each visit needs them to be involved with:

• preparation and timetable - decide dates, themes eg homelessness, mental health, rural communities
• decision of what type of visit/activities
• briefings about places to be visited and people likely to meet
• staffing - who will attend, availability, will translators etc be needed?
• methods of transport - car, train, helicopter, etc
• planning of meal/loo breaks for rf and staff
• security planning and briefing
• diplomatic briefing - can imagine this was huge before Trump visit to identify government policies/what not to discuss
• wardrobe - business attire? playing sports? tramping around farms? state dinner? and necessary fittings for new items

... and that is before they arrive at the event

Then there are his other jobs

• CEO of a property and land business with turnover of £1 billion per year
• the heir gets red boxes from the government containing policy briefings, legislative briefings, constitutional issues etc
• he also gets security briefings etc from MI5
• private follow ups - it is often said that William and Catherine follow up privately with people they meet - they tend not to announce everything in the press like certain othrs

My mistake - his Duchy visits are about once a month (this is separate to any of the background work, as Lunde alludes to above)

Archive link below for anyone actually interested

https://archive.is/oIxla

I find you post ummmm well I don't know what to say.

Do you honestly honestly think they do all their own preparation when they go on a visit?

Why have they got about 80 staff each then, what do these people do. Aides, principal Private Secretary, assistant private secretaries, secretary to the private secretary and so on. Travel experts, the very best in public relations officers and far far more

All your first list of bullet points is done by his great number of staff

What does 'method of transport mean?'
They are hardly going online to buy a train ticket are they? They are transported around very often by helicopter. They do not have to think for one minute how they are going to get there. It's done for them!

As for the red box is it is nothing like his father, he gets a few here and there from what I have read

As for being CEO of a land business, he has appointed people to look after it two of whom were old friends. I'm sure he is involved to some extent, after all some of the people that work for him said he is "refreshingly impatient" 😂

I'm gobsmacked at your post, it was quite funny though

I'm a middle manager and I do lots of planning and prep at home, after work, because I rarely get any interrupted time. A few hours in quiet is very helpful for for reading, absorbing, and analyzing reports and policy. Any sort of quiet non- physical deep work seems to trigger a sort of Puritan response for people. Unless you are running around making noise people don't think you are working. I've also noticed that the people who made a big fuss about working often don't - it's all surface.

"I'm gobsmacked at your post, it was quite funny though"

I can see why you find it funny. But in actual fact most of those things will have to be reviewed and signed off by the royals. A lot may be covered in a weekly diary planning session, but it will have to be covered. Those sorts of meetings can take a few hours when there is a complicated diary to go though, plus a reasonable briefing before each engagement.

So 2-3 hours of diary meetings per week. Another 2-3 hours catch up on estate business. 2-3 hours a week of red box review. An afternoon devoted to post engagement catch up's.

So in my estimate based on a visit I witnessed and republics list William would carry out in one week.

Just under 2 days worth of public engagements (assuming he is allowed 6 weeks holiday a year statutory being 28 days and I have rounded up as he is a prince and seems to get a lot of holiday - he may also take some in exchange for working unsocial hours when he has to entertain a Trump for example)
Half a day diary planning and being prepped for public engagements.
Half a day on estate business and learning to run an estate.
Half a day on 'red box review' and learning what he will need to do as king.
Half a day on post engagement catch up with chosen causes.

That's 4 days per week. Yep, still work-shy. But not quite as bad as Republic have said.

It is quite fascinating to see those super-supporters who want H&M to return ignore the fact that H&M worked less than W&C for their brief tenure...and made sure to have plenty of holidays.

Holidaying was so important that H&M flew with A to visit Elton John versus visiting the late QE2 at Balmoral.

Interesting choice...

@Hoolahoophop I always find posters who chant “But they have people to do the work for them!” amusing, because they give the impression they they think big teams require absolutely no input, strategy, oversight or direction in order to execute their instructions. And that leaders can essentially just download the work products of the staff directly into their brain and transmit it out their mouths with no effort or skills required. And that when your job is professionally being on, and on-message and on-brand whenever you leave the privacy of your house, it takes no effort or energy whatsoever.

Meanwhile, in the real world….

@Serenster I agree. I am in a senior position, and while I have a lot of help from very capable staff the buck stops here, I need to be over everything that each of my teams do all of the time so that we do not have clashes, so that I can answer questions when asked, make decisions based on all the information available, check there are no HR issues etc. I don't do much hands on 'work' but I do work very hard.

Ha yes, all those lazy CEOs with endless teams of people to do it all for them 🤪

Agree with all this.

I am thankful that my job only involves me being professionally 'on' when I'm in the building, though I do a lot out of work as well, as do most senior people like you describe.

Can't imagine what it is like to do that and be scrutinised as soon as I leave the house

Still gobsmacked.

William doesn't work 16 weeks of the year for starters because of school holidays.
Let alone all this four days a week thing

How you know about his 2 to 3 hours of signing things off and all of that malarkey I do not know

Honestly, it all looks like a fairy tale

@My2cents1975

I don't want them to return. It would be horrendous for them.

@jumpingthehighjump I don't, I am guessing, bare minimum based on the list of things that Lunde suggested as falling under his responsibility. I suspect that he will need to do things other than just magically appear at a photo op. Shake hands and magically return to his house.

He is a land owner. That comes with responsibility.
He is the heir to the throne. That comes with responsibility.
There is evidence that his is prepped for (well) his public visits, and that he follows up on those privately. So allocating a few hours a week to all those tasks, and the tutoring he will need to learn how to be king will take up some time. He will not have an apprenticeship lasting his entire adulthood until 70 like his father as his father came to the throne later. So he will have to learn all the constitutional, political, legal.....requirements in a shorter amount of time.

Just because you cant see him working, doesn't mean he isn't working.

As to the holidays, yes, optically it would be better if he had less. But he will never retire. He will have to step up his work significantly when he is king, making the most of his children while he can seems like a trade off. All the Royal family have been criticized for allowing others to bring up their children, and that resulting in them being out of touch and (in some threads mentally unstable) he is being criticized for trying to do the opposite.

Of course if he is lazy, work-shy, and always giving excuses for being absent as King then he will deserve all the criticism he gets.

Thank you for your post. And there are parts I agree with. And yes it is just guessing as am I

I don’t really care about the amount of hours William works, I care that he attends all the regular royal events, trooping, commonwealth service, remembrance services etc. that he represents the Country well on the world stage, that he undertakes the duties that are requested by the government, that he promotes and is involved in his causes of personal interests such as Homewards and Earthshot, that the charities he is patron of are well represented by him, that the Duchy he has inherited is managed well and improved upon, that he is in the process of learning all the duties of state for when he ascends the throne and that he is preparing Prince George for his future role. Seeing as he appears to be doing all of the above well, I don’t really care if this takes him 2 days or 5 days a week 🤷‍♀️.

How you know about his 2 to 3 hours of signing things off and all of that malarkey I do not know
Honestly, it all looks like a fairy tale

A good indication of the fact that their office works well (which means the leader is doing a good job) is that William and Kate have a long-standing and loyal team who don’t talk to the Press (or anyone else). People who don’t respect their leaders don’t stick around, and tend to tell people about the dysfunctional culture. So it’s very unlikely that William is phoning it in and doing as little as possible - that is a corrosive tone from the top that leads to poor workplace environments.

And if someone doesn’t put the work in and doesn’t have the right attitude they will make constant gaffes (Boris Johnson is an example of this). I’ve not noticed that from William when he is out in public.

people whined when he worked 50% as an air-ambulance pilot that he wasn't doing royal duties

The whole point of him working half hours (20 a week in 9.5 hour shifts so two days) was to allow more time for royal duties and even then he skived when it suited him:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39280761

As for his work on Duchy business I'm not sure it's a particularly praiseworthy example of his work ethic given the income is for his sole benefit.

Apparently E2 said something along the lines of 'I have to be seen to be believed'

I think W would do well to take note especially when several of the family are reflecting badly enough on the entire institution to raise many questions in the public's mind.

I wonder how many of us in his position would be working full time hours with limited holidays? It's something he hasn't chosen, something he no doubt doesn't want at all, but he's making the best job he is able to of it. I wouldn't want that life for anything, nor would most of us. He also can never retire or step back, or really have any privacy or freedom. The monarchy is a complete anachronism. Charles is known to work very hard , and to the detriment of his family and personal life. William appears to prioritise his family and give them as much time and attention as he can. Surely it's better to do this than sit up very late night after night reading papers as Charles does? None of us knows what goes on behind the scenes anyway. Not everything is public.

I think a lot of posters and critics are comparing his role to that of a blue collar workplace, clock in - clock out type jobs. Some people don’t understand or comprehend a high level executive type role, I think most CEO’s spend less than 40% of their time in the office, if you look at their work life, smoozing on the golf course, 3* Michelin restaurant dinners, company PJ or first class travel, drivers, always someone at your beck and call to organise life etc., it doesn’t LOOK like work to most of us, but that is what it is. In Williams case his role is very unique, only a handful in a similar role around the world.

I don’t begrudge him his time off nor do I think he or Catherine have a poor work ethic, and to be fair, a lot of his job looks mightily boring.

Some people don’t understand or comprehend a high level executive type role

That is very clear - though I think others don't wish to understand

As for his work on Duchy business I'm not sure it's a particularly praiseworthy example of his work ethic given the income is for his sole benefit

Not entirely. The income is also used for running Kensington Palace offices and paying staff.
There is also an obligation to transfer the Duchy in good condition to the next holder of the title.

And in case you think the dinners and socialising that a CEO partakes in are just a jolly, the story of Alison Rose tells you how wrong you are. You can never be off duty, as she discovered to her cost when as the Head of Coutts the chit chat with the person sitting next to her at a City formal dinner turned out to be an unacceptable breach of banking privacy for the customer they were discussing (Nigel Farage) when the person she was talking to, a BBC employee, reported on the conversation. Alison Rose had to resign and so did her boss, the CEO of NatWest, ultimately. It was regarded in the City as a moment of carelessness in a highly regarded career - but the right outcome.

www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/26/natwest-boss-alison-rose-nigel-farage-account-coutts

As for his work on Duchy business I'm not sure it's a particularly praiseworthy example of his work ethic given the income is for his sole benefit.

The Duchy employs over 200 people, so its income is clearly not for his sole benefit. William gets the profits after the costs - like employment, building houses, supporting local communities and enterprises etc - are taken out. The Duchy has a whole has a far wider impact than just William

From what I understand William decided to prioritise his children until he was king, as he knows when that happens he has to work to a very very old age , either death or incapacity. It’s not like us normal folks, his old age is when he will work the hardest. He just wanted to raise his kids first. And to be honest, I can’t take issue with that.

Yes he also pays income tax on it, and it also. gives to charity, as well as paying for all his family expenses from it , rather than the tax payer. It is also an employer who work in local communities etc. that’s not just some hobby horse or cash cow for William, it’s way wider than that.

It's also financing some of the house builds as part of his drive to end homelessness.

Also - always bugs me - the much quoted 'if a tenant dies without a Will, he gets their assets'. He is entitled to them, but infact they are put in a charity fund for the benefit of other Duchy tenants.

I don't for a second think that everything runs perfectly, but there's far more to be positive about than to criticise.