William’s interview was certainly very clever PR in that it managed to temporarily quell frustrations over the fact that Charles doesn’t seem to be making any changes at all, either because he is older, or unwell, or both, despite him having had literally decades to plan for his eventual accession and plenty of staff to carry out alternative strategies.
But as Charles is obviously unwell, and still managing to work, he has quite rightly earned sympathy on a human level. To be fair, he has taken very few days off and hasn’t missed any important fixtures, such as the Trump state dinner, which is admirable in the circumstances.
I don’t actually know what would happen if an elected Head of State became seriously ill while in office. Would they take sick leave and a temporary deputy be brought in? Not sure? But it wouldn’t be as problematic to bring in a temporary alternative, as it would currently be without an abdication, that’s for sure.
Whether UK journalists, especially those in the royal rota, will forgive William for going over their heads is another question? That decision may yet backfire.
William came across as very personable and intelligent and reassured us that he was on task as far as future plans were concerned. So now whenever we become aware of unnecessarily archaic practices, or lavish expenditure, the cry will go up, “don’t worry, William said change is on the way! “ Mmmmm. We’ll see… .
Sorry to be cynical! You never know, he may be sincere. I certainly hope so. For me the jury is out until we are able to observe his actions, not just his words.
So far the only clue, other than the interview, we have had, relates to tax and William’s income from the Duchy of Cornwall which is somehow exempt from corporation tax, despite it no longer being a quaint post-Frankish or medieval dukedom, and very much a fully commercial enterprise making on average £20 million in profits per year.
William has voluntarily chosen to pay income tax on the profits of the Duchy received after his expenses have been deducted, a tradition started by King Charles in 1993. And that is very positive.
But, unlike his father, William has chosen not to disclose the amount of tax he is paying, which seems to be very much a retrograde step in terms of openness and transparency. And why cover it up? It can only lead to the obvious conclusion that if he was paying more than previously, he would presumably opt to make that known?