Prince William has signalled he won’t be keeping quiet on the issues that matter to him
On the seat there was a sign. HRH Prince of Wales.
Prince William, not his father, is now taking that place, but in his first speech as next in line to the throne there were distinct similarities with what we saw from the former heir.
William reaffirming his dedication to an environmental cause, this time the “war” against the illegal wildlife trade, in memory of his grandmother.
It felt like he was firmly setting out that he won’t be keeping quiet about what matters to him, in fact it’s only going to step up a gear.
Those who’ve worked with them tell me you don’t get a sense of a hard relaunch for brand Prince and Princess of Wales, they have a well laid out thematic agenda for their work and they are sticking to it.
This week has really been a showcase for where they want to make a difference; engagements focusing on mental health, early years development, football and the environment.
Of course King Charles as heir was criticised for being too political, with suggestions he’d end up a “meddling monarch”.
It is a label that William and his team are likely to wary of, but there are suggestions we may now actually hear more from him rather than less.
Lord William Hague, who’s worked with the prince for eight years and is now the chair of William and Kate’s charity, told me: “Certainly in the royal foundation, we’re not changing tone, you know, if anything, we’re going up another gear with a tone that’s well established of how to help with certain issues of some of society’s deepest problems where we need to bring people together to work on… There will be other issues to come in the future. So I think you will find for the Prince and Princess of Wales that work very much goes on and if anything, goes up another gear.”
Talking about the potential to stray into the political, he added: “We’re always careful, the royal foundation is non-political of course and it’s global. So of course we have to take great care with the issues that we work on. But there is no shortage of those issues. It’s absolutely right for a royal family that’s engaged with the world and wants to help people and serve people to get involved with.”
Lord William Hague is now the chair of William and Kate’s charity. Pic: AP
I’m told doing more to help the homeless is one area where we could see more work, especially now he has the network of land and businesses associated with the Duchy of Cornwall to play with as heir.
We wait to see if William’s wider popularity, and the fact he’s younger, make it more palatable for him to share his views compared to his father’s experience; the prince like others in the family will also inevitably be watching and reading to see how the change of reign and what they’re doing is being received.
The royals don’t do their own opinion rating polls but members of some households have been reading other polling since the Queen died to see how their messaging has been playing out.
A source observed that “their strength has come in continuity. The household hierarchy means Buckingham Palace leads, so there are guard rails in place to stick to”.
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Too constraining potentially for a power couple with global appeal? We know how Harry and Meghan felt about it, but William and Kate appear happy to remain important supporters for the King and Queen Consort, who will benefit from the backing and reflected popularity of his son and daughter-in-law.
Of course they want to do things differently from the past. Kate is aware of the heavy weight that comes with being a new Princess of Wales and following Diana, and as we saw this week, on her visit to a maternity ward in Guildford, she wants to make her own impact through getting more support for families with young children.
Ultimately they both see themselves as parents first, a former member of royal staff said that being good parents is their “north star”, and we know they want to try to give their children a relatively normal life. But they’re both aware that doing what they want to do can bring criticism.
Back in 2016 William was accused of being work-shy, a position taken by The Sun newspaper when he was doing fewer royal engagements and flying the air ambulance in East Anglia. The journalist who wrote it was Emily Andrews and William wanted a word.
“To be fair, he took it on the chin at least publicly with me. And he said that it was fair enough, but there were a lot of things we hadn’t seen behind the scenes. And actually fast forward to 2019/2020 and we heard a bit more about the stuff that he’d been doing with the air ambulance, the children’s lives he’d been saving,” Emily said.
“I think that’s the point about William. I think he has been on a journey with the press and his public persona. He cares very much about how he’s portrayed in the press. Make no mistake, even if he gives off the impression that he doesn’t.”
On one visit to Northern Ireland in 2020 we both spotted the editor of The Sun shadowing the prince for the day.
Around that time she wasn’t the only newspaper editor who’d been invited to spend time getting to know his work better.
I am told that both William and Kate pay a very active interest in how their events are covered, a lot of prep work goes into how it’s going to be perceived, how it looks.
As they step up it does feel like a missed opportunity that more context and background on the work going on behind the scenes hasn’t always been briefed, and often that’s been put down to it being a small and young team.
Pic: AP
There is a sense that approach may be changing, not just to counter potentially negative headlines, or because their roles have changed, but ultimately because what they can deliver is incredibly powerful; a global platform to get messages out to a huge audience, and an unrivalled ability to convene on issues like the illegal wildlife trade.
Lord Hague told me it’s something the Americans are very envious of.
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He said: “The US government said to me, no government in the world could do what you’re doing in the royal foundation, what Prince William is doing on this issue. Because you see we have Chinese airlines, departments of the Chinese government working in the same grouping as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and companies from across the Western world, with no political mistrust or suspicion about a government organising it. So what Prince William has shown with this, with the royal foundation, on wildlife is really that there’s this tremendous convening power.”
From conversations I’ve had you don’t get the sense that the couple want to dramatically shake things up with a shiny new strategy when it comes to the institution.
During the Queen’s reign change was often subtle and never sudden. From everything we’re seeing that now appears to be a tradition her family are keen to preserve, if the more questioning world they now operate in will allow it.
UK
Specialist teams and online investigators deployed across England and Wales to tackle ‘national emergency’ of violence against women and girls
Specialist investigation teams for rape and sexual offences are to be created across England and Wales as the Home Secretary declares violence against women and girls a “national emergency”.
Shabana Mahmood said the dedicated units will be in place across every force by 2029 as part of Labour’s violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy due to be launched later this week.
The use of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs), which had been trialled in several areas, will also be rolled out across England and Wales. They are designed to target abusers by imposing curfews, electronic tags and exclusion zones.
The orders cover all forms of domestic abuse, including economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour, stalking and ‘honour’-based abuse. Breaching the terms can carry a prison term of up to 5 years.
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Govt ‘thinking again’ on abuse strategy
Nearly £2m will also be spent funding a network of officers to target offenders operating within the online space.
Teams will use covert and intelligence techniques to tackle violence against women and girls via apps and websites.
A similar undercover network funded by the Home Office to examine child sexual abuse has arrested over 1,700 perpetrators.
Abuse is ‘national emergency’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement: “This government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency.
“For too long, these crimes have been considered a fact of life. That’s not good enough. We will halve it in a decade.
“Today we announce a range of measures to bear down on abusers, stopping them in their tracks. Rapists, sex offenders and abusers will have nowhere to hide.”
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Angiolini Inquiry: Recommendations are ‘not difficult’
The target to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is a Labour manifesto pledge.
The government said the measures build on existing policy, including facial recognition technology to identify offenders, improving protections for stalking victims, making strangulation a criminal offence and establishing domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.
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But the Conservatives said Labour had “failed women” and “broken its promises” by delaying the publication of the violence against women and girls strategy.
Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, said that Labour “shrinks from uncomfortable truths, voting against tougher sentences and presiding over falling sex-offender convictions. At every turn, Labour has failed women.”
There have been no migrant arrivals in small boats crossing the Channel for 28 days, according to Home Office figures.
The last recorded arrivals were on 14 November, making it the longest uninterrupted run since autumn 2018 after no reported arrivals on Friday.
However, a number of Border Force vessels were active in the English Channel on Saturday morning, indicating that there may be arrivals today.
So far, 39,292 people have crossed to the UK aboard small boats this year – already more than any other year except 2022.
The record that year was set at 45,774 arrivals.
It comes as the government has stepped up efforts in recent months to deter people from risking their lives crossing the Channel – but measures are not expected to have an impact until next year.
Debris of a small boat used by people thought to be migrants to cross the Channel lays amongst the sand dunes in Gravelines, France. Pic: PA
December is normally one of the quietest for Channel crossings, with a combination of poor visibility, low temperatures, less daylight and stormy weather making the perilous journey more difficult.
The most arrivals recorded in the month of December is 3,254, in 2024.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy met with ministers from other European countries this week as discussions over possible reform to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) continue.
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France agrees to start intercepting small boats
The issue of small boat arrivals – a very small percentage of overall UK immigration – has become a salient issue in British politics in recent years.
Last month, French maritime police announced they would soon be able to intercept boats in the English Channel.
The King has shared in a television address that, thanks to early diagnosis, his cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year.
In a televised address, Charles said his “good news” was “thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to doctors’ orders”.
“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years,” he added.
“Testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50% of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”
The King announced in February 2024 that he had been diagnosed with cancer and was beginning treatment.
The monarch postponed all public-facing engagements, but continued with his duties as head of state behind palace walls, conducting audiences and Privy Council meetings.
He returned to public duties in April last year and visited University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in central London with the Queen and discussed his “shock” at being diagnosed when he spoke to a fellow cancer patient.
Sources suggested last December his treatment would continue in 2025 and was “moving in a positive direction”.
The King began returning to public duties in April last year. File pic: PA
The King has chosen not to reveal what kind of cancer he has been treated for. Palace sources have partly put that down to the fact that he doesn’t want one type of cancer to appear more significant or attract more attention than others.
In a statement after the speech aired, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has responded exceptionally well to treatment and his doctors advise that ongoing measures will now move into a precautionary phase.”
Sir Keir Starmer praised the video message as “a powerful message,” and said: “I know I speak for the entire country when I say how glad I am that his cancer treatment will be reduced in the new year.
“Early cancer screening saves lives.”
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Watch: King Charles gives update on treatment
Early detection can give ‘the precious gift of hope’
His message on Friday was broadcast at 8pm in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint campaign by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
In an appeal to people to get screened for the disease early, the King said: “I know from my own experience that a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming.
“Yet I also know that early detection is the key that can transform treatment journeys, giving invaluable time to medical teams – and, to their patients, the precious gift of hope. These are gifts we can all help deliver.”
Charles noted that “at least nine million people in our country are not up to date with the cancer screenings available to them,” adding: “That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed.
“The statistics speak with stark clarity. To take just one example: When bowel cancer is caught at the earliest stage, around nine in ten people survive for at least five years.
“When diagnosed late, that falls to just one in ten. Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives.”
Minor inconvenience of screening ‘a small price to pay’
The King acknowledged that people often avoid screening “because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable”. But, he added: “If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.
“A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told either they don’t need further tests, or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow.”
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Giving his “most heartfelt thanks” to doctors, nurses, researchers and charity workers, the King added: “As I have observed before, the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion. But compassion must be paired with action.
“This December, as we gather to reflect on the year past, I pray that we can each pledge, as part of our resolutions for the year ahead, to play our part in helping to catch cancer early.
“Your life – or the life of someone you love – may depend upon it.”
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