EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: So why did Prince William reign in King Charles’s inaugural birthday parade?
So why did Prince William reign during King Charles’s inaugural birthday parade? His first big interview on the weekend of dad’s inaugural parade ‘raised eyebrows’
Prince William’s decision to give his first major interview as heir to the throne on the weekend of his father’s inaugural King’s Birthday Parade has put the cat among the doves in the palace, I hear.
In the interview with The Sunday Times, the Prince spoke of his ambitions to ‘end’ homelessness and forgot about King Charles’s efforts to provide social housing when he was in charge of the Duchy of Cornwall.
William caused further tension by releasing a sweet Father’s Day photo of him with his kids in time for the Sunday papers.
“The timing of the interview must have raised eyebrows at Buckingham Palace,” a former senior palace official tells me.
The interview and the Father’s Day photo blew His Majesty off the front pages on the weekend of his first King’s Birthday Parade.
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Prince William’s decision to give his first major interview as heir to the throne on the weekend of his father’s inaugural King’s Birthday Parade has put the cat among the pigeons at the palace, I hear
‘The sequence could have been better, especially considering that the social housing initiative Duchy is still a bit late.’
Media management is a thorny subject within the Royal House.
In his controversial memoir, Spare, Prince Harry claimed that he and his brother, William, were limited in the number of public engagements they could undertake.
The King’s youngest son wrote: ‘Dad and Camilla did not like Willy and Kate to divert attention from them or their goals.
“They had often openly abused Willy about it.”
Harry was referring to a time when his sister-in-law had an appointment with a tennis club on the same day that Charles and Camilla were due to appear at an official event elsewhere.
The Prince and Princess of Wales leave the annual Order of the Garter Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
This was strictly forbidden, Harry explained, because such a “contagious” picture would ruin Charles and Camilla’s chances of being on the front page of the newspapers the next day.
He said, ‘That cannot be tolerated.
“Having been told it was too late to cancel the visit, Pa’s press officer warned: ‘Just make sure the Duchess is not holding a tennis racket in any of the photos.'”