Prince William is cropped from photos with his wife Kate Middleton. And it is said that he is angry!
Something rather strange happens when William and Kate show up together on royal duty.
The Princess of Wales features prominently when photos of their visit appear in newspapers, magazines and websites. Yet William is often… disappeared!
According to some royal writers, the involuntary act of disappearance has left the Prince of Wales a little disappointed.
“William is thrilled that people are warming up to Catherine,” Roya Nikkhah told True Royalty TV.
“The only thing I know of it kind of bothers him is when he’s cropped out of photos.”
That’s quite often, as this photo selection shows…
In February, Kate and William raced side-by-side in a spinning class at Aberavon Leisure and Fitness Center in Port Talbot. For the record, Kate won
And she was the only winner in the next day’s papers. William was chopped
The Prince and Princess of Wales formed a close team at this banquet at Buckingham Palace in November 2022
But it was only the princess who appeared on the front page of The Daily Telegraph the next day
Kate Mansey, assistant editor of The Mail on Sunday, told The Mail’s new Royals section today: “I don’t think it’s Kate’s jealousy. It’s more that Kate and William have worked hard to create an image of themselves together as a united front.
“So when they’re working together, they like to be photographed together — as a team.
‘I’m sure they’re realists – and they know people want to look at glamorous dresses, not a man in a suit. Maybe William should buy a great dress from Jenny Packham.”
It was already a concern last year, she says. Royal assistants on the difficult 2022 Caribbean Tour announced at the time that they wanted to see both William and Kate on the front pages.
At the time Ms Mansey wrote: ‘The request was said to be more of an attempt to pressure Kate.
“And you’re right, because through it all there was one impressive constant: the way Kate and William worked together as a team.”
Kate and William were very much together during the 2023 St. Patrick’s Day Parade at Mons Barracks
But not on the front page of The Times the next morning…
It was a double act as the Princess and Princess of Wales hosted a post-coronation garden party at Buckingham Palace
However, the next day Kate showed up solo
The same thing happened just a few days later. Now you see him…
And now Kate seems to be working all alone
William and Kate looked effortlessly elegant at the 2022 premiere of Top Gun: Maverick
While the Princess of Wales had company on the front page of The Daily Telegraph, it was actor Tom Cruise who survived the cut, not her husband
William and Kate were very much together during this visit to Belfast in 2022
But that’s not the photo that came out the next day, even though William was right next to her, helping her make and drink cocktails.
Of course William is not alone.
Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine this morning, former BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond recalled talking to Princess Diana about a tour of South Africa by the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
Diana told her: “Sometimes I feel very sorry for Prince Philip, you wouldn’t know the Duke was there at all, it was all about the Queen”
Of course, Diana herself was no stranger to the spotlight.
Mrs. Nikkah said, “Charles was always very upset when Diana overshadowed him, and that was all the time.”
William’s attitude towards his wife is very different.
William puts a loving arm around Kate at a launch event for The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood in January this year
But William barely got a peek when the photos appeared the next day,
William and Catherine seemed hard to separate when they accepted flowers from four-year-old Theo Crompton at Holyhead Lifeboat Station in Anglesey in 2022
But they were separate, with Kate photographed from a different angle
William and Kate met the public on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on May 7, the day after the coronation
Or at least Kate did. William seems to be lost in the crowd
Appropriately dressed in Welsh red, the Prince and Princess will attend the Wales vs England Six Nations Rugby match in February
If allegiances were divided, as the Sunday Times suggests, so were Kate and William when the photos emerged
The Welsh have worked hard to present themselves as a team – like here in January at the Windsor Foodshare
But there was little sign of teamwork in the resulting photos
A glamorous – and coordinated – William and Kate arrive for the BAFTAs in February
But by the time the dailies come out, the papers have identified the true star. Again…