King Charles and Prince William on May 13, 2024. Credit: Getty
Prince William is keen to chart his own path when he becomes King someday, pledging to not repeat the “mistakes his father has made,” a royal biographer said, referring to King Charles.
The Prince of Wales is a totally different person from the King, Valentine Low—author of the new book Power and the Palace—said in a recent interview with GB News.
“William is very different from his father, and I think essentially William is very aware of what he regards as mistakes his father has made, and he’s not going to repeat them,” Low said.
“And you can see that in the way that when William launched his homelessness initiative, he went out of his way to clear it with ministers beforehand, to make sure that he wasn’t treading on any political toes,” Low continued, referring to William’s Homewards initiative, which he launched in 2023.
Conversely, Low said, Charles “wanted to see what he could get away with, and he used to really annoy ministers.” Low added that “No one spells out or defines in this context the difference between prince and king. And I think Charles has tried to make it up as he went along.”
William “is intent on being his own man,” royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams previously told Us Weekly. One way he is doing so? By putting his family—wife Kate Middleton and their kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—firmly in first place. “He puts up clear boundaries,” a source told Us Weekly. “He wants the upbringing of his children to be different from his own.”
While Charles has “wanted to be the monarch for decades” and isn’t going anywhere yet, conversations about the eventual changing of the guard are being held with “discretion and purpose” in hopes of a “smooth transition” someday, sources told the publication. One insider said that Charles “doesn’t feel sidelined” by William and is “more proud than anything,” but he “does feel the public anticipation for William’s future role.”
