Queen Elizabeth had certain reservations about Prince William as king, ‘fearing he might become a “celebrity monarch”, a new book has claimed.
In one excerpt of the book, exclusively serialised by the Daily Mail, royal author Robert Jobson revealed Prince William’s ‘rigidity’ sometimes ‘frustrated’ the late Queen, while sharing the inside story of her final engagement in England.
In July 2022, Queen Elizabeth, then aged 96, was set to attend the official opening of Thames Hospice’s new 29-bedroom facility by Bray Lake in Berkshire.
It was an engagement that had great significance for her, since a retiring staff member had looked after the budgerigars housed at the Royal Aviary and ‘she didn’t want to let anyone down’.
On the day of the ceremony, however, Elizabeth was feeling ‘particularly frail’ and asked William, now 43, to attend the event on her behalf.
‘William’s schedule might well have accommodated this last-minute duty, but he cried off, citing fatherly duties. This left his grandmother not only disappointed but irritated,’ Mr Jobson wrote.
‘She is said to have scoffed, “Isn’t that what nannies and policemen are for?”‘
For the late Queen, William’s decision to prioritise time with his children over royal engagements was a contentious one
In July 2022, the late Monarch asked William if he could attend the official opening of Thames Hospice’s new facility in Berkshire but ‘he cried off, citing fatherly duties’
