The Prince of Wales has defined his role as heir to the throne, saying he wants to carry out his duties with a “smaller r in the royal”.
William spelled out his philosophy at the end of a major visit to South Africa where he mixed the informal with traditional elements of the monarchy, and said he was trying to do things “differently” and wanted to be a prince for his “generation”.
The future king said what mattered to him was “impact philanthropy, collaboration, convening, and helping people” and stressed “empathy” was also important “because I really care about what I do”.
He said he hoped to carry out overseas tours with the Princess of Wales, who this autumn returned to royal duties after completing a course of cancer treatment.
His comments were made in an interview with British press at the end of a four-day visit to Cape Town, which concluded on Thursday, where the prince staged his Earthshot Prize environmental awards.
Asked about a modern approach to the monarchy he appeared to be adopting, William replied: “It’s hard to describe what that is all about, but I can only describe what I’m trying to do, and that’s I’m trying to do it differently and I’m trying to do it for my generation.
“And to give you more (of) an understanding around it, I’m doing it with maybe a smaller r in the royal, if you like, that’s maybe a better way of saying it.”
During his time in Cape Town, William performed the statesman-like duty of sitting down for talks with South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, but also dressed casually and took part in informal events.
The projects he is pursuing, attempting to find solutions to homelessness and major environmental issues, are contemporary issues growing in prominence that are likely to resonate with a younger generation.
William explained his aims: “So it’s more about impact philanthropy, collaboration, convening, and helping people.
“And I’m also going to throw empathy in there as well, because I really care about what I do. It helps impact people’s lives.
“And I think we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world.
“So that’s what I’m trying to bring, that’s what Catherine is trying to bring as well.”
William has described the past year that saw his wife and father the King being treated for cancer as “brutal”.
During the interview William spoke candidly about the royal family’s major health scares, describing 2024 as “probably been the hardest year in my life” and a “dreadful” experience.
But he sounded optimistic about possible joint overseas engagements with his wife: “I think hopefully Catherine will be doing a bit more next year, so we’ll have some more trips maybe lined up.”
The last foreign trip the couple made together was when Kate joined her husband in Boston, US for the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in 2022.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel