ROYAL FAMILY – If there is one thing that causes King Charles to bristle, it is commentators claiming he will be a caretaker until his heir — the ‘change-maker’ — takes over.
Those close to the King say that this is demonstrably wrong.
‘When you start much later in your life, inevitably you’ve got more experience to fall back on and you will have more opinions,’ says Princess Anne.
Words From Royal Insider
The Queen’s sister, Annabel Elliot, agrees. ‘People keep talking about ‘he’s a caretaker’. And I don’t see that at all, knowing we’ll see quite a few changes,’ she says.
So far, as the King and his officials decided from the start, there has been a careful change of gear but no noisy rebranding.
Within the offices of both the King and the new Prince of Wales, it is accepted that both will make changes according to their own tastes and personalities.
Whereas the King likes to assemble panels of experts around him, for instance, his son does not.
What William Would Say
‘William will say: ‘Don’t get me a meeting with an academic.’ He might want to meet a brilliant scientist who is doing something amazing but he doesn’t seek intellectual company,’ says one of those who has worked closely with him.
‘He is a very serious, pragmatic bloke and he doesn’t want to make lots of speeches. The King liked amateur dramatics in his youth. His son does not have that same love of showmanship.’
Prince Charles may have been happy to wade into big social issues of the day with a provocative speech or foreword to a book, or by bending the ears of ministers.
Prince William Today
Now in his 40s, Prince William has steered a more conventional and cautious path. Within the Palace, some see traces of an earnest, dutiful George VI.
As one of his senior advisers puts it: ‘He is one of the least ideological people I have met.’In many ways, therefore, the royal ‘change-maker’ is actually father, not son.
Prince William gets most of his news from online sources such as the BBC website and briefings from staff.
He prefers cogent, bullet-point memos to the big bundles of documents the King likes to wade through.
