He went barefoot for a game of volleyball, taking a few tumbles onto the sand of Rio de Janeiro’s famed Copacabana beach.
A few days later, Prince William he was standing before world leaders in the heart of the Amazon. He talked of how they were coming together at a “moment that demands courage, co-operation and unwavering commitment to our planet’s future.”
William’s speech on behalf of the U.K. government to leaders gathered for the COP30 summit also acknowledged a family legacy and personal commitment to tackling the climate crisis.
“I have long believed in the power of urgent optimism: the conviction that, even in the face of daunting challenges, we have the ingenuity and determination to make a difference and to do so now,” William told the gathering in Belém.
“I grew up with my father, the King, talking about the power of nature and the importance of harmony in the natural world — a subject he has championed for over five decades. It is a privilege to also represent him here today, as well as everyone else who has championed this cause, for so many years.”
That speech in Belém — and William’s time earlier in Rio, for this year’s awarding of his Earthshot climate prizes — reflected both the personal and public sides of an heir to the throne coming under increasing focus as the monarchy faces its own pressures and recent scandal.
William is, says Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris, putting himself in a position to carry on his father’s environmental work.
“He doesn’t yet have those responsibilities and expectations as a constitutional monarch,” she said.
The emphasis on continuity, however, comes at a time of great scrutiny of William, particularly given the scandals surrounding his uncle Andrew, and the health of King Charles, Harris said. He noted, for example, a recent BBC podcast with the title: “Can William save the planet and the monarchy after the ‘Andrew problem?’”
“That’s a tremendous amount of pressure, even if that [podcast] headline is to bring in listeners,” said Harris.
It’s a bit like how Queen Victoria, who came to the throne in 1837, “was seen as a breath of fresh air when she had some scandalous uncles,” Harris said.
“Prince William is not only taking on causes that are very relevant to 21st-century audiences around the world, but in many ways he’s tasked with making the monarchy respectable again after some of these recent scandals.”
That’s in addition to personal challenges William faces, including his estrangement from his younger brother, Prince Harry, and the cancer diagnoses last year for both his father and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales.
While he was in Rio, William was also presented with a key to the city and visited the Maracanã soccer stadium, where he helped lead training drills with local children.
By all appearances, he was revelling in his time there.
“I think that one of the things that we’re seeing is that last year he was not a happy man, and that fed over into his confidence, his public appearances, everything like that,” Judith Rowbotham, a social and cultural scholar and visiting research professor at the University of Plymouth in southwestern England, said in an interview.
“I think that a year on from the Princess of Wales’s emergence at the end of her treatment, we are now seeing a man who is very much the active Prince of Wales, the heir apparent.”
It’s clear, Rowbotham said, that William is working closely with his father “in an official, a monarchic way.”
But William was evidently also thinking of his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, during his time in Rio, as he posed in the same spot she did 34 years ago, in front of the famed Christ the Redeemer statue.
“I think he always likes to do something that will pay tribute to his mother,” said Rowbotham.
“To be fair, both his parents were genuine activists in their ways and I think in many ways, Diana learned that from Charles, but she then took her own line.
“But by standing [in front of the statue] as he did, William was making sure that he was seen not just as his father’s son, but also his mother’s son.”
While William was in South America, he also took a moment to tap into North American pop culture. He did a video chat with Robert Irwin, an Australian conservationist and Earthshot ambassador, to urge him on as he competes in the ABC television reality competition Dancing with the Stars.
“We’re missing you,” William told Irwin, before joking, “Whilst your twinkle toes are going off elsewhere, I need you down here.”
In such an appearance, William is offering “a more relaxed approach to engaging with the public,” Harris said, noting also his recent appearance with Canadian comedian Eugene Levy in an episode of his Apple TV+ show, The Reluctant Traveler.
“So he’s trying to find new ways to connect to the public, new ways to connect with a younger generation that perhaps isn’t as engaged with royal traditions or royal history,” Harris said.
Still, there could be a delicate balance for William to strike.
“I think it’s a fine line of just ensuring that the younger generation of the Royal Family is relevant in the public eye, but isn’t seen as interchangeable with celebrities themselves, as they have a very different role,” said Harris.
What’s next for Andrew?
Two weeks after word broke that King Charles was stripping his younger brother of his title as prince, further evidence of Andrew’s disgrace is piling up — along with indications of how his life may unfold as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (with a hyphen, which became a matter of some curiosity).
Over the past several days, there have been reports that:
“The reality is that public perceptions of Andrew are likely to be bad for the rest of his life,” said Rowbotham.
“He has been stigmatized in ways that are popularly labelled unacceptable.”
Andrew is also being evicted from Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion he leases from the Crown Estate, and relocating to Charles’s private estate of Sandringham, northeast of London.
Where he will live on the estate isn’t known, nor when he will make the move, although it is expected it may be the new year before he is settled there.
“I mean, it would be a nightmare for everybody, including Andrew, if he was on the Sandringham estate and not present at church” with the Royal Family for their Christmas Day service, said Rowbotham.
There have also been public questions, Harris says, about why it took as long as it did for Andrew to lose his titles and his home at Royal Lodge.
Controversy in connection with his time as a trade ambassador and over his friendship with Epstein have surrounded him for more than a decade.
It means that, for the first time, “a critical gaze” is being cast on Queen Elizabeth II’s legacy, Harris said.
King Charles has stripped his brother, Andrew, of his royal title following years of controversy about his ties with the late sex offender Jeffery Epstein. Buckingham Palace said Andrew’s titles, honours and lease on his home, the Royal Lodge, would be surrendered.
Elizabeth has been, Harris said, ”described as the ideal constitutional monarch who reigned for 70 years above politics.”
“But now there is some scrutiny of just how willing she was to forgive members of her family regardless of their conduct.
“And so there’s a perception that she left her son, King Charles III, a very big problem to deal with as Prince Andrew, although he stepped back during her reign from royal duties … remained a prominent member of the Royal Family on a personal level.”
Charles is expected to provide ongoing financial support for Andrew.
“Any money that Charles provides to Andrew will be a purely personal matter out of his own personal income,” said Rowbotham, who described Charles as a “generous man” who’s not going to be “privately ungenerous” to his brother.
“He knows that there is absolutely no way that Andrew could afford to pay market rent for any of the likely properties on the Sandringham estate.”
Harris says Charles appears to be ensuring there is some kind of transition out of royal life for Andrew.
“He may well be concerned about what might happen if he completely cuts off Andrew on a personal level, [or] who Andrew might turn to for money or somewhere to live, or if a memoir might be published,” Harris said.
“We’ve seen how much scrutiny there was of the monarchy after the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir. So there may well be political reasons as well for not completely cutting ties with Andrew on a personal level.”
About that ball cap
Prince Harry, who has a deep devotion to supporting past and present members of the military, was in Toronto for events commemorating veterans ahead of Remembrance Day.
But some of the international media attention on his visit focused instead on the fallout of his decision to sport a Los Angeles Dodgers cap as the team played Game 4 of the World Series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Harry apologizes to Canada for wearing LA Dodgers cap during World Series,” read the headline from the BBC.
After Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who live in California, were spotted wearing Dodgers headgear, some social media users had plenty to say.
“Symbolism is very important for members of the Royal Family,” said Harris, noting the scrutiny, for example, of Queen Camilla’s choice of brooches when she was in Ottawa in May.
“The Canadian public is not accustomed to seeing senior members of the Royal Family adopting American symbolism, even if it’s an American sports team.”
Then there are the ties both Harry and Meghan have to Toronto, where she lived for several years and where they made their first public appearance as a couple during the Invictus Games in 2017.
“Certainly those Dodgers caps were not well received in Toronto, to say the least,” said Harris.
Still, could the apology, made during a visit with veterans at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, cover it?
“He would have known that he was going to be visiting Toronto very soon afterwards,” said Harris.
“And so this was simply seen as poor judgment, that he was making this an issue going into his visit to Toronto rather than keeping the focus on the veterans and the True Patriot Love Foundation and the various organizations he was engaging with.”
Royally quotable
“When we remember, we connect with service in a personal way. We learn from the courage of others and we carry their stories forward, so they are not forgotten. It’s not just about the past —it’s about shaping who we become in the future.”
— Prince William, in a video message for the Royal British Legion’s Remembrance Assembly.
For the Royal Family, events around Remembrance Day take on a high priority, including the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph in central London on Remembrance Sunday. This year, Prince George, 12, made his first appearance at the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance, as his gradual introduction into public life as a royal continues.
Royal reads
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will lead an economic mission to Canada next week, with sights set on the Canadian military market. (CBC)
King Charles made a visit to a wet and windy south Wales on his 77th birthday on Friday. Charles is also celebrating the three-year restoration of the gardens at his Sandringham estate. (BBC, Daily Mail)
This year’s edition of the annual Christmas carol service hosted by Catherine, Princess of Wales, will welcome members of the Royal Family, celebrity guests and “inspiring” individuals to “celebrate love in all its forms,” Kensington Palace says. (ITV)
Prince William has described how he and Catherine approached telling their children about difficult moments they have faced over the past two years, such as Catherine and King Charles’s cancer diagnoses. (BBC)
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, encountered the formidable “king of spiders” during a visit to the Peruvian Amazon. Sophie is on a 10-day visit to Central and South America. (The Independent)
Princess Anne’s four-day tour of Australia drew to a close in Brisbane, where she laid a wreath on Remembrance Day and met with serving defence personnel. (ABC News)
David Beckham was knighted by King Charles during a ceremony at Windsor Castle, as he was honoured for his services to sport and charity. (BBC)
A private investigator whose alleged confession of hacking led to household names, including Prince Harry, suing the publisher of the Daily Mail has claimed his signature on the statement was forged, the High Court in London has heard. (BBC)
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