Prince William has spent the last eighteen months stumbling under scrutiny, and even his most loyal press defenders cannot seem to protect him. Once hailed as the reliable heir, he now appears tired, distracted, and dangerously out of step with public expectations. The shift is striking: Amanda Platell and A.N. Wilson, two long-time royal commentators for the Daily Mail, have both turned their columns into open critiques of the Prince of Wales.
This whiplash in tone exposes something deeper: even commentators who once bent over backwards to protect William cannot deny his failures are too obvious to spin away.
William as the Betrayed Brother
A.N. Wilson painted perhaps the sharpest picture of William’s decline. Writing in the Daily Mail, he described how William looked “angry and unhappy” at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, appearing thinner and weighed down with the “burden of the world on his shoulders.” At the state banquet for Donald Trump, Wilson observed William looking “pensive, less light-hearted than of old,” while Kate smiled and charmed the American president. For many observers, her warm demeanor beside a man found liable for sexual abuse in court was jarring, given the protests raging outside.
Wilson warns William may inherit young with no public goodwill. The real question now is: will the monarchy outlast William?
Wilson’s column warned of a larger problem. Charles’s reign may be short, forcing William to become king while still relatively young. Unlike Elizabeth II, he will not inherit a nation united behind the monarchy. Polls already show younger generations leaning toward republicanism, and Wilson argued that William’s “obsession with Harry” and lack of visible drive risk destroying confidence in his leadership before he even takes the crown.
“Whatever the cause, there was no mistaking the fact that William appeared angry and unhappy at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral this week. He looked to have lost weight, too. He gave the impression of bearing the burden of the world on his shoulders. Nor did he seem particularly overjoyed to be at the State Banquet for Donald Trump on Wednesday. While Catherine smiled at his side, and charmed The Don, William came across as pensive, less light-hearted than of old.” — A.N. Wilson, Daily Mail
Platell Shifts From Defender to Critic
Amanda Platell, meanwhile, has offered her own contradictions. In July, she cast William as the betrayed brother, insisting “hell will freeze over before William forgives Harry.” Harry, she claimed, had left his brother to carry the weight of royal duty while Charles and Kate battled cancer. Her framing was clear: William was the victim, and Harry was the villain.
Yet just one month later, Platell turned her fire directly on William. She mocked him as “control-freak Willy,” warning that his decision to retreat with Kate and the children to Forest Lodge would create a “part-time king” hidden away from public life. She also branded him “work-shy Willy,” pointing out he managed only 71 engagements last year—compared with Anne’s 474, Charles’s 372 (despite cancer treatment), and Philip’s 250 at age 95. For Platell, William’s £23 million Duchy income and endless family holidays are no longer defensible. Even his and Kate’s charitable work, she wrote, is “woke, worthy and forgettable.”
A Prince Losing Control of His Image
What unites both Wilson and Platell is not sympathy but alarm. Wilson sees a bitter, joyless heir fixated on his brother while the monarchy crumbles around him. Platell warns of a king more interested in privacy than service, a man already drowning in privilege yet unwilling to match it with duty.
The contradictions between their columns, William as victim one month, failure the next, expose a deeper truth. Even the Mail, long the monarchy’s fiercest defender, cannot hide its doubts about William’s fitness for the crown. He is attacked as lazy, mocked as controlling, and portrayed as adrift. His carefully constructed image as the “steady heir” has collapsed under the weight of his own inaction.
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Final Thoughts
The fact that commentators like A.N. Wilson and Amanda Platell, once counted on to shield the monarchy, now openly dissect William’s flaws signals real danger. If even the loyal press cannot prop him up, public confidence in the heir is already slipping. His reputation as a work-shy, embittered prince has hardened, and the myth that sustains the monarchy is beginning to collapse.
William shows no signs of thriving. He looks diminished, older than his years, weighed down by resentment and rivalry with his brother. The toll is written across his face and in the weary, sullen way he carries himself.
And yet we are told he is a “global statesman.” Based on what? A single extended conversation with Donald Trump? William refuses to travel on behalf of the government and avoids meaningful engagement with world leaders. A statesman earns the title through action; William has done little beyond one long chat with Trump.
For an institution that depends on myth and continuity, the cracks are showing, and William may be the one who finally breaks it.
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