The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and now the Prince of Wales, are called upon to ensure the continuity and modernity of the Crown
During the pandemic, William of Cambridge -until Thursday heir to the heir to the British throne and now first in the line of succession- and his wife, Catalina, made headlines for their video calls to encourage health workers or play bingo with the elders of the residences and by the images of their children, princes Jorge, Carlota and Luis, applauding the medical staff. For turning, in short, with the suffering people. Meanwhile, in full global shock due to confinement and the lethal scourge of an unknown virus, his brother Enrique and his sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, announced their departure from the royal family to move to California.
The estrangement between the two brothers, until then very close after the death of their mother, Princess Diana, has undoubtedly marked William, called to be the next benchmark of the old British monarchy, as the reign is supposed to be necessarily limited for biological reasons. of his father, Carlos III. But, at the same time, by contrast, the popularity of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has increased exponentially -and now also of Cornwall, the title they inherit from Carlos and Camila, as well as Princes of Wales, as the sovereign announced this Friday-, whom British society sees as discreet and committed in the face of Enrique’s noisy scandals since his wedding with Meghan.
Guillermo, who has always lived under the strictest media scrutiny and who is compared to his mother for his reserved character, is, at forty years old, the most popular member of royalty in the United Kingdom, with 66% of support for his favor, according to the YouGov polling office. Many Britons would, in fact, wish that he ascended the throne already, which reinforces the perception that the reign of Charles III will operate as a kind of rehearsal for his successor and the future queen consort. From now on, Guillermo and Catalina will acquire even greater prominence and, therefore, greater responsibility and public agenda.
no babysitter
The Duke and Duchess, who had just moved into Adelaide Cottage, a country house ten minutes’ walk from Windsor Palace with four rooms and no capacity for internal service – for the first time their Spanish nanny, María Teresa Turrión, does not live with them – they could stay there even though Carlos and Camila move to Buckingham because their three children have just started classes at Lambrook School, a prestigious private school near Ascot. They are not, in any case, far from Windsor and no one doubts that their public presence will multiply in any case.
William – who, predictably, will receive the title of Prince of Wales from his father in an ‘ad hoc’ ceremony – and Catherine have already amply demonstrated that they understand the sign of the times and that they have internalized that not only continuity depends on them of the institution, but also its hallmark of modernity and its social commitment.
If anyone who has seen ‘The Crown’ knows that Elizabeth II achieved the respect of her people despite the halo of distance and solemnity she projected, the future royal couple is clear that closeness to the British, to all of them, must be their card of presentation. Her Instagram is full of posts expressing her commitment to mental health, to the LGTBI community, women’s soccer or the fight against climate change.
Educated at the elite Eton school, a fan of Aston Villa, a fan of Coldplay and AC/DC and with the military training of his rank, Guillermo has made discretion his talisman. Although he has also exhibited character: he did not hesitate to step forward to ask the media to respect his and Enrique’s mourning after Diana’s death or to deny the accusations of racism made by his sister-in-law.
The same can be said of his wife, who, through her spokespersons, has denied the many speculations that have been poured out about her stormy relationship with Markle. The fact is that the British media have baited the Duchess of Sussex, whom they have portrayed as a woman with a difficult character, unable to keep her staff on duty, while at the same time extolling a much calmer and sweeter character, apparently Catalina, about whom little is really known, beyond her upper-middle-class childhood and her art and photography studies in St Andrews, where she met Guillermo.
The truth is that her eternal smile has also elevated her to the list of favorite people of the British and there are those who say that the prudence that she always exhibits is the lesson she learned best from her grandmother-in-law. “Her model of her is the queen and she even talks like her.”
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