Prince William describes agenda of ‘change for the good’ when king
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Version 0 of 2. William tells interviewer Eugene Levy of hopes to do work ‘my son is proud of’ as well as sparing him press intrusion Prince William has said “change is on my agenda – change for the good” when he becomes king. In one of his most personal interviews yet, the Prince of Wales set out his approach to the monarchy to do things differently. “I want to question things more,” he told Eugene Levy at Windsor Castle in an interview for the actor’s Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler. William said: “I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do, a world and a job that actually does impact people’s lives for the better.” His son, Prince George, who celebrated his 12th birthday in July, will one day succeed him as king. William said his children did not have mobile phones. And he appeared to suggest that he wanted to ensure his son did not face a repeat of “practices” he and brother the Duke of Sussex had faced when younger, a possible reference to intrusive press scrutiny that also plagued their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. William said about the “insatiable” media he experienced growing up: “They wanted every bit of detail they could absorb, and they were in everything, literally everywhere. They would know things, they’d be everywhere. “And if you let that creep in, the damage it can do to your family life is something that I vowed would never happen to my family.” With regard to his change agenda, William said: “I embrace that and I enjoy that change – I don’t fear it. That’s the bit that excites me, is the idea of being able to bring some change. Not overly radical change, but changes that I think that need to happen.” He added: “I think it’s very important that tradition stays, and tradition has a huge part in all of this. But, there’s also points where you look at tradition and go: ‘Is that still fit for purpose today? Is that still the right thing to do? Are we still doing and having the most impact we could be having?’” Asked by Levy, star of the hit series Schitt’s Creek, if he thought about being king, William replied: “It’s not something I wake up in the morning and think about, because to me, being authentic and being myself and being genuine is what drives me. “And then you can attach whatever labels and kind of roles that come on top of that, but if I’m not true to myself, and I’m not true to what I stand for and believe in – then it doesn’t really matter who you are, it gets lost. “I take my roles and my responsibilities seriously but it’s important, like I said to you earlier, you don’t feel they own you – you have to own them.” |