Royal Expert Says Prince William Made a "Conscious and Unabashed Choice" to Be Different Than King Charles in One Way

Prince William marked both his 44th birthday and Father’s Day on Sunday, June 21, with his celebrations coming after a busy week of royal events. The Prince of Wales attended Trooping the Colour and Royal Ascot alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla and Princess Kate, and to honor his birthday, shared a special photo of himself with Princess Charlotte on social media. Royal expert and former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said that for William, family coming first is a marked shift in how the monarchy operates.

King Charles grew up with his mother, Queen Elizabeth, as an example of duty above everything, and Prince William has been careful to prioritize time with his children first—even when the public questions why he doesn’t carry out as many royal engagements as the rest of his family.

“As we know, and in the face of some criticism, William has made the conscious and unabashed choice to put his children first whenever humanly possible,” Bond told the Mirror. “I’m sure his wife and kids love him all the more for that.”

“This is where he has drawn a distinct line between himself and his father,” Bond added. “Not that Charles was a bad parent, but he was often an absent parent because his work diary is always crammed.”

Although The King has prioritized family events in a way his mother likely wouldn't have—attending his nephew Peter Phillips's wedding on the same day as the Epsom Derby, for example—Prince William has been clear that he will always put Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis first.

Instead of staying for the full event, Prince and Princess of Wales left Royal Ascot early enough to be home for dinner with the kids—as I noticed when their car whizzed past me in the royal enclosure last Wednesday an hour before the last race was due to begin.

Bond said that it's also evident that William and Kate are a team in a way that Charles and Diana were not. “He and Catherine seem like equal partners in a relationship where, by dint of his birth, he could act as if they weren’t,” she noted. The royal expert continued that “perhaps William is more dependent on Catherine than the other way round.”