How Prince George's Future Reign as King Could Be Different From Charles or Will
How Prince George's Future Reign as King Could Be Different From Charles or Will
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00:00 I want to ask you about Prince George.
00:02 What's his future?
00:03 - George faces a very interesting future
00:06 because whilst we can pretty much map out
00:09 what kingship looks like for Charles
00:12 and what it will look like from William
00:14 with the things that he's already shared with us,
00:17 the prominence, the size, the importance
00:20 of the royal family is shrinking.
00:22 You know, the polls tell us that.
00:25 This current state of it tells us that.
00:27 And so that day when Prince George
00:30 one day takes over his father could look very different,
00:33 could be a very different role.
00:35 Would there be a big coronation?
00:37 Probably not because we know that William's hoping
00:39 to not have a big coronation.
00:41 Will he take on as many roles
00:44 as his father and his grandfather?
00:46 Would he still be the head of the Church of England
00:48 at that point?
00:49 You know, we've already heard from sources
00:51 that William and Kate aren't going to force George
00:54 to take on any military service unless he wants to.
00:58 They want him to be a man that makes his own decisions
01:00 because these are people who know
01:02 that they've not been able to make their own
01:04 in their childhoods.
01:06 William, although he had some freedom thanks to Diana,
01:09 was effectively put on one path from birth
01:12 and doesn't get to sway from it much whatsoever.
01:15 Charles even less so.
01:16 So for George, this will be a king
01:18 that will get to make his own decisions
01:20 but will essentially be the head of state
01:22 of a much smaller operation.
01:24 You only need to look at royal families across Europe
01:27 to see their size and prominence
01:29 and now have sort of turned them into tourist attractions.
01:33 Will that be the case for the British royal family?
01:35 And I think that these are the issues and challenges
01:38 that the current royals have to preserve
01:41 and build on what they have today or let it crumble.
01:44 (dramatic music)
01:48 We see Britain decreasing in sort of stature
01:51 on the world stage and alongside that,
01:53 so does the royal family.
01:54 So it really kind of reframes how we look at them
01:58 moving forward but also their importance.
02:01 With William, we're already starting to hear
02:03 from the people around him and many of the people
02:05 I spoke to for the book that he sees the future
02:08 of the monarchy very differently to his father.
02:10 Downsizing, less staff, less money,
02:14 focusing on issues that can actually have impact on
02:16 rather than just highlighting them.
02:18 So I think they're really sort of fighting
02:20 for their relevancy at this point.
02:22 When you talk about downsizing,
02:24 it also is one of the things you told me
02:26 is that they really are looking at Buckingham Palace
02:28 and turning that into more of a museum,
02:30 letting people come through, walk through,
02:32 see it, charging people.
02:34 Could that happen?
02:35 Britain's in the middle of a cost of living crisis
02:37 and every penny the royal family spends
02:40 is scrutinized and analyzed,
02:42 including on the pages of the book.
02:44 I think people want to see a more leaner,
02:47 tighter, more spendthrift operation,
02:49 less private helicopters darting around
02:52 from one of six homes for Charles
02:54 or private jets for the Wales family.
02:57 You know, this stuff people notice.
02:59 And so opening up Buckingham Palace all year round
03:02 as a tourist attraction is just one of the things
03:04 that are being sort of considered
03:06 for the future of the firm.
03:07 It's why Charles hasn't officially moved into it
03:10 and is still keeping his base at Clarence House nearby.
03:13 (audience cheering)
03:16 - The queen would have never acknowledged, you know,
03:19 or at least through her people,
03:21 would have acknowledged a book, a movie, or anything.
03:24 Is it interesting that now everybody's so sensitive
03:27 and they are acknowledging and it leaks out
03:30 how much they care about things like this?
03:32 - I think one of the queen's greatest strengths
03:34 was truly adhering to the rule
03:38 that one must never care about or think about polls
03:42 or newspaper coverage or what rumors were going around
03:46 and just get on with the job.
03:48 And it did her really well over 70 years on the throne.
03:52 Now we look at the current working members of the royal family
03:55 who are so wrapped up in what people are saying
03:58 and what their image is and what the polls look like
04:01 from week to week.
04:02 And I don't think it's doing any of them any service for good
04:07 because ultimately it's seen them corral
04:11 and join hands with shady figures
04:14 within the British tabloid landscape.
04:16 It's seen them betray their own family members
04:19 to put stories out there that make themselves look better.
04:22 I don't think this game will end well for anyone.
04:25 And it's one of the things I wanted to put out there
04:28 in the book because maybe by shining a light on it,
04:31 it might make people think differently
04:33 about how they conduct themselves in the future.
04:35 (upbeat music)
04:39 (whooshing)
04:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]