William the Conqueror and Marriage to Kate

[angieuk]

http://www.sundayexpress.co.uk/posts/view/153662/Prince-William-the-conqueror

For now he must concentrate on his military career. He is due to report for duty at RAF Valley in Anglesey on Monday for the start of his specialist search and rescue training on Sea King helicopters. He plans to stay in the RAF for at least another three-and-a-half years.

Marriage to Kate Middleton looks inevitable but at what point is anyone’s guess. When she joins the Firm then the royal tour really will be back as a huge international news event.

[Hale]

The 27-year-old Prince took the  two Antipodean countries by storm, bringing a vibrant new image to a staid monarchy and showing the world that he has come to terms with his destiny

I can't get over how much the press are trying to put on a stiff upper lip over this lack luster tour.  Celebrity Big Brother is currently show in the UK.  It draw a bigger live audience than William did in any of his engagements.

As for: 

When she joins the Firm then the royal tour really will be back as a huge international news event.

In other words, William cannot do it without Kate.  That doesn't say much for him.

[Ursula]

Hale, will all due respect, nothing I've seen or read this week indicates that the tour was even slightly "lackluster."  I don't need to count heads to see the sheer enthusiasm on the faces in the crowd - and crowds of all ages, I might add.  I haven't seen this response since Diana's days.  I'm not suggesting that no one shows up to see Charles or other royals, but the electricity just isn't there.  People show up to see other members of the family out of respect, curiosity, etc., but William (and Harry) have inherited not only their mother's ways, but her following.  It's something that never died, and it never will, as we've seen this week.  What goes around, comes around.  The popularity they resented when Diana was alive is now coming back through her sons.    

And this is only the beginning!  

HM may just be doing a little dance in the halls of BP!  

[Hale]

Ursula, clearly the media in your country blitzed you.  From what I've been reading on the forum, the media blitzed the States & Canada as well.  Over hear, it was rarely shown on the TV news, and it never even made front page. How sad is that?

[Lucy]

The Elstree Studio has more than 4,000 seats for Big Brother?
That's how many Wm drew at just one place...and that was in NZ:


http://www.theage.com.au/national/prince-william-to-visit-black-saturday-towns-20100120-mkkh.html

He drew more than 6,000 at one spot in Oz when it wasn't even advertised in the press.

There's no doubt  his tour is the biggest of any Brit Royal in many many years....and during a time when most countries are rather serious about a republic.

I saw it on the front pages of Brit papers online...and of course the net is full of videos.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/22/prince-william-new-zealand-australia

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sitesearch.do?query=prince+william&turnOffGoogleAds=false&submitStatus=searchFormSubmitted&mode=simple&sectionId=674&x=31&y=16

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7062422/Prince-William-following-in-his-mothers-footsteps.html

[Ursula]

Hale, my comments are not based on a media blitz or 30 second flashes on the evening news.  I followed the tour on this site and I did my own research.  After reading many articles, watching many videos, and seeing tons of photographs, it was difficult not to conclude that it was a very successful tour.  As I said earlier, he handled the official duties splendidly and he did equally well during informal situations.  He's mature, sincere, and approachable.  I'm not sure what more you expect from the young man.        

[easydoesit]

It wasn't a top story in America, just occasional mentions. Haiti has been the top story over here.  It's very hard to be the top story these days without a scandal involved or without first turning yourself into a ubiquitous celebrity.  But William got a lot of positive reviews so that's good for the Monarchy.  I'm surprised he got the attention he did get considering he's been a pretty low key presence thus far, due to his university studies and now his training.

[Vanity6]

Yes, didn't catch anything here.

[Lucy]

The British press says it's the largest Royal tour since the Diana days. The Brits sent the most people for the most reports in over 15 years. Here's one ref:

The evening sees our first briefing with the Prince’s Press team, who are dealing with 40 of us from the UK alone, including the BBC, ITV, Sky and Five, as well as GMTV. All the big newspapers are here and lots of photographers too.

When Charles and Camilla went to Canada in November, the entire Press group consisted of just five.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1245546/I-waited-hours-eat-sausage-scenes-Prince-Williams-Royal-tour-GMTVs-Emme-Crosby.html#ixzz0dUGFq2VU

This trip has been a watershed for Wills. He’s probably surprised at
the adoration many have shown him.

Walkabouts have been the real theme of the Australian leg – 5,000 waited at Sydney Harbour hoping to meet him.

It will be rather different next week, when he starts search-and-rescue training in Anglesey’s wind and rain.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1245546/I-waited-hours-eat-sausage-scenes-Prince-Williams-Royal-tour-GMTVs-Emme-Crosby.html#ixzz0dUI3gzhx

[Hale]

Vanity 6, where is here?

 

[Kate]

Anyone with a computer can get on the internet and check out the Australian and NZ news papers and Youtube, to find out how the tour went for William..if interested!
There were a few columnists who did articles on the tour as well.  There were several news clips on  youtube as well....Here in Canada, on every news cast I watched, showed a clip of Wm down under...It was a fabulous tour and turnout...

Thanks for all the links...

[Ursula]

The British press says it's the largest Royal tour since the Diana days. The Brits sent the most people for the most reports in over 15 years. Here's one ref:

The evening sees our first briefing with the Prince’s Press team, who are dealing with 40 of us from the UK alone, including the BBC, ITV, Sky and Five, as well as GMTV. All the big newspapers are here and lots of photographers too.

When Charles and Camilla went to Canada in November, the entire Press group consisted of just five.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1245546/I-waited-hours-eat-sausage-scenes-Prince-Williams-Royal-tour-GMTVs-Emme-Crosby.html#ixzz0dUGFq2VU

This trip has been a watershed for Wills. He’s probably surprised at
the adoration many have shown him.

Walkabouts have been the real theme of the Australian leg – 5,000 waited at Sydney Harbour hoping to meet him.

It will be rather different next week, when he starts search-and-rescue training in Anglesey’s wind and rain.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1245546/I-waited-hours-eat-sausage-scenes-Prince-Williams-Royal-tour-GMTVs-Emme-Crosby.html#ixzz0dUI3gzhx

Thanks for the links, Lucy.  I love the quotes! 

Anyone with a computer can get on the internet and check out the Australian and NZ news papers and Youtube, to find out how the tour went for William..if interested!
There were a few columnists who did articles on the tour as well.  There were several news clips on  youtube as well....Here in Canada, on every news cast I watched, showed a clip of Wm down under...It was a fabulous tour and turnout...

Thanks for all the links...

I agree, Kate.  The information is out there and it was an amazing tour, was it not!?

[Lucy]

Indeed its such a success that it has caused more problems for Charles.
William can't be allowed to outshine him as William's mother did, effortlessly...William has to hold back, in fact he is held back:

Royal aides, foreign commentators and, most important of all, the inhabitants of his two host countries, were unanimous in hailing the tour as an overwhelming success. However, in a bizarre way, this creates problems of its own.

For the Queen will, of course, be succeeded by her eldest son, the Prince of Wales, and, for all his hard work, he will never have the youthful charm of his elder son. Although Prince William is undoubtedly as asset to the Royal family, his popularity cannot be fully capitalised on while he remains second-in-line to the throne and keen not to overshadow his beloved father.

Prince William, too, has other priorities for now. His next three years will be dominated by his RAF career. Tomorrow, he will report for work at RAF Valley in Anglesey for eight months of training to become a fully-qualified helicopter search and rescue pilot.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7062422/Prince-William-following-in-his-mothers-footsteps.html

The people in other countries have already said they would prefer him as king...and many in the UK feel the same....all the members of the Old Guard we  have always said Charles is too weak to lead or be king...one nobleman we know said he would give the country away to the Arabs.

William is the shining alternative with none of the ugly baggage.

[princessealiénor]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7062422/Prince-William-following-in-his-mothers-footsteps.html

However, his low-key style and lack of standing on ceremony were too much for some royal commentators back in Britain.

One accused the Prince of behaving “like a tipsy student at a comedy gig. It wasn’t so much the common touch as just dead common.” Others raised eyebrows that while talking to four rappers in front of Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister, the Prince had said that he had “the p--- taken out of me for my taste in music”.

I have said that it's not good for William to be unpretentious; that is good to see him as a cool man  and his low-key style. Unfortuneltly for him, I don't think that a lack of standing is a good job because he represents his country and the Queen of NZ and AUstralia. He is an ambassor and as such that's a misbehavior.

[Ursula]

princessealiénor, this follows the part of the article you quoted..........

Yet Prince William clearly feels that, at 27, the inevitable pomp and ceremony that comes with his role can, for the moment at least, wait largely for the future. Those who know him well say that his “matey” approach was not an act to win over his hosts. That’s how he is: perhaps, at times, a little naive and trusting for his own good, but utterly genuine.

Royal aides, foreign commentators and, most important of all, the inhabitants of his two host countries, were unanimous in hailing the tour as an overwhelming success.

While it may have pleased one or two stuffed shirts to see William acting like a starched, out of touch prince, I believe his style hit just the right note.  If the tour wasn't such a success, we would not see articles/commentary discussing the popularity of PW and the problem it presents for Charles.  As they did in Diana's day, the people are making it clear what style they prefer.      

[Miss Scarlett]

I think it's important for William to adapt to the formalities of where he's going.  He did away with the formal dinners and protocol in Australia precisely because he was in Australia--where they are more egalitarian and don't want to be looked down upon.  Not that protocol is looking down on someone else, but I can certainly see the Aussies balking to having to bow and scrape to a 27 year old. 

I think William did a far more effective job as an ambassador for his country by showing, despite his position, he is still "real" and can muck in at a barbeque and can have fun and race and yacht and be as informal as it is for him to be.  That gives the Australians a future monarch to whom they can relate --and thus one they'd be more inclined to want to keep around. 

I think his trip was a roaring success.  Even though it didn't have the international coverage that Diana's tour did, his trip was successful where it mattered --in Australia.

[Lucy]

Prince William Down Under
 - 2 days ago
Britain's Prince William got a rock star welcome in Australia and New Zealand despite movements in the countries to get rid of the monarchy ...

www.cbsnews.com

In pictures: Prince William visits Australia BBC News
How Prince William won over Australia and New Zealand The Guardian
Telegraph.co.uk
all 1,363 news articles »

Fortunately the largest contingent of media players ever assembled for a British Royals tour  Down Under assembled to cover William. I linked to those stats yesterday...

William dressed formally when it was appropiate...such as for his speech at Gov House and the Open , then casually when it was appropiate for cricket, barbeques, shooting, boating....and the like.

I very much agree, Miss Scarlett, on your judgement of the 'roaring success' of this trip!!

[princessealiénor]

I do agree that it is a success!!

[Hale]

The Elstree Studio has more than 4,000 seats for Big Brother?
That's how many Wm drew at just one place...and that was in NZ:

WOW!  William attracted the same number of crowds as a bunch of has beens cooped up in a make believe house.  Ivana Trump. I'm sure shall be extremely flattered knowing that when she comes out of the house she will have the same amount of audience as Prince William.

Extraordinary the way the British press are handling the end of the Royal tour, they are making more of it than they did when he was out there.  Still, I'm grateful for the forum for grouping all the articles together and informing me the tour is now over, otherwise I wouldn't have known.

Fortunately the largest contingent of media players ever assembled for a British Royals tour  Down Under assembled to cover William. I linked to those stats yesterday

Lucy, where please?  Is that what the press are saying?  If so why didn't it make the front pages over here and why did it get little mention on the TV news?  PC in Copenhagen got more than William.

Sorry, girl.  I know how much you love him and I truly wish I could enthuse about this visit as you do, but as a preventive measure from breaking down and sobbing I shall carry on ranting.

 

[Lucy]

It's not about me loving Wills, Hale...you are the only person or just about the only person to think his tour wasn't a triumph and swingeing success.....
The British press only sent 5 people to Canada for C & C, they sent over 40 for William's tour...it's in several threads....I have already linked it twice....and others have discussed it..
4,000 wasn't his largest crowd either....with respect, I can understand your denial because of your preference for his father and little brother. But William puts them in the shade....denial or not.

[Stix Chix]

seeing pix and reading articles from New Zealand and Australian papers i thought the tours went down really well.  especially considering the bah humbugging we got from the media before it.  

has William's tours of New Zealand and Australia saved the monarchy?  i'm not convinced the monarchy was in a huge amount of peril in those countries to begin with.  i do however think he's won over a lot of people who might otherwise have thought it pretty irrelevant to their country.  and for all the republicans saying his visit didn't change a think i think he's probably got them a bit worried.

if i were a royal adviser i'd push to send William on more royal tours to other members of the Commonwealth.

will Kate also be a draw during tours if/when they marry.  i'm sure she (and her outfits ) will.  but will she have the "Diana appeal" that really brought in crowds of people?  i kind of doubt it because there's not many who could pull that off.  for all the success of his visit not even William pulled in as many people as she could. 

[newcomer]

For starters - the purpose of this tour was NOT to build relations and endear him to the British public, but to those in New Zealand and Australia.  Why would it be heavily covered on the news in England?  He wasn't touring the UK FFS.
He was  recieved extremely well in his host countries which was the objective of the tour, therefore it was a success.  Initially, there was a lack of interest in this obscure visiting Royal, but William won the country over with his Self and not his Status.

By his second day in NZ, word had got around and the numbers that turned out to see the Prince were huge in relation to the size of our relatively small population.  If you held Big Brother down here you would probably only get about 50 people turning up.  It's all relative.

Another thing worth mentioning is that William was here during the holiday season.  It is the height of summer and the schools have been closed since december.  In NZ, most families have, or know someone who has what we call a bach (pronounced batch) were they go to live in the summer.  My bach, for example, is 6 hours drive from where I live in Auckland.  This year we rented it out and stayed at home because I am heavily pregnant and didn't want to stray too far from the hospital.  Every single person that I know (apart from my DH, DD and DS) had left for the holidays (vacation).  Auckland was dead, many businesses were closed, the traffic was virtually non-existant and the shops, restaurants and city beaches were crowded with foreigners.  Given those conditions he was lucky anyone turned up at all.

He would have attracted much bigger crowds, IMO, if he had turned-up during term-time.

[Lucy]

Very helpful information, Newcomer!! Excited about the new addition to your family as well!!!!
 
....I will now repost the stats for Hale:

Chas must be incandescent...he and Camilla only got one eighth..that's 1/8 of the press he has gotten from Britain alone.

The evening sees our first briefing with the Prince’s Press team, who are dealing with 40 of us from the UK alone, including the BBC, ITV, Sky and Five, as well as GMTV. All the big newspapers are here and lots of photographers too.

When Charles and Camilla went to Canada in November, the entire Press group consisted of just five.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1245546/I-waited-hours-eat-sausage-scenes-Prince-Williams-Royal-tour-GMTVs-Emme-Crosby.html#ixzz0dUIzoNaw

[Ursula]

I think it's important for William to adapt to the formalities of where he's going.  He did away with the formal dinners and protocol in Australia precisely because he was in Australia--where they are more egalitarian and don't want to be looked down upon.  Not that protocol is looking down on someone else, but I can certainly see the Aussies balking to having to bow and scrape to a 27 year old. 

I think William did a far more effective job as an ambassador for his country by showing, despite his position, he is still "real" and can muck in at a barbeque and can have fun and race and yacht and be as informal as it is for him to be.  That gives the Australians a future monarch to whom they can relate --and thus one they'd be more inclined to want to keep around. 

I think his trip was a roaring success.  Even though it didn't have the international coverage that Diana's tour did, his trip was successful where it mattered --in Australia.

  Exactly right...........it was successful where it mattered. 

[Sven]

I don't know why that article assumes that when Kate marries William, the royal tour will be "back."  People have attention spans of gnats today.  Plus, I don't think that many people care about the British royal family, even William.  He's horribly boring, to be honest (and so is Kate).  And with his looks gone, there's nothing about him that's eye-catching.

With Diana gone and William failing to be a full-throated royal and embracing his mother's legacy, at best*, the royal family is quickly losing it's relevance.  When the Queen dies, I'm afraid, a lot of the potency of the royal family will die with her.  I'm not even a royalist, but that makes me sad.

*To me, I'll never forget that in 2004, William refused to go to the party for a book on his mother, one forwarded by Nelson Mandela and worked on by friends of hers.  He said he had previous plans.  What were those plans?  Clubbing nearby.  He was even photographed grinning in a car on his way out.  I know it'll be hated here, but I don't think William much cares for his mother, unlike Harry.  He's truly his father's son.