Charlotte and Louis Won’t Grow Up to Be Working Royals Under Prince William and Kate Middleton’s ‘Practical’ Plan: Report
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis reportedly have very different futures ahead of them compared to their brother, Prince George. While George is headed for life as a working royal, Prince William and Kate Middleton will encourage Charlotte and Louis to look outside the Firm.
William is in ‘full agreement’ with King Charles about a ‘slimmed down monarchy’
The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden wrote King Charles III and William are in agreement about having fewer working royals.
“What he told me left me worried about the future of the monarchy,” Eden wrote of a conversation he had with a friend of William’s about how the 42-year-old sees the Firm operating.
“The friend said William was in ‘full agreement’ with his father about the need for a ‘slimmed down monarchy.’”
“He told me, ‘When the older members of the family retire, His Royal Highness won’t be inviting anyone else to become working royals. It remains to be seen if he will even want his two younger children to be working royals.’”
As William and Kate’s oldest child, George is his father’s heir. As such, the 10-year-old’s presumably headed for life as a working royal. Ultimately, he’ll take over the Firm when the time comes.
William and Kate will encourage Charlotte and Louis to ‘do their own thing’ instead of becoming working royals
According to Tom Sykes of The Daily Beast, William and Kate “want to find a practical solution to the ‘spare’ problem.” Furthermore, they “don’t want history to repeat itself” after Prince Harry—and Meghan Markle—left royal life in 2020.
So, what’s William and Kate’s plan? Have Charlotte and Louis do something else outside of royal life when they grow up. Think of Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and her younger brother, James, Earl of Wessex, 16. Their mother, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, once said they were raised knowing they’d likely work outside the Firm.
The younger siblings will be “encouraged to not become working royals” as part of what Sykes called “radical plans to reshape the British monarchy” when William and Kate take the throne after Harry’s “vitriolic” exit that proved “disastrous” for the royal family.
“The working assumption is that the younger two children will get on and do their own thing,” they added.
“The option isn’t there for George, of course, but the children have been kept at arm’s length from royal life. They are exposed to the minimum possible publicity, and that is a deliberate strategy to let Charlotte and Louis choose their own destiny.”
No ‘misery’ over royal family life for Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
“It is no secret that William has been devastated by the destruction of his relationship with Harry,” the insider continued. (The brothers are believed not to have spoken in years.)
William “appreciate[s] that the whole system, where one of your kids is less important than the other due to an accident of birth, had a massive part to play in what happened and how it happened.” (Harry titled his 2023 memoir Spare, saying in it that his grandparents and parents often referred to him as such.)
“There is an entirely reasonable argument to be made that, if you are born into the royal family, the logical thing to do is to leave it. The same logic applies to your kids. He doesn’t want to put them through a human mincer that is going to cause everyone misery.”
William and Kate “adore the children, and their whole lives are about the children. I think they want to find a practical solution to the ‘spare’ problem that has bedeviled the family for generations.”
It seems that this will involve treating George, Charlotte, and Louis as equals before the younger two branch out.
Noting that Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne are “‘spares’ who have made it work,” a friend of the royal family’s said they’re “sure William and Catherine don’t want history to repeat itself.”
