“Workshy Wills” – Has The Media Fallen Out of Love and Into Loathing with the Royals?

There was a time when Princess Diana’s boys could do no wrong. William and Harry were the media’s darlings who just kept on giving. Motherless and stoic beyond their years, they dated likeable and “normal” women and trained to serve the country in uniform. But recently the Wills/Harry headline factory has taken a bitter turn.

Tabloids now say that Prince William isn’t pulling his weight, deeming him “Workshy Wills”. This turnabout comes after The Sun published a tally of each Royal’s workload between January 1 and March 13, 2017. Anne came out top with 44 Royal assignments, the 90-year-old Queen (despite ill health) managed 24, while William attended events on just 13 days, just one more than his 95-year-old grandfather Philip. Even Camilla did 19 events, and that’s the woman who has been dubbed “Duchess Dolittle” and was once called “the laziest woman in Britain” by a PR man meant to be mending her image.

William’s unimpressive efforts would have raised questions about Royal obligations anyway but it was matched with photos of him partying on holiday while the older members of his family attended Commonwealth Day services. The media has been split on what to condemn first – his dad dancing or his apparent disinterest in work.

From Favourite to Foe

So why the media about-face? The tabloids have gone from multiple-page commemorative pull-outs for everything he does to damning his sense of duty. It’s worlds away from the sycophantic coverage of the 2012 Jubilee.

Royal biographer Robert Lacey believes that it’s not just a matter of fickle newspapers. There’s a growing, underlying antipathy between the newest set of Royals and the media, he says. William and Harry are said to blame the paparazzi – and by extension all press – for their mother’s death and would prefer to rely on social media to reach the public directly.  Kate prefers to release her own photos of her children rather than encourage professional shoots and publications. While the Cambridges try to change the journalistic rules on Royal Family privacy Harry has demanded the press leave his actress girlfriend alone.

The more the young Royals try to take control of their own media, the more that some parts of the press will be sidelined and spiteful, says Lacey, who believes the press are now lashing back.

Not so, according to Graham Smith of Republic, a lobby group against the monarchy. Smith tells Felix that the “workshy” headlines are simply based on the facts. “It’s a fair accusation. [William] doesn’t do very much work at all and seems to give the impression that he is not really interested in being king. Given that we’re giving him accommodation and travel and lots of other perks at tax payer’s expense, I think its time he makes the decision one way or another if he wants to carry on.” The suggestion it’s just sour grapes from the media is “silly”, Smith says.

Full-time Freeloaders?

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced their decision to become full-time Royals less than two months before the “Workshy” headlines, when William said he would stop working as a rescue pilot and focus on Royal duties. His workload since then hasn’t exactly followed through. For a man who worked only 80 hours a month for the East Anglia Air Ambulance, “full-time” seems a foreign concept.

It’s no secret that many believe we should get rid of the Royal Family. They’re seen as skivers and financial drains and let’s face it, modernity and Royalty are hard to mix. Kate Middleton breathed life into an unsteady aristocracy but she’s been fully subsumed into the monarchy machine. On the other hand, Harry and William have been desperate to prove themselves in the real world for years.  Unfortunately their social lives are more in touch with modern expectations than their work ethic.

Keeping up with the Cambridges

Not everyone accepts their demands for privacy. As Republic’s Smith states: “These people are public figures on the public table and the press have every right to scrutinise them. They don’t get scrutinised enough, and it’s arrogant on their part to suggest they want the media to leave them alone.”

The young Windsors may see newspapers as killers who chased Diana to her death but they have overlooked one vital thing: the Royal Family needs the press. Without monarchist papers like The Sun and Daily Mail to uphold its status the Crown’s popularity would plummet. Twitter can’t organise Jubilee parties or rouse Royal support in the way newspapers can.

It’s always been an unstable partnership full of back-stabbing and bitchiness but a crucial one for the Royal Family’s future. William and Harry may have been itching to take on the tabloids but they certainly seem to have a battle now.

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