Prince William and Princess Kate go out of their way to balance work life and family life.
But this has, at times, led to criticism about their work volume, with the likes of Princess Anne carrying out astounding 457 engagements in 2023.
William and Kate performed 172 and 123 events, respectively, the same year.
Royal commentator Gareth Russell spoke to GB News about this, commenting: “This is where you very much see that William is Diana’s son.” He is referring to Princess Diana putting her children first, and spending more time with them, rather than relying solely on nannies.
Russell added: “This is the Diana impact on the monarchy, so I don’t imagine that William and Catherine are as wounded, as maybe other royals would have been by this level of press criticism.”
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But Russell is concerned the Waleses family first outlook may put them in harms way. He said: “The danger for them is that even though this is almost certainly motivated by prioritising their home life, it has enabled their critics to paint them as lazy.
“That reputation can take quite a bit of time to shirk off at the moment.
“Because of the difficulties the monarchy has had in the last few years, William and Catherine were very much expected to be the star players and to be the star attraction for positive publicity.”
William and Kate are out and about quite a lot, but it seems the public and the media expect more of them. Russell noted: “If they’re not seen as often, there is a risk that they enable their critics to write the story for them.”
Recently, Kate and her three children visited a baby bank and released a video of the work they were doing, which received praised from Royally Obsessed, because it does just that, the Waleses are telling their own story versus being “silent film stars.”
And, it’s not just William and Kate pulling their weight, George, Charlotte and Louis are doing the work of mini royals, shaking hands, collecting flowers from well-wishers and just being children. Louis announced at the baby bank, “This is a big guy!” when picking out a toy gorilla for a child in need.
