Prince William’s role in slimmed-down Monarchy with King Charles III after Queen’s death

King Charles III’s plans to change the Royal Family and the monarchy will involve Prince William heavily. This is what they will do.

When the Queen acceded the throne in 1952, she was just 25 years old and she and the handsome young Prince Philip were seen as the rock star royalty of their day.

They were young and glamorous, just the thing the post-war world needed to symbolise a new, exciting start. Princess Margaret dubbed this a “phoenix time”.

But while the crowds were cheering and shouting God Save the King on Friday, as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrived at Buckingham Palace for the first time in his reign, nobody could describe them as rock star royalty.

Charles has been waiting his entire adult life for this moment and now, aged 73, alongside Camilla’s 75, the couple provides a feeling of stability, but not necessarily star power.

That dazzle, should Charles harness it, comes from his son, Prince William and wife Catherine.

He is now titled Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Cornwall and on Friday, the Prince of Wales, after Charles bestowed it on him during his first speech as King.

It also means Catherine is the Princess of Wales, taking the title last associated with Diana, something that would not be lost on Charles.

Princess of Wales Kate Middleton seen leaving Windsor castle the day after Queen died. Picture: Mega

“Our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversation, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground,” the King said.

The duo continue to be by far the most popular royals – the most recent YouGov poll reported Britons voted them second only to the late Queen.

It is clear Charles knows this, so if he involves William in a much more collegiate way than perhaps his mother did with him, he will harness some of William’s relatively youthful appeal and make a modern monarchy that appeals to those wanting to see it move forward.

Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Prince William. Picture: AFP

The relationship of father and son has been up and down throughout the years, but now, the pair is working well together, particularly over common issues such as the environment. Charles spoke of his pride William had embraced the issue and launched his Earthshot Prize, last October posting a picture on Instagram of him hugging William and writing, “I am very proud of my son, William.”

And while they have had their issues in the past, such as when Charles introduced Camilla and the subsequent loss of Diana, now the pair has never been closer, as demonstrated at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert in June, when the family appeared as one and a naughty Prince Louis was bounced up and down on grandpa’s lap.

Now, it is very much Charles and William who have developed a plan for a streamlined monarchy, with slimmed-down working family members, jobs and properties.

Their plans include overhauling the royal palaces and opening more to the public. Charles and Camilla will move into “a flat above the shop” in Buckingham Palace, leaving Clarence House and it is expected he will turn Balmoral into a museum to his mother.

Britain's King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave as they greet the crowd upon their arrival Buckingham Palace in London a day after Queen Elizabeth II died. Picture: AFP

Overseas tours will also be overhauled – after the Cambridge’s PR-disaster with their Caribbean tour in March, they declared they will now do things “The Cambridge Way”.

This involves William focusing on “five or six” charity subjects and undertaking smaller, shorter tours.

Similarly, Charles will shed some of the many patronages he has and has just inherited from Queen.

With a smaller pool of royals – with many of them older – he doesn’t have the manpower to service all of them.

“It will no longer be possible for me to give my time and energy to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply, but I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others,” he said in his first speech.

As for Prince Andrew and Prince Harry – there is no room for anyone threatening Charles and William’s vision. It was Charles and William who pressed for Andrew to be stripped of his royal duties and despite the Queen letting her favourite son accompany her down the aisle of Prince Philip’s memorial in Westminster Abbey in March this year, it is understood he will not be invited to participate further.

“Now that his older brother has become King, life has become so much more complicated for Prince Andrew,” biographer Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew: Maxwell, Epstein and the Palace, said.

“While the Queen fondly protected Andrew and slipped him money every now and then, Charles is unlikely to show the same largesse and the blank cheque that underwrote Andrew’s life has disappeared.”

Harry, likewise, finds himself facing a united front of his father and sibling, outside of the family, but, not excluded. In his speech on Friday, Charles offered an olive branch to his second son.

“I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas,” he said.

However, Andrew’s daughter Princess Beatrice is expected to become one of four counsellors of state, which are appointed to step in if the monarch becomes ill or is absent.

Protocol decrees the spouse of the monarch and four adult royals next in line can be counsellors of state. The late Queen’s ones were Charles, William, Harry and Andrew.

The need to reappoint them is clear, meaning Beatrice could find herself next in line for the role.

Royal insiders said Charles will act like CEO of Royal Corp, with William as his deputy. “That promise of lifelong service, I renew to you all today,” Charles said.

“I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.”

With a streamlined approach with less commitments and a unified team, it will end the days of competing royal palaces and conflicting diaries and could, as Charles’ friend Jonathan Dimbleby previously said, be the beginning of a “quiet co nstitutional revolution”.

Originally published as Prince William’s role in slimmed-down Monarchy with King Charles III after Queen’s death