Prince William and Princess Kate’s very long holidays ‘raising eyebrows’
Members of the royal household have noted that the Prince and Princess of Wales have taken long holidays.
Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, are “raising eyebrows” with the amount of time they have had off, a royal commentator has said.
The couple “blocked off” the summer in order to prioritise spending time with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louise.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have reportedly spent time at their Norfolk bolthole on the Sandringham Estate, Anmer Hall, on the Caribbean island of Mustique and Balmoral Castle in Scotland with their children this holiday season.
A royal source told OK! Magazine last month: “William and Kate have made it very clear that their children are their priority this summer holiday. They have blocked off much of the summer so that they can spend time with the children in the UK.”
But the length of time the pair have taken off has not gone unnoticed by members of the royal household, Daily Express royal correspondent Richard Palmer has said, warning that it could well become an “issue” for the pair.
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Kate and William have taken time out to prioritise time with their children (Image: Getty)
William and Kate have ‘blocked out’ much of the summer to be with their children (Image: Kensington Palace)
William and Harry’s complicated relationship: A timeline from happy boys to royal rift
In the first few pages of Spare, Prince Harry told his readers that Prince William is both his “beloved brother” and “archnemesis”.
It was not so long ago that siblings were thought to have an unbreakable bond having stood on the world stage, side by side, for some of the best of times — and some of the worst.
Express.co.uk takes a look at the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex’s relationship, from happy days running around palaces to brothers separated by an ocean.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Royal Round Up, the royal commentator said that though they may have been doing some work “behind the scenes”, they have had a “long, long time off” with their three children, unlike most families around the UK.
He said: “I do think that is an issue for them as well. They’re very popular, they’re a huge asset to the UK, but there have been eyebrows raised in other parts of the royal household about the amount of time they’re not doing official engagements.
“It may well be that they come under a little bit of pressure to up their number of engagements…”
Plus, he stressed that there aren’t many families around the UK where both parents can afford the luxury of spending most of the school holidays with their kids.
He added: “There aren’t many families where both the father and mother are able to have 12 or 13 weeks with their children on all of their school breaks. I think there’s an awful lot of goodwill towards them but they do need to keep an eye on that.”
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Charles has been described as a ‘workaholic’ (Image: Getty)
Last year, Princess Anne — frequently dubbed the hardest-working royal — carried out 214 engagements.
Her older brother came in close second, wracking up a total of 181 engagements in 2022. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh took the third and fourth places on the list with 143 and 138 royal engagements in 2022.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales did 126 and Kate trailed behind, undertaking 90 royal engagements, coming in ninth place out of the working royals.
Although the couple have not done as many engagements as others, the choice is seen as understandable, given what William experienced growing up.
Mr Palmer continued: “The Princess of Wales has made it clear that her children will remain her priority for the foreseeable future and when you hear William and Harry talking about his childhood and how their father was always at his desk or away somewhere, you can perhaps understand why that is a priority.”
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Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine praised William for being “committed” to his royal role while also prioritising his family.
She said: “With the late Queen’s ailing health, William probably had to step up to his full-time royal job quicker than he might have hoped, but you can see now how committed he is.
“However, I also very much admire the fact that he’s not a workaholic like his father, he knows how important family life is… He seems to be a full-on, hands-on, caring dad.”
William has previously commented on his father’s “workaholic” nature, telling a BBC documentary, Prince, Son and Heir — Charles at 70, released in 2018, that he would like to spend more “family time” with the monarch.
The couple are set to undertake a royal engagement on the anniversary of the late Queen’s death, September 8. It is anticipated that Charles and Queen Camilla will spend the day in private at Balmoral Castle, where the former monarch died.
