Prince William has been engulfed in a number of past public storms, from racism allegations to an awkward breakup with Princess Kate.

argued in his memoir that he had been sacrificed as the Spare to save his brother’s squeaky clean reputation, though Britain’s next king has still had his crisis moments.

Tabloids nicknamed him “Work-shy Wills,” animal rights groups accused him of hypocrisy and, as recently as this year, marriage gossip entered the mainstream via .

Breaking up With Kate by Phone

Prince William and Princess Kate’s fairytale wedding at Westminster Abbey in 2011 helped secure the future of the British monarchy after the fraught 1990s, beset by divorces.

However, five years the couple earlier had a major wobble when William called an end to the relationship and chose a particularly controversial means of doing so, shortly before New Year’s Eve in 2006.

Robert Jobson wrote in his new book Catherine, the Princess of Wales: “Seemingly out of the blue, William—now a 2nd Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals—telephoned her to suggest that they split up.

“He told her they both needed ‘a bit of space’ to ‘find our own way’, and he was unable to promise her marriage. In an emotionally charged 30-minute conversation, they both acknowledged they were on ‘different pages’.

“It was a devastating blow to Catherine, who felt doubly let down at being dumped over the phone.”

The temporary breakup threw both royals into the searing glare of media scrutiny but William came back to Kate in time.

‘Work-shy’ William

The Sun nicknamed the future king “Work-Shy” and ran a headline describing him as “throne idle” because the number of royal engagements he completed each year was lower than other family members at a time when he was also working for the air ambulance service.

A high point of the scandal came when he skipped the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2017 to go skiing in Verbier, Switzerland, where he was photographed chatting with glamorous Australian model Sophie Taylor.

William addressed some of the criticism in a interview in 2016: “To be honest, I’m going to get plenty of criticism over my lifetime and it’s something that I don’t completely ignore but it’s not something I take completely to heart.

“I’m concentrating very much on my role as a father, I mean I’m a new father, and I take my duties and my responsibilities to my family very seriously and I want to bring my children up as good people and with the idea of duty and service to others as very important. But, if I can’t give my time to my children as well I worry about their future.”

‘Dirty’ Dancing

That same ski holiday delivered William another royal scandal that had less to do with missing Commonwealth Day and more to do with some late-night dancing.

The Sun published footage of at a bar with what appeared to be his hand on a woman’s waist accompanied by the headline: “WHAT WILLS KATE SAY? Prince William dirty dances with TWO beauties, gyrates as model ‘slut drops’ and puts hand on woman’s waist in new embarrassing footage during lads’ ski holiday.”

Royal expert Katie Nicholl told the newspaper: “It’s safe to assume that Kate will be far from happy about this.”

Hunting hypocrisy

In February 2014, Prince William spoke out against poaching at the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade at the capital’s Natural History Museum just days after hunting wild boar in Spain.

While his trip was not illegal, it was described as ill-timed during a backlash, while wildlife charities suggested the royal should tackle crimes closer to home, in Scotland.

Dominic Dyer, of charity Care for the Wild, told Channel 4 News: “I think it’s rather hypocritical of Prince William to be addressing what is a genuine concern about global wildlife criminal activity when he’s actually not really addressing what’s happening in areas where he’s hunting in the UK, for example where you’re seeing the killing of a beautiful endangered species like the golden eagle.”

There is no suggestion the royals hunted the golden eagle but they do shoot grouse lawfully in Scotland.

Ukraine War

William was , daughter of , over remarks he made about Russia’s invasion of Europe during a March 2022 visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London.

Prince William said: “Everyone is horrified by what they are seeing. The news every day, it’s almost unfathomable to actually witness it, to see it. For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe. We’re all right behind you.”

Bernice King wrote on X, formerly : “Horrific comment. European people ran roughshod over the continent of Africa, pillaging communities, raping women, enslaving human beings, colonizing for profit and power, stealing resources, causing generational devastation. And European nations continue to harm Africa.”

She added: “I believe that we have a great deal of work to do globally to eradicate what my father called the Triple Evils of Militarism, Racism and Poverty.

“I believe that language matters in that work. And that it is harmful for a global figure to express war as ‘alien to Europe.'”

Tusk Conservation Awards

William was accused of racism over comments he made about the impact of the on the environment in Africa.

He told the Tusk Conservation Awards in November 2021: “The increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces as a result of human population presents a huge challenge for conservationists, as it does the world over.”

Franklin Leonard, a movie executive and founder of the Black List, wrote on X: “‘There are too many Africans’ is quite the position.”

Bolu Babalola, the British author of Love in Color, wrote: “lol he is so hateful it’s actually funny.”

Welsh Football

Actor Michael Sheen, star of Good Omens and Frost/Nixon, accused William of expressing for the England soccer team while holding the title Prince of Wales.

England and Wales are both nations of the United Kingdom but Wales has its own culture, language and soccer team.

Sheen wrote: “He can, of course, support whoever he likes and as Pres of FA his role makes visit understandable—but surely he sees holding the title Prince of Wales at same time is entirely inappropriate? Not a shred of embarrassment? Or sensitivity to the problem here? #PrinceofWales.”

William was president of English football’s governing body, the FA, and had met the England squad before they flew to Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

In a visit to the Welsh Parliament, William said: “I’m telling everyone I’m supporting both, definitely. I can’t lose but I’ve supported England since I’ve been quite small. But I support Welsh rugby and that’s my kind of way of doing it.

“I happily support Wales over England in the rugby so I’ve got to be able to play, like, carefully with my affiliations. I worry otherwise if I suddenly drop England to support Wales then that doesn’t look right for the sport either. So I can’t do that.”

Marriage Gossip

In March, Stephen Colbert brought into the mainstream about Prince William’s marriage which had been denied by the palace years earlier.

The Late Show host said on air: “The kingdom has been all aflutter by the seeming disappearance of .”

“Internet sleuths are guessing” that Kate’s “absence may be related to her husband and the future king of England, William, having an affair,” he continued.

His comments came during a frenzy of social media speculation around Princess Kate’s absence from public life as she recovered from surgery in January 2024.

However, Colbert was the one left backtracking after Kate revealed days later that she had also later been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.

“When I made those jokes that upset some people and, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that,” the comedian said. “I mean, a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past, and I’m sure some of my jokes will upset people in the future. But, there’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”

Rift With Prince Harry

By far the biggest and most enduring scandal William has faced has been around the rift with Prince Harry and , which has had numerous installments over many years.

Perhaps the most serious allegations against William specifically came in Harry’s memoir, Spare, when the prince claimed his older brother physically attacked him.

“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me,” Harry wrote. “It all happened so fast. So very fast.

“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dogs’ bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me.

“I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.
‘Come on, hit me! You’ll feel better if you hit me!’

“‘Do what?’ ‘Come on, we always used to fight. You’ll feel better if you hit me.’

“‘No, only you’ll feel better if I hit you. Please…just leave.’

“He left the kitchen, but he didn’t leave Nott Cott. He was in the sitting room, I
could tell. I stayed in the kitchen. Two minutes passed, two long minutes. He
came back looking regretful and apologized.”

William, along with the wider royal family, adopted a blanket “no comment” position over Harry’s book and his claims within it.

Williams Brown is Regalrumination.com‘s chief royal correspondent, based in London. You can find him on at and read his stories on Regalrumination.com’s

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