William Windsor, the Prince of Wales, is seen as the more respectable of the two royal boys—Prince Harry is the younger—but he’s had more than his share of what the press loves to call royal scandals over the years.
His frosty relationship with his younger brother is evident in Harry’s memoir Spare, in which Harry said that the royal family allowed his reputation to decline in order to preserve his brother’s reputation as the more respectable one.
The press, British and American, can’t get enough of royal gossip, and dig back into the past for events in royal family life that will sell because of their salacious nature. Prince William and Catherine “Kate Middleton” married in 2011 in Westminster Abbey, which was a welcome celebration after years of scandal involving the prince’s parents.
Charles and Diana’s 1981 wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral was one of the most-watched events in the world, and of the entire decade. William and Kate’s wedding was not such big news, but it had much of the same fairytale quality. Charles and Diana famously divorced in a quite public way, which was far over the line for the notoriously traditional British Royal Family.
Snoops have dug into William’s past, too, to point out earlier troubles in the relationship to his future wife. It is reported that in 2006 their relationship was in trouble, and William called her on the phone at the end of the year to suggest separating, and to say that he could not promise they would get married.
British tabloids also slammed William with the nickname “Workshy Wills,” criticizing him for what they thought was a very light calendar of royal duties. Apparently William made fewer appearances than other members of the royal family, but in fairness he was working for an air ambulance service during that period.
Eventually, William felt compelled to address the numerous criticisms in public. In a 2016 interview with the BBC, he said he knew that he would be a target of criticism his entire life, but that there’s a balance. He said he could neither “completely ignore” the smears, nor could he “completely” take them to heart.
More recently, the press is gabbing again about an affair William is alleged to have engaged in.
