Prince William may be cross with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Queen Camilla, and a lot more people, but nothing rivals the clashes he has with his father that almost always end with the future king getting his way by putting his foot down and King Charles not having the option to not accept his decision.
The rumor that William is ruling the Royal family and making its decision has long ceased to be rumor uttered in whispers as his actions — especially when he swiftly cut down the expensive burden Camilla added to his life when she married Charles — have established that he is indeed the one making decisions, going as far as to even bend Royal protocol.
And reportedly, he has no qualms about showing his father his place, especially when he commits the mistake of questioning his son’s “tumultuous” history and the decisions about his family that stem from it.
The picture that has been painted of Kate Middleton and William’s relationship is that of a doting husband and father shedding his “nice guy” image — and even becoming publicly rude and disrespectful — when his wife or his children are insulted or their present or future is at risk. His dispute with his father arose over his desire to fly the helicopter, with Kate and his children onboard.
While the Royal rule dictates that Royal heirs can’t travel together — to avoid the scenario where a tragedy strikes and the monarch loses them at the same time — William refuses to be the father Charles was when he was growing up, without a proper family atmosphere what with the then-Prince’s affair with Camilla, his divorce from Princess Diana, and her sudden death. As per royal expert Hilary Fordwich, in a chat with Fox News Digital, he and Kate don’t want to refrain his children from quality time they can spend with him as other children do with their families as the Prince has first-hand experience of the “detrimental impact of putting work first when he was growing up. Their father-son relationship was strained in recent years.”
“Prince William craves normalcy after his tumultuous childhood. One of the great appeals Kate had for William was her stable family. Those closest to her have always shared that she and Prince William wanted the children to live ‘in the real world, not a gilded bubble.’
They want them to grow up having the same experiences as other kids.'”
Adamant about his decision, William’s desire to be with his children — Royal regulations be damned — turned into his final decision when Charles tried to dissuade him without understanding what prompted his son to break a decades-long rule. William’s refusal to change his mind led to a tense clash between father and son, with the King not-so-subtly trying to reclaim some ground by giving his son “a formal document acknowledging the risks involved and taking full responsibility for his actions” despite knowing that he is an experienced pilot.
But in the end, no matter how furious it made him or how he wanted to double down on what the Royal protocols said, Charles had to give in and be overruled by the future King as well as accept that while he allowed a lot to distance him from his sons, his heir won’t let history repeat itself.