Self-interest is winning: Prince Williams low blow to sick King Charles revealed

There would be no British royal history without sneaky sons, sneaky fathers, sneaky uncles, brothers, friends, dukes, earls, French cousins and certain queens’ Machiavellian boyfriends angling to be the power behind the throne.But still, it’s another thing entirely to see it up-close and personal.Only now, this week, Prince William has gone and done a major new interview about his approach to ruling and has all but thrown his dear old dad King Charles under a London bus, implicitly saying his reign is a bit rubbish.Last week, the Prince of Wales was in South Africa for his Earthshot Prize and while there, he laid out his vision for when he becomes the top banana – a phrase that strangely you won’t find in the Magna Carta.He wants to usher in a new age of “small r” royalty, which sounds like something of a slightly meaningless phrase that is high on vibes and low on actual facts.(Does this mean they are going to do away with the footmen, and Prince George as Prince of Wales will be tasked with taking the Buckingham Palace bins out? Will all crests be removed from post boxes? Will King William hold meet’n’greet coffee mornings with the plebs at a rotating series of suburban Cafe Neros with palace-branded keep cups?)The details, such as they are, come via the Times’ Kate Mansey whom the Prince told of his blueprint, saying “I’m trying to do it differently and I’m trying to do it for my generation”.“And to give you more of an understanding around it, I’m doing it with maybe a smaller ‘r’ in the royal, if you like.So it’s more about impact, philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people,” he said.“I’m also going to throw empathy in there as well because I really care about what I do.

It helps impact people’s lives and I think we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world.So that’s what I’m trying to bring, that’s what Catherine is trying to bring as well.”All of this sounds swell an...