In the political arena, you will often see people try to capitalise on the wrongdoings or failures of others.
For Prince William this week, at a time when his team want to show us he’s not afraid to speak out or question what’s happening in the world, it would have been easy for him and his advisers to try to draw comparisons between him and his uncle Andrew’s failings.
They didn’t. It is another point of difference with how the royals operate, and those in the political sphere, into which he stepped at COP30 in order to use his diplomatic soft power.
In fact, even try to ask palace sources about how William felt about the recent scandal potentially overshadowing his trip to Brazil and the response: “He was here for Earthshot and that’s what he’s delivered. He comes with no other agenda but to bring about positive change and you’ve seen the people of Brazil embrace him this week.”
For three days, we followed Prince William all over Rio de Janeiro and beyond – a welcome distraction after the most difficult few weeks for the Royal Family.
Even before the problems with his uncle Andrew, this was a royal tour with a big purpose. Every element – from volleyball on Copacabana beach, a kick around with a Brazil football legend, visiting mangroves off a remote island, his glitzy Earthshot Awards, to his carefully crafted speech for COP30 – was designed to show us more about the style and focus of the heir to the throne.
After everything that’s happened, it could have felt forced. It didn’t. Instead, it was a showcase. “This could have been difficult,” one palace source told me, “but you’ve seen the future king lead by example, keeping calm, carrying on, making real impact.”
As we filmed him talking to young environmental campaigners at Rio’s Maracana stadium, he knew our camera was close, and yet it felt like he wanted us to hear his thoughts on leadership, or the current lack of it, loud and clear. “If we wait for good leaders all the time, we’re going to wait a very long time, you guys are my hope…you’ve got the ambition.”
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Travelling about with him, it feels even more obvious how he wants to do things differently.
His trip to the island of Paqueta was just one example of how, for him, listening to people in those communities is more important than the bilateral meetings with political figures that mean so much to the government which sends him on these trips. Showing the “value of authenticity”, as one of his team put it.
And that approach appears to have paid off. The appetite for photos of him has been insane. If you scroll through socials, you’ll find shots of him looking over his hotel balcony during time off, and a video of him popping to use the public toilets at the ferry terminal in Paqueta.
Holding off the negative headlines appeared to be working as he headed into the big day of his Earthshot awards on Wednesday.
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But neither he nor we knew what was coming, and when you’re a member of the Royal Family there is always the occupational hazard of what may happen in other parts of the world.
Because, as he made his way to COP30, the UN’s climate conference in Belem, to deliver what was described to me as “the biggest speech of his life on the climate”, the US congress committee looking into Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were sending a letter to his uncle Andrew asking him to answer their questions about his links to the convicted paedophile.
As a man who, we’re told, wants to be seen as more socially engaged, you would maybe expect William to publicly acknowledge what has been an awful time for the monarchy. But there are two main reasons why he wouldn’t want to stoke the narrative around this story.
The first is an obvious one. It would, of course, overshadow his work. But then there is another potentially more personal one. For a man who’s talked a lot about this issue, he is possibly considering the mental health of his own family members.
We talk a lot about the institution, but this is a family that has had to grapple with one of their own having a serious lapse of judgement and facing the consequences.
We may never know the full emotional toll the revelations and the media coverage has taken on many of them. So yes, while William is increasingly taking on the responsibilities that come with being a global leader, in the end, what you have is a man who will always endeavour to put his family and their feelings first.
