Prince William and Kate Middleton advised over 'difficult' family issue
Prince William and Kate Middleton have been cautioned that Prince Andrew and Prince Harry"should stand as a warning" regarding how they ought to raise their own three children, according to a royal commentator.
The future king and his spouse are parents to three youngsters - Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and seven year old Prince Louis. George is set to follow in his father's footsteps when he ascends to the UK throne.
However, royal experts at the Daily Mail suggested William and Kate are working to ensure his younger siblings don't mirror the trajectories taken by Andrew and Harry as troublesome 'spares' in the Royal Family.
The publication's Diary Editor revealed on the Palace Confidential podcast: "I think Andrew and Harry should both stand as a warning to Prince William and Catherine that how you treat that 'spare' is very difficult.
"We've seen in both cases I would say they've grown up with the wrong attitudes, with that bitterness, resentment from Harry, then in Andrew's case that sort of weird entitlement.
"From everything we've heard, William and Catherine are making real efforts to avoid that but it is hard in that sense when winner takes all type of thing," reports the Daily Express.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle dramatically stepped down as working royals in 2020 to carve out their own future in the United States. Harry has subsequently launched repeated attacks on his family through platforms including his explosive memoir Spare and the bombshell interview he and his wife gave to Oprah Winfrey.
Tensions continue to simmer between Prince Charles and his son, as well as the rest of the Royal Family.
Meanwhile, Prince Andrew stepped back from his royal duties following a disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, where he attempted to clear his name amidst growing rumours about his connection to convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In recent years, controversy has surrounded his occupancy of Royal Lodge, with Prince Charles seemingly eager to evict his brother, and his alleged ties to a Chinese spy.
Palace Confidential drew comparisons between the attitudes of Prince Andrew and the Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward. Richard Eden suggested their differing personalities are due to "character" as "they're different people and married different people".
Edward's friends reportedly said "he never changed that much, he's not arrogant and always behaved in a positive way". Richard also mentioned that Edward's marriage to Sophie has been beneficial.
The Daily Mail's Royal Editor Rebecca English added: "There's an element of where you come in the pecking order. As a younger child, so moved away from the line of succession, unless there was a major disaster there was no chance he would ever become king.
"He's growing up with different pressures, and as Richard says it does come down to personalities and the people around you."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Review Geek
31 minutes ago
- The Review Geek
The Invincible Swordsman (2025) – a fight film with an old-fashioned texture
The Invincible Swordsman – a fight film, the old-fashioned way Releasing August 19th in the US and other markets, The Invincible Swordsman is a Chinese 2025 fantasy film depicting a wuxia story of a student who gave up his path to stay true to his heart. Based on the novel, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, by Jin Yong, the long-loved story first appeared as a series in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao between 1967 and 1969. In Chinese, the title of the novel, Xiao Ao Jiang Hu, translates to 'a carefree life in a mundane world of strife.' And Linghu Chong is as carefree as they come, drinking fine wine – or crappy wine – at every possible moment. In fact, it's wine and song that gets him into trouble with two women, captivating them with this charm, in addition to his childhood friend. In a world with many stern faces and serious rules, he does have a cheeky little smile. After the wonderfully shot and choreographed, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In last Autumn, I was so ready for another Chinese fight flick. Yet, this film feels much older than it is, like rewatching a classic Sinbad film circa 1973 with a bit of remastering. But not much. Not only are the colors muted and the action scenes old-school, but the subtitles are weirdly quick and the voiceover occasionally out of synch. On top of all that, the story is tough to follow, aiming to crowd a whole series' middle novel into 118 minutes. The basics are still there. Cultivator-in-training Linghu would rather drink than fight, play music not study and make friends instead of enemies. Yet every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in. It's not that he can't fight – he can, and studies under a new master when he's kicked out of his old guild for rule-breaking. It's more that he doesn't see the point of fighting, choosing to study to improve himself and to befriend people with like interests, including music, travel, good food and plenty of booze. Starring Yuqi Zhang (The Double, The Outsider) as Dongfang Bubai, Tim Huang (Reborn, Creation of the Gods franchise) as Linghu Chong and guest starring Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Ip Man) as Feng Qingyang, the story hands us another warrior who can battle almost without thinking but chooses to avoid confrontation when possible. Plus he's got three women building expectations of him when he'd rather keep doing his wandering thing. It's terribly distracting as he battles to save his previous sect. Jin Yong/金庸, the pen name for Louis Cha Leung-yung, is well known in the wuxia world, as he created 15+ novels in the genre, selling over 100 million copies of his works worldwide. Linghu Chong was previously played by Jet Li in a 1992 version, a tough act to follow, paired with Brigette Lin as cult leader, Dongfang Bubai – Invincible East. Ultimately, this is a tough movie to follow unless you're familiar with the storyline. It feels messy, disjointed and lacking the slickness of typical modern fight films. But if you're keen, you'll be able to catch it via WellGoUSA or Prime this week. Planning to catch The Invincible Swordsman? Have you seen the Jet Li version? Love to hear your take in the comments below. Read more: Movie reviews
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper announces the birth of his third baby with adorable snap as he reveals little one's sweet name
Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper has announced the arrival of his third baby with his fiancée Taya, sharing the little one's sweet name. The farmer, 27, took to Instagram on Saturday to reveal that Taya had given birth to a baby boy named Ashton on Thursday evening. The couple are already the proud parents to son Oscar, four, and two-year-old daughter Willa. Sharing a photo of their son wrapped up in a blanket and a knitted hat, Kaleb proudly wrote: 'Baby number 3. everyone meet Ashton weighing 6.13lb born 14th august at 6:28pm at chipping norton maternity.' While he also posted another snap showing him tucking into a Chinese takeaway in the hospital while Taya cuddled Ashton. The experience farmhand added in the caption: 'Ps don't worry I bought the amazing midwife's a Chinese as well'. Kaleb's baby announcement came after Jeremy Clarkson already spilled the beans in his column for The Sun. The presenter revealed that his right hand man had become a father for the third time and also detailed the moment Taya notified him that she was in labour. Jeremy gleefully explained that Kaleb told her to hang on and he would be there as soon as he had finished harvesting the field. Despite quipping that the response was 'very farmerish', the Top Gear star went on to say that Kaleb still managed to finish in record time to dash off and be by Taya's side as they met the newest member of their family. However, Jeremy managed not to let slip the couple's choice of moniker, as he revealed that his own suggestion has quickly been shot down. He explained how he and one of Kaleb's pals had suggested calling the baby after the field where the farmer had been harvesting when the exciting call came through that Taya was in labour. But he went on: 'Nice idea, except for one small detail. The field was called Deadman'. Kaleb and Taya are childhood sweethearts having got together in 2016, with Kaleb then proposing on Christmas Day 2022 and the couple becoming parents in March 2021, with the arrival of son Oscar. Previously opening about becoming a father, Kaleb confessed he felt 'useless' during Oscar's birth, as he felt he didn't know what he was doing. He told The Times Magazine: 'It was f***ing terrible, because when I'm helping that cow, I know exactly what I'm doing. I can bring the calf around to the mum and so on. 'Now, when Taya was giving birth, I felt useless. I'm seeing her in pain having one of my kids.' Kaleb added that he was glad to have had children while relatively young, as he could still be 'energetic' when they were older. He said: 'I wanted a girl and boy, which I've got and am very grateful. Then when I get older I can go down the pub with them, or out on the tractors, and I can still be energetic.' Asked if he could be having more fun now, he said: 'I'll make all the money now, hopefully have a farm, then chill out, go partying and be in Ibiza, though I can't think of anything worse than being in a nightclub.' The proud parents are yet to tie the knot but Kaleb previously revealed that they've been planning since the birth of their second child and hope to walk down the aisle soon. While he sweetly paid tribute to his long-term love, gushing: 'My other half is the reason I am where I am today'.
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Prince William or Harry, who would you choose as the godfather?
Who didn't shrivel a little bit inside and think, 'Oh God, Poor Them' when they read that the Duke and Duchess of Westminster have been losing sleep over whether or not they can ask Prince William and Harry to be godparents to their firstborn child Cosima. It's not often that we can imagine what it's like being the Duke and Duchess lying in the marital bed at Eaton Hall, gazing up at the four poster canopy, but now we have a pretty accurate idea, right down to the bottle of Gaviscon on his bedside table, the intermittent heavy sighing and a lot of sentences whispered in the dark beginning: 'OK, let's not panic…'. I mean, where to begin? Even if the brothers weren't estranged and guaranteed to cause a bone chilling, side eye frost up at the font (this isn't like a society wedding when you could put one of them on a table in the north end of the marquee and the other one in the deep south and they need never meet) this would be a very testing moment for the Westminsters. In normal civilian circs couples get to the point of tearing their hair out deciding who is and isn't going to make the cut, even if it's a fontless, low-profile situation with barely a ceremony. The Westminsters are experiencing the horror of being a parent obliged to publicly choose the most important people in their lives — two of whom are extremely high-profile warring royalty — and their first problem is they probably can't have both. There are a limited number of these godparenting gongs to hand out (who knows what the decent number is for aristos but Prince George has seven godparents, which is probably a good gauge) which means the heir and the spare is almost certainly one Windsor too many. So how to choose which? Naturally Cosima's parents will want the brother who means the most to them, to reward their loyalty, acknowledge their suitability (because they're lovely to be around/great with kids/the future king) and then there are the pragmatic considerations. Is there any point having a godparent who won't ever be in the UK on account of his security issues and all his old friends' wives being very much not up for sharing hairdressers with Meghan? Is it a wise move when the brothers are on non-speaks, their mutual friends are more or less (minus a van Straubenzee) on William's side, therefore not speaking to Harry, and pretty much everyone apart from Princess Eugenie is in cold-shoulder mode. Choosing Harry as a godparent instead of William would at this point be a bit like picking Elon Musk when you could have Elton John. (They won't be asking Elton, that's one easy decision, and presumably Elton is closed for business now anyway because he has ten godchildren including Brooklyn and Romeo Beckham and Liz Hurley's son Damian.) The Westminsters will be asking themselves what will Harry be able to bring to the party as a godparent that William can't? Hmmm. Juggling and impersonations for sure, but on Zoom… not quite the same. Would have said cocktail-making classes down the line, but that's no longer guaranteed. Hands-on Africa experience trips. Again, less likely than they were. • Kate is downsizing — and living life on her own terms now On the other hand it's well known that a small part of choosing godparents is locking them in for the future. It's saying, 'We will be seeing each other in 30 years' time for better for worse, for richer for poorer and you'll be at my kid's wedding.' It's like marrying your friends in a small way and reminding them that they've made a vow of constancy and you'll be holding them to it. Maybe hooking in Harry at this point is the sensible and forward-thinking move. An insurance against things getting any worse on the royal family division front. An act of selfless peace making. Maybe not. Maybe they could send Harry a note asking if he minded being a gent and passing on this one and being godparent to the next one, perhaps adding that with any luck that one will be a boy and Harry can teach him polo. (The Westminsters have another problem if they're playing this by the book, and they probably are, besides too many applicants for too few positions, which is the rule of requiring more female godparents for girls and more males for boys — or at least an even split. All Damian Hurley's godparents are male but then Liz was making up for an absence of a father figure at the time. Two Windsors might just tip the male balance and force them to leave off a vital future Anna Wintour.) Last, but very much not least, on the list of headaches for the new parents: who else might they upset when they finally lay out their top team. There's the current King and Queen — they probably wouldn't mind either way if they picked Harry over William — they seem to be over it all and just desperate to be left to get on with the job. There's the future King and Queen — they probably would mind and think come on Hugh who's going to be there for you and who can get you into the royal box at Wimbledon and who wrote Spare? Poor Westminsters.
