The House of Windsor: Tabloid Edition Part 4
William the Last….. Extirpation of an Empire
Prince William of Wales. Born June 21st, 1982, and christened William Arthur Phillip Louis he is the oldest son of their royal highness’s Charles and Diana the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Tall and lanky he measures in officially at 6’3ft just a smidge of an inch taller than his younger brother.
Having been chosen by the fates to be born first William has spent his life in the ever-elongating shadow of the crown. Much like his father before him and has always been aware of his future role having been “molded” by those around him to fill the obligations of that role. Truth be told William was never given the choice as to whether he wanted to inherit the crown or not. He was simply told he would and that was that.
The British Monarchy is like that. Rather than chose the person who would fit the job best they just go with the line up. If you are fortunate or rather unfortunate enough to be the fastest swimmer the first-time round, then it’s all down to you. If you’re fortunate or unfortunate enough to be the fastest swimmer the second time around, then you get to be the second place, otherwise known as the Spare. Neither position is a good position to be in. There is too much on the shoulders of the first born and too much taken away from the second born. Both children end up growing up lacking in their childhood experience and completely lost in their adult position until they can ground their experience and find purpose.
Of the two positions the Spare is probably the best long term. The second born of the monarch learns to be more self sufficient. They aren’t coddled and brainwashed into thinking they are so much better than everyone else. The Spares are much less narcissistic than their peers. That doesn’t help them in the long run however as they tend to be very self conscious and have low self esteem. Many spares over the years have been chastised, ridiculed, tormented and bullied simply for being born “lessor”. George VI had a horrendous stutter as a child because of his position as spare. The one exception to the rule would be the lives of Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret. Elizabeth was never meant to be Queen. Her Uncle David was the heir and he by rights should have married, had children and continued another line.
What inevitably transpired was the King of England marrying a twice divorcee whose ex-husbands were still alive. Prior to 2002 members of the Royal family were not permitted to marry a divorcee or remarry after divorce if either of the ex-spouses was still alive. Let that rule sink in for a minute. Yes, we will eventually get more detail into that story.
In the end David didn’t care, he married Wallis anyway and abdicated. While he never fathered any children that was never an option once he had decided on Wallis as his wife. At this point of her uncle’s abdication Elizabeth was already 11 years old. Her personality and character traits for the most part was already developed. Margaret on the other hand was only six years old at the time and the sudden change from a quiet family life of four to Palace life, appearances, events etc. would have been a large shock to her day-to-day routine. Coupled with the arrival of the second world war it wasn’t the best environment for any child’s character development.
William on the other hand was coddled from birth by his parents, his nannies, staff and his grandmother and great grandmother. The spoilage meant that he developed a personality of entitlement that earned him the nickname of Billy the Basher at his nursery school as a lad. The nickname came about because he was very quick to physically slap, punch, hit, strangle and kick other students, and teachers. He repeatedly threatened to send knights to do away with classmates that weren’t of his liking (or rather who didn’t cave to his demands). Videos from press sessions and interviews with his family shortly after Harry’s birth show William hitting his mother and father both. Later videos of a much older Harry and William being photographed with their father also show William hitting Charles up the back of the head repeatedly. In Harry’s book Spare he relates two stories from later adult years where William physically assaults both himself and a long-time family friend during conversations that William escalated into arguments because they weren’t caving to his will.
As his adult years have progressed William has also been reported to be a bit of a drunk. Not a party drunk so to speak but a regular daily drinker. Friends have described William as One Pint Willi or a Good Clean Drunk. A clean drunk okay sure but a drunk, nonetheless. Stories of William’s heavy drinking have been hitting headlines for several years, well before the Queen’s death and Harry and Meghan’s move to the US. So, the press’s attempts to blame these events for the uptick in drinking is hardly fair. William hasn’t changed his habits; they were there all along.
Harry reported how his brother was still hungover and somewhat drunk meeting well-wishers the day of his wedding. Reeking of rum from the night before. Rumors of increased heavy drinking hit the headlines after accusations were made that William was cheating on Kate with Rose Hanbury. Videos from clubs, private pubs, ski resorts and parties have been slowly making their way to the public spere. While still the Duke of Cambridge William, friends reported would end his day with two beers followed by several large glasses of wine after dinner. Years on “friends” are still reporting evening drinking followed by kamikaze cocktails and vodka. Mike Tindall the husband of Williams cousin Zara was the family member who let loose to the public Williams nickname of One pint Willi stating that he gets very drunk very quickly on very little.
Recently the press has tried to really focus the blame entirely on Harry’s departure for Williams drinking but the fact of the matter is William has always been a heavy drinker. This isn’t anything new. In fact, its only gotten worse as he’s aged.
William’s drinking is a direct link to his trauma, his troubled childhood and his personality. Three things he would do well to get some professional help with… and not from Jim Bean. There is a very strong link between narcissistic personality disorder and Alcoholism. But before we get into that lets back it up just a bit.
August 31st, 1997. William was 15 years old. For the better part of his life he had been coddled, spoiled and allowed to simply be. Diana would not permit it to get out of hand, but Diana and Charles separated when William was 10 years old and divorced when he was 14. The extent of Diana’s control over Charles, Palace staff or extended members of the family such as the Queen or Queen mother was very limited after the separation. Charles was particularly vindictive during the divorce proceedings so much of what was agreed on as far as the children were concerned required special mediation.
The Queen for her part wanted to ensure that William was on the right course for the crown and had begun having lunches, teas and weekend visits with William at Windsor after he enrolled at Eton College which was close by. The Queen mother had been inviting Charles and William to Sunday teas every weekend for years. Harry was always excluded. One can’t help but wonder given what we know now about the difference in treatment between the two boys growing up particularly after Diana’s death if William might have turned out differently if family and staff had not gone so far out of their way to single out his “exclusivity” in Harry’s presence or to make such a big deal over his birth order vs. Harry’s. For as much as William knew he was heir to the throne from day one it was also made painfully clear to him and Harry that Harry was very much considered the back up plan. What was not made clear to William and likely should have been made clear to him was that throughout history the best “Kings” and “Queens” were the back ups… George V was the spare as were George VI, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II even Henry VIII was the spare. The most notable monarchs in history were all Spares. Not…. Heirs. Probably because the first born have disgustingly rotten attitudes, an air of entitlement and are lazy as all get out. That bit doesn’t seem to change from one generation to the next. Charles is quite narcissistic but not as severe as William. Probably the main reason they can’t stand each other most days. I’d venture to say Camilla is the other.
The other aspect of Diana’s death that should be considered is quite simply her death itself. It is a proven fact that the death of a parent is twice as likely to cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder particularly in children and adolescents. Not only were both Harry and William affected by her loss from their lives, but they were publicly paraded about then promptly dropped at school and forgotten. William perhaps less so as he had his luncheons and teas with the Queen and Queen mother at Windsor. While William was getting attention. He wasn’t getting therapy. And that attention no doubt did not involve discussions about his mother and limited contact from his father.
I’m not a fan of William’s. I think he’s a bit too full of himself. He has a terrible temper, he’s lazy, argumentative and entitled. He doesn’t connect with the people. But…….. there is a reason for it. There is no doubt that he also suffered from PTSD after his mother’s death. Perhaps less than Harry given his age and the amount of focus that is always on him. But he would have none the less.
The combination of PTSD along with Williams’ clear narcissism has if reports are to be believed, made him an alcoholic. This poses a massive problem. Not just to William and those in his circle but to the crown. And if the prophecies of Nostradamus are to be believed then this is very much the beginning of the end.
And it’s a scary slide…… stay tuned.
