Compared to many other members of the Royal Family, Prince William doesn’t always seem controversial. After all, he’s not abandoning royal responsibilities and his country like Harry is. And he’s never cavorted with the likes of Jeffrey Epstein, which is more than Prince Andrew can say.
But none of this means William is without controversy. In fact, the future King of England has more than a few ghosts in his closet that continue to haunt him to this day.
Which controversies are haunting William? Keep reading to learn some jaw-dropped secrets!
Ongoing beef with Harry
Prince William and his brother Harry have seemingly had beef with his brother Harry for many years now. According to the rumor mill, Meghan Markle is an ongoing wedge between these brothers. It’s only fitting, then, that she be part of one more lingering controversy between them.
When Harry and Meghan gave their bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey, the most shocking thing they said was that a senior member of the Royal Family expressed concerns about the skin color of Meghan’s unborn child! This prompted William to get in front of cameras and, as CNN reports, proclaim that “We’re very much not a racist family.”
The real controversy comes from the fact that royal expert Christopher Andersen told Us Weekly both William and Prince Charles felt Harry was acting “oversensitive” and was “overreacting” to the incident. The future King of England downplaying racism and mocking a defensive father and spouse is enough to make the entire country look bad!
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Insane comments about Ukraine
When you’re rich and famous, everyone expects you to have an opinion on various issues. So it was probably inevitable that someone would ask William about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But what William said next was downright shocking!
As Vanity Fair points out, William was quoted by various outlets as saying that war was “alien” in Europe, especially compared to African and Asian countries. This kicked off a multimedia and social media firestorm, with people pointing out the explicit connections between the Royal Family and Adolf Hitler.
Later, People reported that William was being misquoted and had actually said “For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe” while making no reference to Africa or Asia. But the damage was done, and the idea of William as an aloof royal with no real knowledge of his family history stuck firmly in the public’s mind.
Boys’ night out
We normally think of Harry as the party prince. But in 2017, William chose to party over his royal duties, and nobody has let him forget it yet!
Back in 2017, William was supposed to be getting ready for the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. The entire Royal Family attended except for William. Why no prince? Simple: as reported by the Daily Mail, William went on a ski trip to Switzerland with friends. There, he was photographed shooting Jägerbombs, flirting with young models, and demonstrating some of the worst dance skills on the planet.
This was most controversial in England because William’s family is effectively paid for by taxpayers. Therefore, seeing William shrug off his royal duties and getting paid to party left a bad taste in the mouths of many different people.
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Party daze
Prince William suddenly deciding to party hard in 2017 may seem out of character. But those that knew William when he was younger can tell you that he was just returning to his old habits.
Back in the late 2000s, William was dating Kate but apparently not ready for something serious. This culminated in an incident where William went to a nightclub and was photographed allegedly groping a woman’s breast. She describes this moment in the book William and Kate: A Royal Love Story, saying “I felt something brush my breast. I thought it couldn’t be the future king, but now that I’ve seen the picture, it’s no wonder he’s got a smile on his face!”
This was around the same time that the Daily Mail reports that William was flirting with a 19-year-old blonde woman who knew how to make Kate jealous. All of this adds up and William and Kate broke up before eventually getting back together. Somehow, we’re sure Kate won’t be telling stories of her husband’s loose hands in a nightclub to her grandchildren once she’s Queen!
Alleged affair with Rose Hanbury
Once William and Kate got back together, there were very few scandals regarding their love life. It seems William wanted to avoid any comparisons to his father, Prince Charles, whose previous affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles was the world’s worst-kept secret.
This is why the Rose Hanbury scandal is so shocking. As Marie Claire reports, Kate Middleton ended a friendship with Rose Hanbury in 2019 when rumors began swirling that William was having an affair with Rose. Eventually, the tabloid InTouch dropped the tea regarding this alleged affair. As reported by Celebitchy, InTouch reported that “William has carried a torch for Rose for years — he’s raised eyebrows with his comments about her grace … and even confided to pals that she was ‘the one who got away.'” The tabloid also claimed that “Kate immediately confronted him, demanding to know the truth about his relationship with Rose, but he just laughed it off.”
This would have been seen as little more than celebrity gossip if William hadn’t worked so hard to keep the rumors contained. The Daily Beast reports that William’s legal team kept trying to squash stories about the alleged affair, making the whole thing seem more legitimate.
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Ignoring COVID
On a good day, royals are meant to be inspirational people. When the public is scared or at a loss about what to do, they can always look to a leader. Unless that leader is Prince William!
When COVID was first popping off in 2020, countries like Scotland created very strict travel restrictions. But as Insider reports, William and Kate traveled all over that country in defiance of the COVID guidelines.
Even members of the Scottish government were warning William to give it up and go home. Instead, William doubled down and tried to claim that this was “essential travel” he was engaged in. To the outside world, though, this looked like nothing more than a taxpayer-funded vacation. And the fact that William went on such a trip when the entire world was locking down created a controversy that simply refuses to die.