Prince William is one of the most important people in the world. Not only is he a Prince of the Royal Family, but he’s next in line to become the King of England. That means that he typically avoids scandal, but when it happens, it quickly makes headlines around the world.
Fortunately for Prince William, some of his wildest and weirdest scandals have virtually slipped through the cracks, with most people forgetting them altogether. Unfortunately for the future King, though, we’re here to make sure nobody ever forgets these salacious scandals.
Ready for us to spill some royal tea? Keep reading to discover the scandalous Prince William moments he’d rather you keep forgetting!
Unintentionally causing security concerns
Prince William is understandably proud of his time in the Royal Air Force. His family has a rich history of military service, and it only seems fitting for a future King to have fought for the country he will one day rule. However, William once tried to show off some of his military exploits and ended up intentionally causing a major security concern.
In 2012, he uploaded a photo diary to his website so that devoted fans could see what life in the Royal Air Force was really like. Most photos were innocuous, featuring the Prince (he held the rank of lieutenant) chowing down at lunch or mixing it up with his fellow soldiers. However, other photos freaked out the Ministry of Defense because they revealed sensitive information, including photos of a secret document and a computer asking for a password reset.
The Ministry replaced the photos on William’s site, but only after countless tabloids published the original images. Just like that, the future King of England made a digital gaffe that his own Ministry of Defense worried could put the country in jeopardy!
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A naughty boys’ trip
When you try to think of a King Charles child who got in trouble for partying too hard, you’re most likely thinking of Harry, whose boozy boys’ trip to Las Vegas ended with tabloid photos of him naked and partying way too hard. However, Prince William, typically the more responsible of the two brothers, had his own boys’ trip incident in 2017. That was the year he stopped serving as a pilot and started working as a full-time royal, and a few months before that, he and some of his favorite lads went on a trip to Switzerland.
This caused a minor scandal because William was so busy partying that he missed out on the Commonwealth Day service (not a good look for a future King), but that wasn’t what really generated headlines. No, William was recorded doing the world’s worst dance moves at a club and wrapping his arms around a mystery lady. Reports also claimed that he danced with Australian model Sophie Taylor and wore her cowboy hat as a bit of fun.
As you might expect, this drew speculation that William had been drinking too much. Plus, it made everyone wonder how Kate Middleton felt, which later fanned the flames of the rumor (baseless as it was) that William was having an affair with Rose Hanbury.
A very casual work ethic
These days, it seems like Prince William is working harder than ever before. Ever since Queen Elizabeth’s passing, he has been one heartbeat away from the throne, and his duties as a working royal have been steadily increasing. Once Kate Middleton was diagnosed with cancer and began treatment, his workload increased that much more because he had to pull doubly during as a senior royal and take care of the kids while Kate recovered.
All of this hard work has made some forget his early reputation, though, as one of the lazier royals. The tabloids gave him some unflattering nicknames, including “Work-shy William” and “10 a.m. to 4 p.m. prince.” The chief ammo for this argument is that William didn’t attend as many engagements as many other royals. As NBC News reports, this caused the fierce anti-monarchy critic Graham Smith to dub the prince “an incredibly lazy man who manages to get a pretty small splashing of engagements to look like he is busy.”
Regarding the accusations, William has defended himself once before by pointing out that he was working as a royal, a pilot, a husband, and a father, all at once. And both he and Harry have pointed out that others create the schedule for these engagements, so it’s really not their fault if they don’t go to “enough” events to keep the haters happy.
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Dark accusations of racism
Sometimes, it seems like Prince William just can’t catch a break. After Harry and Meghan did an interview with Oprah and claimed that an unnamed senior royal worried about the skin color of Meghan’s children, William rushed in front of the nearest cameras to declare that “We’re very much not a racist family.” Just a few months later, though, William was at the center of a scandal that had people around the world calling him a racist.
As Newsweek reports, William stuck his foot in his mouth with some comments about Africa. “The increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces as a result of human population presents a huge challenge for conservationists, as it does the world over,” he said. That might sound innocuous, but many critics seized on the fact that William seemed to be suggesting that Africans were the problem. And when it came to optics, the prince of a very white nation claiming that the mostly-Black residents of Africa were a major problem to their own environment was a very, very bad look!