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Prince William takes centre of royal stage
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-18 09:27
Prince William is to carry out his first solo public engagements on behalf of
the Queen, bringing to an end his time as a reluctant young royal.
Britain's Prince
William tumbles from his horse while playing against his brother Prince
Harry, centre, in a charity polo match at Birdlip, England, Saturday March
12, 2005. [Reuters] |
William, who will be 23
next month, will take part in wreath-laying ceremonies in Auckland and
Wellington in July to honour the 10,000 New Zealanders who died in World War II.
With the Queen celebrating her 80th birthday next year, duty now calls for
William, who will be expected to shoulder an increasing number of royal
engagements.
The Queen agreed that William, who leaves St Andrews University in Scotland
next month, should perform his first engagements in a country which Helen Clark,
New Zealand's Prime Minister, predicted in March would "inevitably" become a
republic.
A Clarence House courtier said: "Prince William will be performing his first
solo engagements with the full blessing of the Queen and the Prince of Wales. It
is an important opportunity to recognize and honour the important war effort of
the Commonwealth. William is proud to be representing the Queen at events to
mark the end of World War II."
William Arthur Philip Louis Wales will be guest of the British and Irish
Lions rugby team on their tour of New Zealand. The Lions' public relations
adviser is Alastair Campbell, the former communications director at Downing
Street.
The announcement from Clarence House comes only days after Jamie
Lowther-Pinkerton, 44, a former Special Air Service (SAS) officer, took up his
post as private secretary to William and his brother Harry.
Lowther-Pinkerton, the first paid official minder to the princes, was one of
the most highly rated officers in the SAS. He had been pencilled in as a
potential commanding officer of the elite regiment and future Director Special
Forces. The important task in the years ahead for Lowther-Pinkerton will be to
help William to make the move from a semi-private life to centre stage in the
House of Windsor.
By the time he was 23, Prince Charles was a veteran of the royal circuit. He
was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle when he was 21. He carried
out his first overseas solo engagement at the age of 19 representing the Queen
in Australia at the funeral of Harold Holt, a former Prime Minister. By contrast
William and Harry have carried out no solo engagements and while they were in
full-time education were protected to a degree from media intrusion under the
terms of a voluntary arrangement with the Press Complaints Commission.
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