As the future King, Prince William has a huge amount of influence within the Royal Family. According to a royal biographer, the Prince of Wales developed "protective instincts" early on, and remains "determined to break the cycle of misery" he experienced as a child. But William's royal role hasn't always been obvious.
In the new book, William and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story, royal expert Russell Myers suggested that the prince experienced some growing pains when it came to finding a place for himself within the family. After leaving his RAF search and rescue pilot role in 2013, Prince William reportedly struggled to find a new direction.
"Courtiers dressed the announcement up as William entering a 'transitional year,' while carefully explaining that the prince would not necessarily take on any more royal duties," Myers explained. "But, behind the scenes, William's attitude had begun to frustrate his staff, with senior aides challenging him over the risk that he might be seen as lazy, given The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were still carrying out royal duties into their tenth decade."
Myers spoke to one former royal aide, who explained, "William seemed to have the attitude that his grandmother had given him a free pass to take his time in deciding what he wanted to do, which was not the reading of the situation from anyone else involved in trying to map out his affairs."
The former staff member continued, "We would gently ask him to consider taking on more duties or specific engagements, but he would immediately push back."
According to the royal aide, everyone was concerned about Prince William's lack of direction—except for the prince himself.
"There was an intense worry in the camp that he had no strategy for his long-term future and was continually putting off decisions over what direction he should take," the former royal aide explained. "When the annual list of engagements completed by members of the family would be published at the end of the year, it was pretty embarrassing, but it didn't seem to affect him one bit."
In 2026, Prince William seems to have established a clear role for himself within the Royal Family, and regularly conducts official royal engagements. As a result, it's almost hard to believe the Prince of Wales was ever unsure of the direction his life should go in.
