William will be left to secure the monarchy’s future with fewer royals - and not by design

When Prince William eventually ascends the throne, he will inherit an institution that looks vastly different from the one his grandmother governed for seven decades.

While his father King Charles is currently at the helm – with the support of his wife Queen Camilla and siblings Princess Anne and Prince Edward – it is a vastly slimmed-down monarchy to what came before.

“Contrary to the misinformation that has spiralled out of control, there was very much a place for Harry and Meghan as senior working royals, and William and Catherine will have needed them in the long-term,” royal commentator Victoria Arbiter told nine.com.au.

“We have such a small pool, and now a lot is made about the King’s vision for a slimmed down monarchy.

“He’s actually never said that himself, but nature and attrition has done the slimming down for him. We lost the Queen [Elizabeth], we lost Prince Philip, we lost Harry and Meghan, and we lost Andrew.

“That leaves a huge amount of work on a very small pool of royals. They needed Harry and Meghan and there was a place for them.”

Read more

King Charles reunites with Harry, Meghan and grandchildren in long-awaited family meeting

Prince Harry is currently on a whirlwind UK visit and will reportedly be joined by the Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for the final leg.

The family of four met with King Charles and Queen Camilla on Friday, for the first time in four years, but Arbiter says a reunion with the Prince and Princess of Wales isn’t on the cards.

“With Charles and with William, we’ve got two very different situations,” she said.

“Charles is a man with cancer. He’s a father, and as any parent will know, a child is much faster to forgive a child for an indiscretion than a sibling would be.”

“For William, he drew a line in the sand the moment he married Catherine. This was years ago, but he said, ‘This is the line, we are never going to cross it in terms of our privacy and in terms of what is available to the press’ and he has guarded that fiercely.

“Harry betrayed him in the worst possible way at a time when his wife was sick. Now, Harry didn’t know that, but that adds another element to it as well.

“I think William has chosen the drama-free route. He has seen at this point that Harry and Meghan, forgive the phrase, but they are rather agents of chaos, and they have bulldozed their way into every situation. There is drama that follows them.”

Arbiter said even if Prince William wanted to reunite with his brother, this has been made impossible due to the “broader consequences” of having a relationship with Harry and Meghan.

Following their departure from royal life in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex repeatedly revealed intimate details of royal life and conflicts, resulting in issues of trust, and leaving the British monarchy permanently short of two working royals.

“When Harry and Meghan left, they didn’t even give a second thought to the consequences of the fact that in the future, when Charles and Camilla are sadly no longer with us, William and Catherine will be solely responsible for this thousand-year institution,” Arbiter added.

The future hope now lies solely with the Wales children.

This has resulted in the Prince and Princess of Wales carefully and cautiously steering Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight, towards their futures with the monarchy.

“I already see in Princess Charlotte a similarity with Princess Anne in her support of her older brother Prince George. She has a remarkable maturity about her,” Arbiter said.

“But where the Waleses have been smart is they have introduced their children to their royal responsibilities in safe controlled environments that have also fulfilled their interests.”