The old adage that “Life begins at 40” may be true for the Duke of Cambridge as he gears up for a more prominent role in the decade ahead.
William appears ready to embark on the next step of his life in the monarchy that will ultimately see him become king after channelling his efforts into issues like mental health, homelessness and protecting the environment.
With the death of his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh and his brother the Duke of Sussex stepping down as a working royal, his position as a senior royal is even more pivotal and he appears to have played a part in the “family decision” to limit the Duke of York’s role at the recent Garter Day service.
William’s early life was overshadowed by the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales in a Paris car crash in 1997 and he still speaks about her influence, including how as a young boy she took him to a shelter for rough sleepers and introduced him to the issue of homelessness.
As a future king, a career in the Armed Forces beckoned and after graduating as an officer from Sandhurst he trained with the RAF and flew missions with the air force’s Search and Rescue Force, before later joining the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) as a helicopter pilot.
Supporting the mental health of the nation under the Heads Together initiative with brother Harry and Kate was one of his early projects, and later in life William has spoken about the effect on his wellbeing of flying rescue mission for the EAAA.
His flagship project to date is his ambitious Earthshot Prize – a 10-year £50 million initiative to recognise innovative ideas to repair the planet.
In the background there was turbulence within the royal family with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepping down as working royals for a new life in America, and the civil sexual assault case involving the Duke of York that left his reputation in tatters and still threatens to tarnish the royal family.
William was forced to publicly defend the monarchy against accusations of racism made by his brother, during his Oprah Winfrey interview, saying: “We’re very much not a racist family.”
William now appears set to take a more prominent royal supporting his grandmother the Queen and in time his father, the next monarch, in their duties as head of state.
