Kate Middleton and Prince William’s mistake of hiding and staying silent will backfire

Five kings, eight queens, nine princes, 13 princesses, one empress, one grand duke, grand duchess, and the margrave and margravine of Baden.

This week, if you happened to stumble upon central Athens, you would encounter almost every high-ranking crowned head, titled European and Habsburg descendant left in charge of a dilapidated castle or a second-rate castle.

The reason was the funeral of the King of Greece, Constantine II.

It was the largest gathering of men and women whose ancestors had taken sides in the Napoleonic Wars since the annual pancake and board game night of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis, or the sad farewell of Queen Elisabeth last year.

But look at the photos, and there is clearly something missing, or it must be someone, namely the godson of the late King Prince William and his wife, the Princess of Wales.

As this who’s who of married monarchies squashed on the pews of a church in central Athens on Tuesday, AEDT, William, the most notorious member of the royal family, has been destroying dog bowls since Edward the Black Prince got mad at his poodle. was nowhere to be seen, appearing just Tuesday at a London charity that, ironically, helps resolve youth conflicts.

For William and Kate, their failure to appear in Greek was a big mistake. Huge.

Let’s start with the obvious: It hardly looks great at the very moment that Prince Harry completes his transformation from lord of lager to the most famous figure of royal dissent since the Roundheads got together and started using the same barber. . Most of this year thanks to his best-selling memoirs Sparethe California transplant service was busy with the fact that the royal family was emotionally retarded and myopic selfish.

For the Welsh, refraining from saying goodbye to King Constantine is unlikely to counter this message.

On Sunday, Kensington Palace announced that Lady Gabriella Kingston, daughter of the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, will officially represent William at the event in what is hardly a gesture of deep respect and affection for the late king.

In a way, replacing the 55th in line to the throne, whose wedding Wales didn’t even attend to pop orff and carrying the flag of Wales is actually more than a little bit more than sending no one at all. (The ever-gorgeous Princess Anne, with her signature steel pompadour and husband Sir Tim Lawrence obediently standing by her side, was there on behalf of King Charles.)

William doesn’t intend to, just looks… lazy.

Imagine the cacophony of chatty people who would criticize Harry right now if he decided to stay in Montecito to wallow in their infrared sauna, rereading Deepak Chopra or teaching Oprah how to play. Halo instead of rushing to the funeral of one of his godparents.

In addition, William and Kate really missed the trick by staying at home and not rushing to Greece.

The most harmful Spareif you get to the bottom of it, this isn’t a specific case of palace brawls or some frosty showdown in the royal garden among shorn corgis, but his general characterization of the Windsor family as pathologically self-serving creatures with all the innate warmth of a freezer. full of Paddle Pops.

Funeral photos show a visibly emotional Queen Anne Marie and Crown Prince Pavlos hugging Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (former queen of the country), King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Felipe of Spain and Queen Letizia, Prince Joachim of Denmark. other.

Seen in this touching titled mix, William and Kate would add a warm, humanizing element to their look at exactly the moment they needed it most.

Instead, they were nowhere to be seen.

So far, since the release Spareboth Buckingham and Kensington Palace maintained a complete and absolute vow of monastic silence, refusing to comment as Eitch was busy monetizing his nascent messiah complex.

While the palaces strategy so far has looked like a case of composure prevailing, however, this does not mean that they should completely sit back and naively hope that the world can get away from the planet Sussex and gravitational pull. its truth.

Rather, with King Constantine’s funeral, what William and Kate did was look the gift horse in the mouth at a golden PR opportunity and wander off in the other direction while Lady Gabriella was forced to hastily dig out the black hat.

For Wales, a quick injection of some pomp and grandeur would be the perfect ticket this week, giving them the opportunity to regally mingle and the headline writers to get to work on their repertoire of ‘Kate Stuns’ staples.

Never underestimate the power of a photo of a 41-year-old man wearing a damn expensive black coat and a handful of the late Queen’s priceless sparklers.

What’s more, after the last six weeks since early December, when Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex launched the Netflix series of the same name, the Sussexes have dominated the narrative.

That’s why the Prince and Princess of Wales so badly needs a chance now, and not just a short break at Klosters or a fresh supply of Tanqueray, to change the channel in terms of rhetoric.

If they went to the king’s funeral, it would give them a chance, at least for a short time, to regain control.

It would remind the world that when William and Kate aren’t throwing kids at netball or trying to reduce generational depression, they are real people who usually do an amazing job representing the UK on the world stage.

Harry has been busy harvesting (profitable) hay from his decades of – as he clearly sees it – abuse as a spare; what William had to do is essentially the same thing, and capitalize on his status as heir by hanging out with a clutch of kings and queens.

Unfortunately, this week the prince and princess are suffering the consequences of a Greek tragedy.

Daniela Elser is a writer and royal commentator with over 15 years of experience working with a range of leading Australian media outlets.