William And Harry Part 6

Chapter 18.

Shadow king.

The monarchy is something that needs to be there I just feel it's very, very important. It's a form of stability and I hope to be able to continue that.Prince William on his twenty-first birthday Kate Middleton sat at the kitchen table and turned the pages of the Sunday newspaper in horror. It was 19 July 2009 and in the Middleton household the mood was one of panic. As Kate's mother Carole boiled the kettle to make another pot of tea, William's girlfriend could only stare at the front page of the News of the World News of the World. I CALLED W WILLS A A F*** F***ER! was the headline above a grainy black and white picture of her uncle Gary Goldsmith preparing to snort a line of cocaine through a one-hundred-euro note, his oversized gut spilling onto a kitchen worktop. 'Tyc.o.o.n who boasts of hosting Wills villa holiday supplies cocaine and fixes hookers', ran the strap line. Gary Goldsmith had unwittingly invited two undercover reporters into his 5 million villa, the dubiously named Maison de Bang Bang, and told them all about his niece and her royal boyfriend. Worryingly, and rather embarra.s.singly for William's police protection officers who have to make a detailed reconnaissance of everywhere the prince stays, William and Kate had been guests at the villa on Ibiza, where Mr Goldsmith has his initials daubed in gold on an outside wall, in 2006. 'My first words to Prince William were, "Oi you f***er! Did you break my gla.s.s pyramids?" He and a pal had been throwing b.a.l.l.s around and broke all these ornamental pyramids I had loads of them,' recalled Mr Goldsmith.

Kate could not believe what she was reading. Her uncle claimed that she and William planned to get married at the end of the year and that Prince Philip had taught her to shoot: 'When William was away one Christmas, she was invited over.' He also boasted that he could score drugs and procure Brazilian call girls for visitors to the island.

The Middletons had always known that Gary was the black sheep of their otherwise faultless family, but they had never imagined how much trouble he was capable of causing. This was far more serious than when Kate's younger brother James had embarra.s.sed the family when he was photographed urinating in the street after getting drunk on his twenty-second birthday fortunately the pictures were only published in an Australian magazine.

Kate had received several messages of support that morning, including a call from William, who told her not to worry. Even Charles had rung to a.s.sure her it was a storm in a teacup that would soon blow over. Kate wasn't sure whether Charles had even read the story. He dislikes newspapers in general and only reads the Week Week magazine to keep him up to date. Upstairs Kate could hear her father packing. The family needed privacy, and the only place to get away from the media storm and the paparazzi camped on the doorstep of their home was Mustique. William's friends jokingly refer to the close knit family as the 'OM Middletons' meaning the 'On Ma.s.s Middletons' because they are always together, and it was en ma.s.se that they flew to the private island while the furore blew over. The Robinson family had once again offered the loan of their villa and the Middle-tons had gratefully accepted. Within a fortnight Kate would be back, tanned and on William's arm at the wedding of their friend Nicholas Van Cutsem. As Charles had predicted, the story had blown over, but as far as wedding bells between Kate and William were concerned, everything was on ice. magazine to keep him up to date. Upstairs Kate could hear her father packing. The family needed privacy, and the only place to get away from the media storm and the paparazzi camped on the doorstep of their home was Mustique. William's friends jokingly refer to the close knit family as the 'OM Middletons' meaning the 'On Ma.s.s Middletons' because they are always together, and it was en ma.s.se that they flew to the private island while the furore blew over. The Robinson family had once again offered the loan of their villa and the Middle-tons had gratefully accepted. Within a fortnight Kate would be back, tanned and on William's arm at the wedding of their friend Nicholas Van Cutsem. As Charles had predicted, the story had blown over, but as far as wedding bells between Kate and William were concerned, everything was on ice.

William had signed up for eighteen months of training with the RAF and there was simply no time to even think about a wedding. Besides, he had used up all his holiday that year skiing with Kate's parents in the French Alps and seeing the New Year in with Kate at his father's Scottish holiday home Birkhall. It was the first time the pair had been invited to stay with Charles and Camilla in residence, and Kate had felt very much at home. According to one aide she had laughed 'until she had tears in her eyes' when Camilla told her how much she hated the heavy moth-eaten tartan curtains that Charles refused to change because they were his grandmother's favourite. She had joined William and Charles shooting, and at the end of the day the four of them enjoyed family dinners. It was William's way of a.s.suring Kate that he was more serious about her than ever. Right now though his focus was on his course. He had graduated from flying a single-engined Squirrel helicopter to a double-engined Griffin and was proving to be an accomplished helicopter pilot.

He was based at RAF Shawbury, and although they managed to see each other most weekends their time together was fleeting. It was a difficult period for Kate, who was dividing her time between her flat in London and her parents' Berkshire home, where she still slept in her old bedroom. William had asked her to keep a low profile after their last visit to Boujis, and Kate didn't go out much these days. She had lost touch with many of her old schoolfriends from Marlborough, and most of their friends from St Andrews were married. Fergus Boyd and Sandrine Janet one of Kate's best friends at university had got married in May at the fifteenth-century Chateau de Boumois in the Loire Valley, but Kate and William had pulled out at the last minute. Their absence was the subject of speculation among their friends Alasdair Coutts-Wood, Olli Chadwick Healey and Oliver Baker, who they had lived with during their third and fourth year and who had recently got engaged to another St Andrews graduate. William was said to be concerned that the wedding would be full of guests they didn't know, while Kate was said to be dreading the inevitable 'When will you two be next?' question However, in the summer Kate's spirits were lifted. She had a contact at Harrods, who told her there was a vacancy for a buyer's a.s.sistant in the fashion department. Kate had always wanted a job in fashion, and was keen to pursue this new opportunity. 'It was discussed,' a senior source at the store told me. 'Kate is a regular shopper at Harrods and the chairman had an idea to approach her to do something but it never came to anything.' The Knightsbridge store is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, who has installed a shrine to his son Dodi and Diana in the lower ground floor of the store, and according to sources close to Kate she was worried that the job could turn into a potential PR disaster.

She kept as busy as she could at Party Pieces and raising money for the Starlight children's charity. In September 2009 she hosted a charity dinner at the Saatchi Gallery in London, which William attended. It was the perfect opportunity for them to step out together with Kate secure in her own role, but she refused to have her picture taken with William. Society photographer Dominic O'Neill remembers being asked to stay away from the event.

I got a note from the princes' office saying that Kate wouldn't attend the dinner if I was there. She was upset that I'd photographed her flat on her back at a charity roller-skating dis...o...b..cause the pictures had made the front pages. I've photographed her and the boys a lot at social events like the Boodles Boxing Ball but things have changed. There's definitely been a tightening up over the past year and I suspect it is all preparation for a royal wedding between William and Kate. The problem is they seem petrified about getting bad publicity. Kate used to be pictured coming out of Boujis all the time and she'd always be smiling, but not any more. William and Harry have both also grown up a lot. We don't see them falling out of nightclubs any more.

It was not just William and Harry who were increasingly wary of prying cameras. For the first time the Queen was also taking an active interest in the paparazzi, and before Christmas she met the Press Complaints Commission and a leading privacy lawyer in a concerted effort to protect her family and their friends. Every year the paparazzi stake out Sandringham and the Queen wanted the practice stopped. William, Charles and Harry all supported the Queen's intention to take action against newspapers if they printed pictures of the family in private situations. 'Members of the royal family feel they have a right to privacy when they are going about everyday private activities,' explained Paddy Harverson. 'They recognise there is a public interest in them and what they do, but they do not think this extends to photographing the private activities of them and their friends.' Inevitably the Queen's initiative triggered engagement rumours, but Christmas came and went without any photographs of the family on their traditional Boxing Day shoot and without news of a forthcoming royal wedding. There was, however, still huge interest in their holiday plans and on Christmas Day Kate Middleton was photographed playing tennis during a family holiday at Restormel Manor, a Duchy of Cornwell owned mansion complete with its own tennis courts in Cornwall. Fearful of the repercussions, none of the British newspapers printed the set of pictures which had been taken by Niraj Tanna, a well-known photographer who claimed he was standing on a public footpath when he took the images. When a German newspaper published the pictures Kate instructed the Queen's solicitors Harbottle and Lewis to pursue action on her behalf. Months later, in March she reportedly received 10,000 in damages for breach of privacy. It was a victory for Kate and the royal family, and a warning to the world's media.

As the Range Rover with tinted windows sped through the gates of Clarence House, Chelsy Davy hid beneath a blanket on the back seat. But there were no photographers: the late-night clandestine meeting had been carefully planned. Inside the palace Harry was waiting for her with dinner and a bottle of wine. It was early August and Chelsy was still tanned and relaxed from a recent holiday to Portugal. From her Facebook pictures, it had clearly been a great two weeks. One particular snap a candid shot of Chelsy in a swimming pool, sitting in a giant inflatable ring with a nightclub promoter called Dominic Rose had stuck in Harry's mind. Back in the UK, Chelsy had received a flurry of emails and texts from Harry. In fact they had been in constant touch since Valentine's Day, but until now there had been no talk of getting back together. 'Chels was devastated when they split up, but she knew they needed some time apart,' recalled a girlfriend. 'Initially she loved the attention that came with being Prince Harry's girlfriend, but she came to resent it. She's actually quite a private person and she hated the cameras following her all the time. Harry begged her many times to get back together he told her he had lost the best thing in his life but she stuck to her guns.' Now, after a summer of meaningless flings, they realised they had missed each other, and over drinks they decided they would give their relationship another chance. Chelsy stayed the night for the first time in months.

On the night of Harry's twenty-fifth birthday they were together again at Raffles nightclub on the King's Road. Chelsy had cooked dinner for them before they sneaked into the club un-noticed. They had spent the night drinking vodka Red Bulls and at one point hit the dance floor together before leaving separately at the end of the night. The ruse fooled no one, and by October their secret was out. Harry and Chelsy were pictured leaving Beach Blanket Babylon, a fashionable bar and restaurant in west London, where they had spent the night celebrating. Harry had pa.s.sed the the latest part of his helicopter course and was just one step from getting his wings. As they sat in a private booth sipping p.o.r.n Star Martinis, a c.o.c.ktail of vanilla vodka, pa.s.sion fruit and champagne, they discussed their futures. Chelsy had decided to defer her trainee solicitor's job so that she could take another gap year the fact that they were prepared to give the relationship another chance when they would be thousands of miles apart was testimony to their closeness. Harry had inherited 6.5 million of his late mother's fortune when he turned twenty-five, and when he treated a group of friends which included Natalie Pinkham to a water safari in Botswana in October, Chelsy didn't object. She was once again wearing the topaz ring Harry had given her, safe in the knowledge that this time they were both committed to making things work.

The Way Ahead group had met in summer 2009 as it always did in the Queen's private sitting room at Balmoral. Privately Charles referred to these twice-yearly meetings as the 'trailing behind group'. When the Way Ahead was started by former Lord Chamberlain the Earl Of Airlie in 1994, it was suggested that the in-house forum should consist of the Queen, Philip, Charles and their private secretaries, but at Philip's insistence Anne, Andrew and Edward also sit in on the meetings. Male primogeniture, royal marriages to Catholics and public access to palaces are all regular subjects on the agenda, but according to one of the Queen's aides, Charles would much rather discuss how to save the planet. The Queen and Prince Philip keep the focus very much on the family and getting the young generation to think about the future. Philip traditionally chairs the committee and there is always a two-fold plan, the immediate future and the long-term future, which Charles steers away from as much as possible. It's the same when he meets with the private secretaries. When issues like the Queen's funeral come up, he refuses to discuss it because he considers it 'impertinent'. It can make the meetings very tense.

William has been attending the meetings for several years and now Harry sits in too. He may be the spare, but William has made it clear how much he depends on his younger brother, and the Queen recognises the importance of Harry in shaping the future of the House of Windsor. The purpose of this particular gathering was to discuss the Queen and Philip's overseas engagements over the coming months. The Foreign Office had pencilled in trips to New Zealand and Australia, Bermuda and Canada all in the s.p.a.ce of several months, and the Queen was concerned about the number of long-haul trips in her diary. She was eighty-three and had carried out 400 official engagements including two overseas tours the previous year, but the trips were perhaps beginning to take more of a toll on the eighty-eight-year-old duke, who had been troubled with ailments. In April 2008 he had spent a fortnight in hospital with a serious chest infection, and that February the Queen had cancelled a state visit to the Middle East because she and the duke had 'too much on their plate'. It was the first time she had abandoned a trip because of her workload.

It had already been agreed that Charles and Camilla would represent the Queen on the visit to Canada in November 2009, and because the Prince of Wales would be away for Remembrance Sunday it was decided there and then that Harry would lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in his father's place. This was entirely appropriate it was after all nearly a year since Harry had served on the front line. The Queen and Philip were determined to go to Bermuda to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the island's settlement by the British at the end of November, but the New Year trip to New Zealand and Australia was still undecided and now was an opportune moment to propose that William should go. The Foreign Office was in full agreement; now it was down to William. He had last been Down Under in 2005 after he graduated from St Andrews, and to his grandmother's delight was enthusiastic about the idea of returning. There were some logistics to sort out because of his commitments with the RAF, but there was a break between him graduating from RAF Shawbury and going to RAF Anglesey in Wales after Christmas.

By October all the plans were in place. Clarence House was keen to keep the trip a secret as sending Prince William in place of the Queen was a momentous decision that needed to be carefully presented. The story had all sorts of implications. Prince Philip had started to cut down on his public engagements after his eightieth birthday; was the Queen now finally starting her retreat from public life? It was highly significant that she had asked William rather than one of her children to represent her. So was this the start of William's career as a fully paid-up member of the firm? When the Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday revealed the plans for William to travel to New Zealand in the Queen's place in October, Clarence House declined to comment such was the sensitivity of the scoop. William had already let it slip to an Australian tourist in July that he was heading to the southern hemisphere during an engagement at the Tower of London. 'I'm visiting there soon,' he told Camilla Doyle a fifteen-year-old from Melbourne. revealed the plans for William to travel to New Zealand in the Queen's place in October, Clarence House declined to comment such was the sensitivity of the scoop. William had already let it slip to an Australian tourist in July that he was heading to the southern hemisphere during an engagement at the Tower of London. 'I'm visiting there soon,' he told Camilla Doyle a fifteen-year-old from Melbourne.

When the Palace eventually confirmed the state visit there was much speculation on both sides of the globe about how William would be received. Opinion polls showed that 40 per cent of New Zealanders and 60 per cent of Australians were in favour of republics, and there were already stories in the local press about the 88,000 bill to taxpayers for William's security. Sending William was a way of testing the water. Charles and Camilla's reception in Canada had been lukewarm. Camilla had caused controversy by wearing a real rabbit fur stole, and when the prince and d.u.c.h.ess toured the country's oldest permanent English settlement they were greeted by a crowd of just fifty people. Although swine flu was blamed for the poor turnout, the suggestion seemed to be that the Canadian public had yet to embrace Camilla as their future queen.

Such a reception in New Zealand and Australia was potentially disastrous for the monarchy and it was forward thinking on the Queen's part to send William. It was also a key step in a behind-the-scenes plan to move William to the centre of the public stage alongside his father. Although the Palace strenuously denied that the Queen was planning to cut back her public engagements, she had issued instructions to private secretary Christopher Geidt and trusted aide Robin Janvrin. According to one of her key advisers, 'She has two subst.i.tutes on the bench, Charles and William, and she wants to use both of them.' It was not an unreasonable strategy, and plans were already being drawn up for William as well as Harry and other members of the family to be involved in the diamond jubilee celebrations of 2012, thus easing the pressure on the ageing royal couple. According to Her Majesty's dedicated team of staff, the Queen's brief in the run-up to her diamond jubilee is clear: 'Do not overburden me.'

Then in December, just weeks ahead of William's state visit, the Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday obtained a confidential Treasury doc.u.ment which for the first time revealed plans for William and Harry to undertake engagements on behalf of the Queen. The papers referred to spring 2009 and had been submitted ahead of the April Budget, but the message was simple and clear: 'from next year, it is expected that HRH Prince William will spend a significant part of his time on official engagements'. In another uncensored paragraph the doc.u.ment stated, 'The Princes (William and Harry) will increasingly incur expenditure when undertaking engagements on behalf of The Queen.' The doc.u.ment had been obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and essentially concerned tax arrangements in relation to Prince Charles and the new office that he had set up for William and Harry that year. The idea had been that Charles would receive tax relief worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by allowing him to deduct his sons' official expenses from his tax return. The doc.u.ment, written by Chancellor Alistair Darling's Treasury officials, had been blacked out in certain sensitive parts, but the obtained a confidential Treasury doc.u.ment which for the first time revealed plans for William and Harry to undertake engagements on behalf of the Queen. The papers referred to spring 2009 and had been submitted ahead of the April Budget, but the message was simple and clear: 'from next year, it is expected that HRH Prince William will spend a significant part of his time on official engagements'. In another uncensored paragraph the doc.u.ment stated, 'The Princes (William and Harry) will increasingly incur expenditure when undertaking engagements on behalf of The Queen.' The doc.u.ment had been obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and essentially concerned tax arrangements in relation to Prince Charles and the new office that he had set up for William and Harry that year. The idea had been that Charles would receive tax relief worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by allowing him to deduct his sons' official expenses from his tax return. The doc.u.ment, written by Chancellor Alistair Darling's Treasury officials, had been blacked out in certain sensitive parts, but the Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday had been given an uncensored version. had been given an uncensored version.

For the first time here was tangible proof that within the corridors of Buckingham Palace a handover of power was beginning. The revelations suggested that William was being lined up as a 'shadow king', and fuelled speculation that the crown could skip a generation when the Queen dies, pa.s.sing directly to William. It was certainly not the first time this theory had been aired, but the Palace seemed horrified and reb.u.t.ted any such suggestion: 'There are no plans for the Queen to carry out fewer engagements and there are no plans for the prince to take her place.' Prince William's press officer also waded into the row: 'Prince William will not be "shadow king". Over the next few years Prince William will be concentrating primarily on a military career while also slightly increasing his charity patronages and the other interests he pursues.' The article had clearly rattled both Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, and as is always the case with such stories, there was no smoke without fire. The doc.u.ment may have been a few months old, but the fact that William and Harry would be undertaking engagements on behalf of the Queen was there in black and white.

Privately William was worried. In the past he had made it clear that he did not want to be hurried into a life of royal duty. 'There are obviously areas that I am being pushed in to do but I can be quite stubborn if I want to,' he had said in his final year at St Andrews. 'I'm very much the person who doesn't want to rush into anything without really thinking it through. It's not that I never want to do it, it's just that I am reluctant at such a young age, I think anyway, to throw myself into the deep end.' He may have made the comments six years before, but he felt the same way now. According to his aides he was also upset by the suggestion that he might in some way be trying to leapfrog his father. William could not think of anything worse. While he was destined to be king, it was his father's turn first, and William had more immediate concerns. He had set his heart on becoming a search and rescue pilot it was his dream, and he was not prepared to give it up. He also had his charitable commitments to factor into his already packed timetable. He was happy to represent his grandmother and in no position to question her requests, but he was still not ready to become a fully fledged ribbon-cutting royal.

As the scheduled Air New Zealand flight taxied on the runway in Auckland, Prince William folded away his newspaper and took a deep breath. The coverage ahead of his arrival had divided editorial commentators, who were expectant, curious and pessimistic in equal measure. The Sunday Star Times Sunday Star Times had described the monarchy as rotten, with Charles labelled a 'prat who cheated on his glamorous young wife from the start of his marriage'. William was not discouraged, but he was tired. It had been just forty-eight hours since he had graduated from RAF Shawbury, where once again Kate had been there to support him as he received his helicopter wings. Now he was on the other side of the world and had an intensive five-day tour ahead of him, which Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton had described as a chance for him to 'learn the ropes'. had described the monarchy as rotten, with Charles labelled a 'prat who cheated on his glamorous young wife from the start of his marriage'. William was not discouraged, but he was tired. It had been just forty-eight hours since he had graduated from RAF Shawbury, where once again Kate had been there to support him as he received his helicopter wings. Now he was on the other side of the world and had an intensive five-day tour ahead of him, which Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton had described as a chance for him to 'learn the ropes'.

The prince had wanted the trip to be as informal as possible, and when he wasn't required to be in a suit wore his favourite brown cords and an open-necked shirt. He didn't want to be entertained at fussy state dinners; instead the emphasis was on barbecues washed down with bottles of beer. The state visit got off to an auspicious start in Auckland, when William met the All Blacks at the Eden Park Stadium. After that he enjoyed beer and sausages with Prime Minister John Key. The next day he was in Wellington to carry out his first walkabout at the new NZ$80.2 million (36 million) Supreme Court building in Wellington. The excitable crowd of 2,000 that turned up to meet him was far bigger than William had expected, and as he shook hands and chatted happily to well-wishers it was hard not to think of Diana. The Prince of Wales's fresh-faced bride had won over the New Zealanders the same way when she visited in 1983 with the baby William. As a grown man it was evident that William had inherited his mother's empathy although he was loath to admit it. 'I would not say I was anywhere near her level,' he told locals at a children's hospital in Wellington. With his thinning hair he was beginning to resemble his father more than his late mother, but his personality and warmth were winning a.s.sets, and his team of advisers knew it. He had all the humility of his father when he greeted Maoris with the hongi, the traditional pressing of noses, and he knew how to deal with awkward moments. When he landed in Sydney and visited a community centre, William handled with aplomb a six-year-old girl who asked if his mummy had died. 'Yes, she did,' he said bending down to her height. 'It was pretty sad.'

The Australian press concluded that William had the common touch even though it occasionally meant he came in for criticism. When he chatted to four rappers in front of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, William said that he had 'the p.i.s.s taken out of me for my taste in music'. This colloquialism was viewed as a step too far by some, but despite the faux pas, William had more admirers than detractors. Even the secretary of the Republican Movement Mike Smith declared, 'He's a nice chap.' When he arrived at Government House in Melbourne at the end of his tour he was again swamped by female fans, one of who fainted when he arrived. Like his father, William has been kissed count-less times by female admirers. These ones waved 'We Love Wills' banners and cried out for the prince's autograph. When one elderly woman asked when he planned to marry Kate, William coyly replied 'As I keep saying, just wait and see.' It was a surprisingly playful response a tease from a young man who loves to keep the papers and his public waiting but there would be little need to wait and see when it came to the verdict on his tour.

The tabloid Herald Sun Herald Sun printed a collector's souvenir edition and a front page that said it all: M printed a collector's souvenir edition and a front page that said it all: MUM W WOULD B BE P PROUD. Back at St James's Palace, the debrief could not have been better, according to one senior aide. 'We were absolutely delighted with the tour: all the feedback we had was so positive. William did what he set out to do, which was to meet as many people as possible and, yes, they warmed to him more than we could have hoped.' At Buckingham Palace the mood was one of delight, but the very fact that the trip had been such a success posed a problem. Might William's charisma eclipse his father's too soon? And with Kate by his side, might this royal couple overshadow one that has always been controversial but which remains next in line for the throne or thrones? Male primogeniture dictates that Charles will be the next king, but while the public have warmed to Camilla over the years they have yet to accept her as their queen. Charles has still not been fully forgiven for his past mistakes, and at sixty-one one wonders how much he can change. It is thirteen years since Diana's death but the memory of the late Princess of Wales lives on, not least in her sons.

And as they move into adulthood those sons are forging their own lives and pushing at the boundaries of their royal birth. In New Zealand and Australia William was a breath of fresh air, just as the Queen expected. He was youthful and charming and, many argued, more appealing than his father. His presence and his words evoked thoughts of a future in which Charles already seems too old. William is a young man thinking of his future, thinking of his career, thinking of his responsiblities, thinking of holding on to what freedoms he can. Thinking, his comments suggested, of marriage. He had never publicly acknowledged his long-term girlfriend as openly as he did to that elderly fan in Australia. But the truth of the matter is that William wasn't only being coy when pressed over his intentions. He just wasn't sure.

When he returned from Australia in late January, William began an eight-month long Sea King Operational Conversion Unit course at RAF Anglesey in Wales. He spent several weeks completing the Sea King ground-school course at the Royal Navy Air Station Culdrose in Devon in March, which he pa.s.sed, and in April Clarence House confirmed the prince would be posted to RAF Valley if he successfully completes his training in September. RAF Valley had been William's first choice out of all six of the Search and Rescue units in the UK. It is his hope that he will pa.s.s the course in September and join Number 22 Squadron as a fully-qualified pilot flying the Sea King 3A helicopter. In June he will represent England at the World Cup in South Africa in his official capacity as president of the FA and plans are currently being drawn up for him to visit Botswana to promote the work of the Tusk Trust and travel to the kingdom of Lesotho with Harry. For now Kate has little choice but to wait. Shortly before Christmas Kate's mother, who is said to keep a picture of William on her mobile phone voiced concerns about William's reluctance to propose. According to one source: 'Carole felt like she was treading water as far as her daughter's relationship was concerned. She put some pressure on William to let the family know where it was all leading. William spoke with her and a.s.sured her that the relationship was very much on track and that there will be an engagement soon. Carole has backed off for the time being.' As far as Kate is concerned, William has a.s.sured her she is the one, but the headstrong prince has made it clear that he will not be hurried to the altar. 'I really want to be in control of my own life,' he once said. 'If I don't agree with what someone's saying or someone's pushing on me, then I won't do it.'

Charles is also said to be reluctant for William to hurry into a decision. 'Before he left for New Zealand and Australia Charles told him to have a good time. By that he meant enjoy himself, like Charles did when he went to Australia. Charles likes Kate very much but he is concerned that William has only ever had one serious long-term girlfriend,' said a family friend.

When and if William marries Kate, it will be on his terms alone. For the time being, the fevered speculation continues. According to one close to the prince: 'When it comes to Kate and William and a wedding date, there's only one thing you can safely put your money on. If the truth about any date ever did leak out, he would change it.' According to close friends, William and Kate are secure in the pact they made in the Seych.e.l.les and which they reinforced at the end of last year. 'As far as they are concerned they are as good as engaged and enjoying their lives as they are at the moment,' one of their friends told me. William's inner circle believe that a royal engagement could be announced before the end of the year and if the couple's tactile body language during their recent skiing trip to Courchevel in March 2010 was anything to go by, it seems a probable timeline. As he had the year before, William joined Kate and her family in the French Alps for a skiing holiday and was so comfortable with the Middletons it was reported that he affectionately referred to Kate's father Michael as 'Dad'. William and Kate were photo -graphed racing around the ski resort on a snowmobile in matching 'his and hers' red salopettes and enjoying dinners at local restaurants in the picturesque town. 'He loves being with Kate and her family on holiday and he deliberately called Kate's father "Dad" because it was a tongue in cheek reference to the a.s.surance he gave Carole just before Christmas,' explained one of William's friends. 'The holiday was very low key and relaxed. Kate's family is very normal which William loves. They make him feel incredibly comfortable and William and Kate are really happy at the moment.' If all goes to plan, William, who turns twenty-eight in June, the age to which he gave unwitting importance when he announced he was 'not going to get married before I'm twenty-eight' will graduate as a search and rescue pilot this summer. Those who know Kate say she has braced herself for the life of a service wife in Anglesey and what could be more appropriate for a possible future Prince and Princess of Wales? William has already rented a cottage on the island which may well be their first marital home. Kate knows what is expected of her and will behave accordingly. She loves William deeply, and if that means being away from her family to spend the first years of her marriage to the future king on a windswept RAF base in Wales, then that is what she will do.

One thing is certain: when William is finally ready to ask for Kate's hand in marriage, the Palace PR machine will swing into action. At St James's Palace possible dates in 2011 and 2012 have already been earmarked for a royal wedding. William and Kate are both privately said to be reluctant about a state wedding, but as a friend of the Queen's commented to me, 'The Queen loves a wedding and she will be involved and consulted at every point.' Whether William chooses to follow in his parents' footsteps and marry at St Paul's Cathedral, or Westminster Abbey, from where his mother made her final journey home, or St George's Chapel in Windsor, the wedding will be a momentous occasion. Like Diana, Kate will be centre stage from day one of her new life as a princess.

Royal weddings may seem like fairy tales to the public, but they are in fact all about timing and coordinating diaries. Some courtiers believe that the diamond jubilee celebrations may be opportune. By then William will be thirty, the age he famously said he was likely to marry, but will the Queen want to share her diamond year with a wedding as well as the Olympics? Many, like d.i.c.kie Arbiter, believe that 2011 is a safer bet.

I'd expect a wedding at the earliest in 2011, and I think it will be a very great thing for the royal family. It's almost too late for William to turn back now with Kate; they have come this far. If he was to find someone else, he would have to go through the entire courtship process again. He's known Kate for a long time and the royals traditionally stay with women who have become entwined in their lives. Look at Charles: he knew Camilla for thirty years. It's not necessarily about habit, but these women who know their lives inside out are a comfort zone.

But of course it all depends on William. He has made it clear that he wants his career in place before he commits to Kate, something his aides agree on. Learning from the past, they want William established as a public figure in his own right before he marries Kate, who is just as glamorous and intriguing as Diana. For the time being it has been decided by courtiers that Kate should keep a low public profile and stay out of the limelight. William has also learned lessons from the past. His father agonised over how to live his life as king-in-waiting, which is largely why William has been so determined to have a career in the RAF. He wants to have a sense of purpose, not just a sense of duty. When he announced he was going to join the Royal Air Force he surprised everyone, but it was a canny move which has bought him more time to enjoy a 'normal' life. The RAF will have invested nearly 1 million in the prince by the end of his training and will want their money's worth. Senior RAF sources predict William will serve for at least three years, possibly longer.

It is a commitment that suits William. Given the longevity and good health of the Windsors, he has every reason to believe it will be some time before he is king, and he has no intention of standing idle. His dream is to fly Sea Kings and be a real-life rescue prince. As for his girlfriend, William still stands by the pledge he made to her in Desroches and which he re-affirmed at the end of last year. She may hate her nickname Waity Katie, but I suspect Kate, who has proved herself to be the most loyal of consorts, will not have to wait much longer.

Being royal whether born or marrying into it is always, in part, a waiting game. For Charles, the oldest Prince of Wales in history, the wait has been long and continues. The Queen is in good health. She may well have another decade on the throne, and one has to wonder how effective a ruler Charles will be then. He is finally being recognised for his tireless work with the Prince's Trust for the young and disadvantaged, and celebrated for his global campaigning, While he was once ridiculed, the prince has been proved right in many of his arguments for preserving British agriculture and traditional farming methods. But he still has a reputation for meddling in political issues and interfering with planning applications that should not concern him. An avid letter writer, his personal correspondence and the diaries he writes and sends out to a select group of politicians and influential friends have landed the royal family in controversy most notably the time he referred to the Chinese as 'appalling waxworks' during the handover of Hong Kong.

Whether Charles is fit to be the country's next king continues to divide the nation. But it will be down to him, and then William, to justify the existence of the monarchy. 'The world is changing, as everybody knows, and we've changed with it,' Harry once observed. 'I think everybody can see that.' His confidence is touching. It is true that, when set against their forebears, William and Harry, at least, stand apart. As siblings they have a closeness that their father never enjoyed with his own brothers and sister. Harry wants to be more than just the spare. He wants to take on more official engagements, as he demonstrated when he carried out his second solo visit to Barbados several days after William returned from Australia. His willingness to share the load with William will no doubt be to the benefit of them both. My personal view is that Charles will be king, but William is the true future of the monarchy and the key to the success of the royal family.

The boy who rattled around the corridors at Balmoral, b.u.mping into skirting boards and playing merry havoc with stuffy notions of decorum, who stood on unfamiliar school steps as anxious as any new boy, who suffered a near-unbearable loss and carried himself with dignity beyond his years, who has won over hearts and no doubt broken a few that boy, now a man, carries more on his shoulders than most would care to imagine. But he doesn't carry it alone. Through most of his life and most of the moments that have shaped him and with him the future of the royal family Harry has been and remains by his side.

The tutelage William received from his grandmother more than ten years ago is being updated, refined. The look on his face as he posed next to the empty throne in Government House in Melbourne said it all. It was an echo of the feeling of awe he tried to convey to his friends many years ago on a mountainside in Chile. In reality it is an emotion that words cannot capture. He knows the task ahead of him, and he is slowly preparing himself for it. Harry's future is less certain, his role less defined something which must at times be both liberating and troubling. For the time being, both William, shadow king, and Harry soldier, confidant, brother are happy being exactly where they are. Once they were the reluctant heir and his wayward spare. Now William and Harry are the House of Windsor's most valuable and most powerful a.s.sets.

Acknowledgements Andrew Morton, arguably the most controversial royal biographer of all time once wrote: 'The eternal problem facing royal writers is that of authenticity. How to convince the world of the truth of your account, and the veracity of your sources when so many interviews are conducted on a confidential basis.' My entire career as a journalist and royal reporter has depended on sources, none of whom I have ever been able to name or acknowledge. Understandably you all wish to remain confidential and it is my duty to keep you so. Please know that I am indebted to every one of you thank you for all your time and trust. Without you this book could never have been written.

Some of the contributors to this book, however, have kindly agreed to be named. I would like to thank the Queen's cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson for generously sharing her wealth of knowledge about William and Harry's early lives. Having worked closely with the Prince and Princess of Wales for many years I must also thank d.i.c.kie Arbiter for his time, memories and archive footage. I would also like to thank Camilla Fayed for agreeing to speak with me about the summer of 1997 for the very first time.

My thanks also, in no particular order, to Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, Simone Simmons, Vivienne Parry, Emma Sayle, Sam Young, Ian Jones, Alan Davidson, Dominic O'Neill, Ingrid Seward, Darren McGrady, Mark Fuller, Andrew Neil, Kitty Dimbleby, Garth Gibbs, Mike Merritt, Niall Scott (Head of Communications at St Andrews), Dr Declan Quigley, Carley Ma.s.sy-Birch, Ben Duncan and Katherine Witty. My grat.i.tude and sincere thanks also go to Lieutenant Colonel Roy Parkinson and Major David James-Roll for inviting me to Sandhurst. Thanks also to the Ministry of Defence Press Office for their a.s.sistance and also the Royal Air Force press office, especially Martin Tinworth for his time.

Special thanks to my agent Jonathan Shalit for being the inspiration behind this book and to my editor Trevor Dolby for believing in me from the start. My publishers Preface have been fantastic throughout and I would like to thank in particular Richard Cable, Nicola Taplin, Vanessa Milton, Natalie Higgins and my picture researcher Melanie Haselden, you have been a pleasure to work with. Thanks also to Ian Monk for his guidance along the way.

Especial thanks to my esteemed colleague Laura Collins for her invaluable advice, a.s.sistance and encouragement and also to my dedicated researchers Helena Pearce and Charlotte Griffiths. I must also thank the a.s.sociated Newspapers reference library for all their help and Sian James and Marilyn Warnick at the Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday. Finally my thanks to Peter Wright for his continued support.

List of Ill.u.s.trations Section One On the steps of St Mary's Hospital Press a.s.sociation Images Harry aged three Tim Graham / Getty Images Royal Flight Helicopter Tim Graham / Getty Images Mrs Mynors' Nursery Ron Bell / Press a.s.sociation Images Wetherby School Sports Day Dads' Race Mirrorpix Aboard the Britannia Britannia Hulton Archive / Getty Images Hulton Archive / Getty Images William's first day at Eton Stefan Rousseau / Press a.s.sociation Images Diana's last holiday Eric Ryan / Getty Images By the River Dee Mark Cuthbert / Empics / Press a.s.sociation Images Floral tributes at Balmoral Chris Bacon / Press a.s.sociation Images Diana's funeral cortege Mirrorpix William in Tortel, Southern Chile UK Press / Press a.s.sociation Images Eton Wall Game Mirrorpix Carley Ma.s.sy-Birch, from the author's collection Surfing in St Andrews Press a.s.sociation Images Don't Walk Fashion Show, St Andrews M Neilson / Getty Images William's Graduation Scott Heppell / Press a.s.sociation Images Harry at Lesotho Orphanage AFP / Getty Images Harry with Chelsy Davy Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images Section Two Wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles Corbis Sovereign's Parade, Sandhurst Mark Cuthbert / UK Press / Press a.s.sociation Images Harry outside Boujis nightclub Steve Allen / Rex Features Skiing in Zermatt Rex Features Cheltenham Festival Mark Cuthbert / UK Press / Press a.s.sociation Images The Royal Box at the Concert for Diana Mirrorpix Prince Harry at Forward Operating Base, Delhi John Stillwell / AFP / Getty Images Prince Harry on Patrol John Stillwell / Press a.s.sociation Images Prince Harry in his Spartan armoured vehicle John Stillwell / Press a.s.sociation Images Kate Middleton at a Charity Roller Disco Dominic O'Neill Chelsy Davy in Leeds Mirrorpix William's first solo flight Mirrorpix Prince Harry playing polo Stan Honda / AFP / Getty Images RAF Shawbury Antony Jones / UK Press / Press a.s.sociation Images William in Melbourne, Australia Scott Barbour / Stringer / Getty Images

Bibliography Berry, Wendy, The Housekeeper's Diary: Charles and Diana Before the Break-up The Housekeeper's Diary: Charles and Diana Before the Break-up (Barricade Books, New York, 1995) (Barricade Books, New York, 1995)Brandreth, Gyles, Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair (Century, London, 2005) (Century, London, 2005)Burrell, Paul, Remembering Diana: The Way We Were Remembering Diana: The Way We Were (Harper-Collins, London, 2007) (Harper-Collins, London, 2007)Hardman, Robert, Majesty Majesty (Ebury, London, 2007) (Ebury, London, 2007)Hoey, Brian, Prince William Prince William (Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003) (Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003)Jobson, Robert, Harry's War: The True Story of the Soldier Prince Harry's War: The True Story of the Soldier Prince (John Blake, London, 2008) (John Blake, London, 2008)Jobson, Robert, William's Princess William's Princess (John Blake, London, 2006) (John Blake, London, 2006)Joseph, Claudia, Kate Middleton Princess in Waiting Kate Middleton Princess in Waiting (Mainstream, Edinburgh, 2009) (Mainstream, Edinburgh, 2009)Morton, Andrew, Diana: Her True Story Diana: Her True Story (Michael O'Mara, London, 1992) (Michael O'Mara, London, 1992)Pasternak, Anna, Princess in Love Princess in Love (Bloomsbury, London, 1994) (Bloomsbury, London, 1994)Saunders, Mark, Prince Harry: The Biography Prince Harry: The Biography (John Blake, London, 2002) (John Blake, London, 2002)Seward, Ingrid, William and Harry William and Harry (Headline, London, 2003) (Headline, London, 2003)Simmons, Simone with Seward, Ingrid, Diana: The Last Word Diana: The Last Word (Orion, London, 2005) (Orion, London, 2005)Wharfe, Ken with Jobson, Robert, Diana: Closely Guarded Secret Diana: Closely Guarded Secret (Michael O'Mara, London, 2002) (Michael O'Mara, London, 2002)

The Princess of Wales smiles at Prince Charles as he walks down the steps of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington cradling their firstborn. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales was born at 9.03 p.m. on 21 June 1982. Not yet a day old, the future king was facing his first press conference.

Harry was considered the quieter of the royal brothers, but the three-year-old prince soon found his feet at Mrs Mynors' nursery school in Kensington where he was a fan of the dressing-up cupboard, something that would land him in hot water later in life.

William and Harry loved playing in the Royal Flight helicopter. Harry, seated on the pilot's lap, takes the controls while William looks out of the window.

Diana made a point of keeping her diary free so she could take William and Harry to school every morning. After Mrs Mynors' nursery the princes were enrolled at Wetherby Prep School in Notting Hill Gate, a stone's throw from Kensington Palace.

It was not just Diana who competed in parents' day races. To William and Harry's delight Charles stripped off to a shirt and tie to run the the Wetherby School Sports Day Dads' Race in June 1989. In the background his protection officers keep a close eye.

Diana embraces William and Harry aboard the Britannia Britannia in Toronto, October 1991. This was one of the family's final holidays before the prince and princess were separated the following December. in Toronto, October 1991. This was one of the family's final holidays before the prince and princess were separated the following December.

William arrives for his first day at Eton in Windsor on 6 September 1995. Hundreds of press gathered outside the gates of Manor House, amid mounting speculation about the breakdown of the Wales' marriage.

Diana in the south of France in July 1997 on her last holiday with her sons. They were guests of Mohamed Al Fayed and his children Dodi, Camilla, Jasmine and Omar. Aboard the yacht Jonikal Jonikal the press interest was so relentless that William complained he wanted to go home. the press interest was so relentless that William complained he wanted to go home.

Charles, William, Harry and Widgeon, William's pet Labrador, take a walk by the River Dee in August 1997. Two weeks later Diana was killed in Paris and the boys stayed at Balmoral where they could grieve privately.

William and Harry read tributes to their mother at the gates of Balmoral. Harry, clasping his father's hand, broke down in tears at one point as the Queen, dressed in black, watched on.

Flanked by their father and their uncle, Earl Spencer, William and Harry carry out their first and most tragic public duty, walking behind their mother's gun carriage to Westminster Abbey.

After much discussion William got his wish of taking a gap year, although Prince Charles insisted it be vocational. The prince enrolled on a Raleigh International expedition to Chile in October 2000. In his spare time he read, wrote letters home, practised yoga and made some friends for life.

Harry was fearless on the sports pitch at Eton where he excelled at the EtonWall Game. Covered in mud and in his team colours he raises his arms in victory during a game in November 2002, watched by his father.

William enrolled at St Andrews in September 2001. During his first term he fell for Carley Ma.s.sy-Birch. While Kate Middleton had been voted the prettiest undergraduate, Carley's derriere was considered the best at St Andrews, something which may well have irked her rival for William's affections.

Although he had a wobble during his first term William soon settled into St Andrews University. As well as joining the amateur dramatics society he also enjoyed swimming, cycling and surfing during his four years there.

Kate Middleton gazes at William's best friend Fergus Boyd during the 'Don't Walk' fashion show at St Andrews in March 2002. William remarked that Kate was 'hot' and later that night at a party in Hope Street in the centre of town he made his move.

After four years William finally graduated from St Andrews on Thursday 23 June 2005 with a 2:1 in Geography. Locals lined the streets to bid farewell to the student prince who in turn thanked the people of the Scottish town for their kindness.

Harry visits children at an orphanage in Lesotho during his gap year in April 2006. He was so moved that he launched a charity called Sentebale, which means 'forget me not', in memory of his mother.

During his gap year Harry went to Cape Town in search of Chelsy Davy, daughter of a Zimbabwean landowner, whom he first met when he was at Eton. A love affair blossomed that continues to this day.

Against all the odds, Prince Charles eventually married his long-term mistress Camilla Parker Bowles on 9 April 2005 at Windsor Guild hall. The Queen, who had refused to acknowledge Camilla in the past, gave her blessing for them to wed, while William and Harry said they were delighted for their father.

Harry now 'Cornet Wales' pa.s.ses out at the Sovereign's Parade at Sandhurst on 12 April 2006. William had to salute his brother.

Bleary-eyed Harry trips up outside Boujis nightclub in South Kensington after one too many Crackbaby c.o.c.ktails in March 2007. He lunged at the paparazzi who were trying to get a picture of him leaving with his friend Natalie Pinkham.

William embraces Kate on the slopes while skiing in Zermatt in March 2007. Just days later they attended the first day of the Cheltenham Festival race meeting in the UK where their body language speaks volumes. They split that Easter.

William and Harry dance in the Royal box at the concert for Diana on 1 July 2007. While Chelsy Davy sat in the front row Kate sat two rows behind William next to her brother James. It was the first time the couple had been seen in public together since I revealed in June that they were back together following their break-up earlier that year.

PRINCE AT AT W WAR.

Prince Harry sits on his camp bed in a mortar-proof billet at Forward Operating Base Delhi, January 2008. The twenty-three-year-old Household Cavalry officer spent ten weeks secretly fighting the Taliban in the volatile southern province of Helmand in Afghanistan.

Dressed in uniform and an army-issue helmet Harry goes out on patrol through the deserted town of Garmsir. He is armed with his rifle and a 9mm pistol strapped to his chest.

Harry sits in his Spartan armoured vehicle in the desert in Afghanistan, 19 February 2008.

Kate Middleton gets a helping hand after she takes a tumble during a charity roller skating disco in September 2008.

Walking past a bus terminal in Leeds, Chelsy Davy after my exclusive story in the Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday in January 2009 that the pair had split up. Chelsy infuriated Harry when she changed her Facebook relationship status to 'Single'. in January 2009 that the pair had split up. Chelsy infuriated Harry when she changed her Facebook relationship status to 'Single'.

William takes to the air for his first solo flight at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire in January 2008.

Having led his Sentebale team to victory during the annual Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Cla.s.sic in May 2009, Prince Harry completes his first solo overseas tour to the United States. He raised 100,000 for his charity and charmed the Americans.

William and Harry Wales give a rare joint interview at RAF Shawbury in June 2009. The boys were living together at a rented house close to the airbase and William joked that he did all the housework while Harry kept him awake with his snoring.

William works his magic on the crowds outside Government House in Melbourne, Australia in January 2010.The prince travelled to Australia after carrying out a three-day state visit to New Zealand in place of the Queen. Wills mania swept across the country and the trip was deemed a huge success.