Prince William is showing his softer side these days and he’s willing to break royal protocols set by his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Now, this particular royal rule was an unofficial one, but a modernized monarchy knows that sometimes it’s OK to break those antiquated ideas.
When Queen Elizabeth was on the throne, her family obeyed the protocol of not taking snapshots with fans, particularly selfies, which became en vogue with the popularity of the smartphone. While it wasn’t an official rule, whatever grandmother wanted, William followed along. But recently, the Prince of Wales has earned a new nickname, the “Selfie King,” per the Daily Mail. He’s showing how relatable the royals can be in modern times – they are down with the selfie. (And his June 2024 selfie with Taylor Swift was epic!)
In May 2017, royal fan Greg Agnew shared the rules he was given when he attended the Queen’s Buckingham Palace garden party. “The one thing they talked about a lot was no selfies, and the reason was that they didn’t want people turning their backs to the royal family and the queen. And that was very important to them,” he told Business Insider. CCN royal expert Victoria Arbiter noted that there’s a safety component to the regulation as well.
“Royals would always rather have a personal interaction than have people clamoring for selfies,” she explained. “If you grant one, then it quickly becomes overwhelming. From a security standpoint, they’re also not ideal as they warrant a certain closeness.” But it looks like William feels safe with his security team and he’s ready to let that royal protocol go for good.
That isn’t the only way William is looking to make his mark on the throne in the future. He told The Times in November that his palace plan would put “a smaller r in the royal.” That would result in the downsizing of patronages and royal appearances which did not please his archenemy, Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy group Republic. He told NBC News, “He barely does anything at all. He’s an incredibly lazy man who manages to get a pretty small splashing of engagements to look like he is busy.”
Still, the response William and Kate Middleton are receiving during their royal engagements is a positive one. If the future monarch wants to be the “Selfie King,” it’s probably a good PR move because royal fans get the memory of a lifetime.
