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EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED… as plans for 2024 go, it’s not groundbreaking, but it’s one that the Prince and Princess of Wales are making their mantra this year.
After what courtiers call a ‘transitional year’ of stepping up and into their new senior roles in the royal family in 2023, it’s clear that William and Kate have big, bold plans for the year ahead – and won’t be thrown by anything that lands in their path.
Certainly 2023, after the death of Queen Elizabeth, had its challenges – not least the ongoing fallout from the estrangement of Harry and Meghan. As salvos were fired from across the Atlantic, Kate and William kept calm and carried on as best they could.
As ever, say sources, their motivation has been ‘a sense of unwavering commitment and duty’. Adds the insider, ‘They just want to get on with the job. And that is to serve the British people in the best way possible.’
That includes some fun, surprising and different things from what you might expect of the future King and Queen, such as Kate opening last year’s Eurovision song contest, from Windsor Castle, with a cameo on the grand piano, playing a melody from Stefania, the song performed by Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra. Or the moment Prince William surprised and hugged Emma Webb as she walked 157 miles from Newport, Wales, to London to raise money in memory of her 16-year-old daughter Brodie, who’d taken her own life. The Waleses recognise that they are the future face of The Firm and, as such, want to do things their own way, with a freshness that includes a sense of fun and surprise.
This year will build on their passion projects – for Kate, her focus on children’s early years; for William, the environment and homelessness. A Kensington Palace spokesman tells Grazia, ‘What you saw with the Prince and Princess stepping up in their first year was them setting up landmark projects that will define the rest of their working lives.’ Last February, Kate launched Shaping Us, her awareness campaign that will be the ‘golden thread’ of her work, and laid out her plans in her speech at the Early Years symposium in November. ‘Businesses like Unilever, Ikea, Natwest and Lego have signed up to a taskforce and there’s a lot of work being done so their employees can understand the significance of the early years and parents can be given more time and understanding at such an important period in their children’s lives. There will be a big moment unveiling these findings in the next couple of months,’ sa
