Basic HTML Version
,..
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 22, 1986
PAGE 21
When radiant, red-haired Bride-of-the-Year Sarah Ferguson
marries Prince Andrew, the second son of Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II, she may find herself upstaged by a mere tyke. At
the July 23 wedding, Prince William, the boy who will be King,
makes his official debut•••• For as charming and outgoing as
Wills can be, his behavior can be unfortunately erratic••••
Some say he is already too full of himself. Traditionally�
royal offspring have been ready for formal appearances at 3.
Not William, who has seldom been trusted to behave in public in
a country that expects its royals to act impeccably from the
time they leave their prams••••
"William's very enthusiastic about things," Diana has said.
"He pushes himself right into it. Harry [the second born] is
quieter and just watches. No. 2 skates in quite nicely. But
the bad luck about being No. 1 is trial and error, so we're
open-minded about William." That open-mindedness, however, has
made William something of a terror at the Kensington nursery
school that he has attended since last September.
He has
angered his classmates by pushing his way to the front of the
refreshment
queues,
and
his
rough-and-tumble
playground
behavior has earned him the nickname among some parents as "the
Basher.
11
Stories circulate that he occasionally flexes his
royal muscle, telling other children, "My daddy can beat up
your daddy••.my daddy's the Prince of Wales." Worse still, he
reportedly whines when he doesn't get his way.
William's behavior has raised eyebrows among those who argue
that his outbursts are a result of the liberal upbringing he is
receiving from Diana, 25 and a onetime kindergarten assistant,
and Charles, 37, who didn't want his sons to suffer the rigid
rules of childhood he endured as heir apparent••••
[With regard to the Prince of Wales, one] of Charles confidants
is Sir Laurens van der Post, the 79-year-old author-guru (and
a godfather to Harry) who reportedly has influenced the
Prince's thinking on a wide variety of spiritual subjects.
Under van der Post's tutelage, Charles has taken up meditation
and even suggested that he'd like William and Harry to do the
same, to attain the calm of a monk. In Canada [for the opening
of the Vancouver world fair], Charles gave a rambling discourse
on inner peace to an audience of bemused lumberjacks.
"I
rather feel that deep in the soul of mankind there is a
reflection like the surface of a mirror, or a mirror-calm lake,
of the beauty and harmony of the universe," said Charles. "It
seems to me he's a bit of a cookie," remarked one member of the
audience. Fleet Street, too, quickly pounced on the Prince••••
Even Prince Philip, who has faulted his son for taking on too
few royal chores, is reportedly concerned that Charles is an
intellectual pillow, bearing the impression of the last person
who caught his attention. Their estrangement is evident: In
Charles's office is a picture of Philip on which he has
scrawled, "I was not born to follow in my father's footsteps."