It appears that Duchess Catherine’s pregnancy interfered with her plans to visit the island of Malta last week. Prince William decided to go in her place.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m increasingly impressed with Prince William, Duchess Catherine, and Prince Harry. And everything I’ve read since then has only strengthened that opinion. I believe the British royalty are in good hands. Will and Kate, especially, seem like rather nice, genuine, and interesting people. They’d probably make my list of “Celebrities With Whom I’d Like to Have Dinner”, a list so exclusive that I can’t think of who else would be on it (primarily because I haven’t thought about it).
I’m not one of those who insist that being royalty is tougher than being you or me. Certainly living your every moment the target of a rabid press is not easy, but he’s got a fairly sizable and powerful organization to run interference, as well. He grew up in it, and has learned coping strategies. He’s got problems, certainly, but so do you or I. Our problems are just different, that’s all. He doesn’t worry about whether his car is going to leave him stranded on the way home from work. I don’t worry about saying something wrong in an interview.
I’m also not one of those people who insist that he’s got it easy, or that his life is somehow better than anyone else’s. In many ways I have more choice than he does. On the other hand, he’s chosen this life. It’s his sense of duty and obligation that has him taking trips to Malta where he has to pack every minute of the day with appointments and obligations, and spends every minute focused on making others feel better for having met him.
And that, I think, is one of the things I admire most about him and his family. They’ve chosen a life of duty. They have decided to be what people want–even need–them to be. They have embraced their life of privilege and the obligations that go with it, recognizing the good they can do. I can’t imagine it being all fun-and-games being a symbol of an entire nation. They didn’t choose to be born Stuart (or marry Stuart), but they do get to choose how they live under the expectations placed upon them. They’ve chosen to accept it–embrace it, even–and with as much grace, style, and dignity as they can.
I have a deep admiration for anyone who simply does their duty, day after day, even when few people notice. In a world where the vast majority seek to get as much as they can while dodging the consequences, someone who simply does what they’re supposed to do, and tries their best to do it well, is increasingly rare.
Prince William spent several days in a distant country doing his best to make people happier when he could likely have begged off to be with his wife and no one would have blamed him, simply because it was his duty. That says a lot about him (and her). I suspect it was not all misery and toil, by any means, because I know from experience that when you work to help others and make others happier you’re usually happier yourself. It’s not an easy life, but it’s far from a bad life. He and Catherine seem happy. I hope they are. I believe they deserve to be.
Duty over self-indulgence. What a concept.