FOlle in delirium, slew of selfies, adoring fans shouting compliments making him blush. Prince William’s arrival in Singapore for the awards ceremony Earthshot – established by the Princes of Wales to support environmental innovators and now in their third edition this year – confirmed it: the heir to the throne is the unequivocal echo rockstar of the English royal house.
Prince William is more popular than King Charles
Upon arrival Sunday on a commercial flight, the 41-year-old William found thousands of fans already waiting at the airport, who greeted him out loud. An attention that, when he was married to Diana, his father Carlo craved and which instead was denied to him because everyone wanted to see Lady D. and promptly forgot about the heir to the throne.
William caresses a newborn baby. Who bites his finger
The prince could not resist. Waving to the crowd, and posing for countless selfieshe approached a newborn baby – little Albane Costa, just eight months old – who in response grabbed his finger and put it in her mouth, refusing to let go. «I need my finger» William told her laughing. «Give me back my finger!».
William in Singapore with little Albane Costa, 5 November 2023 (Getty Images)
Prince William, a success even without Kate
And to think that, at the beginning of the year, King Charles’ advisors and Prince William’s assistants had expressed some concern about what would have been an unusual absence for Kate, first in New York last September, and then in Singapore. Middleton, the true star of the Windsors, would have stayed home to help their eldest son George, busy with an important school exam. Would William’s visit suffer? Apparently not.
Prince William victorious in Dragonboat race, Singapore, November 6, 2023 (Getty Images)
William remembers his grandmother Elizabeth (and apologizes for Kate)
In a speech given for the occasion, William apologized for his wife’s absence, remembering the visit made with Kate in 2012, on the occasion of Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. And she then wanted to pay homage to Middleton’s well-known sporting spirit by participating in a competition between Dragonboatthe traditional 20-seater canoes characterized by dragon heads on the tip.
He and his team of British residents in Singapore emerged victorious but the humble prince, praised for the pace he showed at the paddles, immediately protested: «I didn’t do much. If we won it was only thanks to our captain.”
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