William of Windsor

W.O.W.! If it occurred to me that William of Windsor’s initials were apropos on his rugby jersey, it hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw him in all of the newspapers this weekend. W.O.W.!

William was impressive in the 18^th birthday photos that raised such a stir earlier in the year. In a loving tribute to his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, he added three of the shells from her Coat of Arms to his own. A few months later in his first press conference he impressed us with his determination to speak the twenty-five words that seemed to be its catalyst. "Of course Harry and I are quite upset about it – that our mother’s trust has been betrayed and even now she is still being exploited." He was speaking of Patrick Jephson’s controversial book about his late mother, "Shadows of a Princess". He gave a further glimpse of his mettle by answering more specific questions on the subject with, "I don’t want to say anymore at the moment." He then returned to his witty repertoire with his father, Prince Charles.

This is when we were first told of the trip to Chile. The Prince described the rugged adventure for us. "I am doing an expedition with Raleigh International. I wanted to do something constructive in my gap year. I thought it was a way of trying to help people out." When asked if he would miss his father and brother, William laughed and replied, "I will miss them quite a bit." He added, "But I will only be away for ten weeks and once I am out there I will probably be quite committed. I am going to dig in and make the most of what I am doing." He certainly appears to be doing just that. William is consistently proving that he is determined to choose his own path and remain a man of his word.

The thing about the trip that impressed me most was that he’d organized a polo match to raise money through its sponsors. It is said that his father matched the funds. It was reported in "People Weekly" magazine of October 16, 2000, that his father did indeed match the funds William raised. William actually raised more than he needed so the matching funds caused quite an overage. The two Princes donated the excess funds to the non-profit organization sponsoring the trip, Raleigh International. What a beautiful lesson for William. He earned his way, which has got to make him feel good. His father showed him that gentlemen always make good on their promises by paying him money he didn’t need and further showed him that by donating the extra funds his efforts not only helped him, they helped someone else. I, who we all know generally find Prince Charles lacking, was very impressed with the way he chose to handle this situation.

Now this weekend we were privy to the stories of Williams trip. Though I thoroughly enjoyed them, almost like a postcard from a nephew at camp, I do hope that it will be the only interruption of his adventure that we, the curious, make. He deserves to continue to do his good work without it becoming one of those "Big Brother" or "EdTV" type things. He has been generous to share with us, I believe we owe it to him to be as generous and leave him be for the rest of the journey. Well, off the soapbox and onto the details of the adventure…

W.O.W. is a very industrious and personable young man. The photographs of him were magnificent. Pictures of him with little children on his back with their hands in his eyes made me laugh as did Williams feelings, "I hadn’t ever been that close to children. Even if they are pulling your hair out or sticking their fingers in your eyes, they’re still a good laugh!"

Other photos of William teaching the children the alphabet and saying "My name is William. I am a Wombat," were especially poignant, as his parents used to call him a Wombat. Do we remember William in his Wombat period? The photos of him leaning over the balcony at Buckingham Palace or examining the photographers’ cameras during at his first photo call are what come to my mind.

There were plenty of pictures of William toting logs, swinging a hammer and using a saw. Besides making him look so much more mature than on his birthday five short months ago, they reminded me of photographs of Queen Elizabeth repairing jeeps during WWII or Diana in her khakis visiting minefields. He is out there, among people, doing what he can to make a difference. He put it this way to reporters, "I didn’t want to sit around and get a job back in London, I wanted to get out and see a bit of the world as well as helping people."

The press have been quite happy with the Prince with the Daily Telegraph describing him as "contented, fulfilled and occasionally exhausted King-to-be." James Whitaker of the Mirror wrote, "I believe William is made of the right stuff" and "what I have seen in the past 24 hours gives me great hope for the future of our Royal family." "He gets on with the work, he’s very humble and laid back and likes to be normal," is some of the praise Marie Wright, project manager, Raleigh International, Tortel, Chile, heaped on him. His ease with people in general and children in particular has been compared to that of his late mother whom he bears a strong physical resemblance to.

Luckily life isn’t all hard work for William in Chile. He has been having fun with the other team members after hours. The volunteers, ages 17 – 25, make their own entertainment. "I was also doing a bit of salsa dancing the other night and it was great fun," William reported. He also has been enjoying some sports that he shares not only with his Raleigh International team members, but the local people as well.

He has been commended for his ability to join in. When it was his turn to DJ in the local radio station he named himself Willie G. His passable imitation of another DJ – Ali G was a source of great amusement. During his half hour William made this dedication, "I just wanted to say good luck to Teresa, the aerobics instructor, and her team in the competition in Coihaique this weekend. Tortel is behind you Teresa – go babe!" He ended his show by chiding his cohorts, "Tonight there’s football on the beach at 7:30 – Raleigh versus the local team – as long as it’s not raining. Our team are already preparing themselves for the slaughter and are being fed carbohydrate-high food by or two Muppets in the kitchen."

All in all, it sounds like a very well rounded experience in which William seems to be excelling. He is doing the good he set out to do and in his own way. I’m sure his father, Prince Charles, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, are very proud of the way he is handling himself. I’m sure his mother is too.

In this week’s mailbag was another interesting one. One reader did note that I wrote Weight Watches instead of Weight Watchers as the organization that Sarah Ferguson is a spokes person to. Here I must, again, stand corrected. I thank you very much for your continued input and will look forward to hearing from you very shortly.

All the best,