Prince William, Prince of Wales walks along a trail at the TreeTop Walk, located at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve on day four of his visit to Singapore on November 8, 2023. Photo / Getty Images
Prince William, Prince of Wales walks along a trail at the TreeTop Walk, located at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve on day four of his visit to Singapore on November 8, 2023. Photo / Getty Images
Prince William has boldly promised that he will go a “step further” than his family has in the past and “actually bring change” as his four-day visit to Singapore came to a close.
A surprisingly candid moment came about while the royal was while chatting to travelling media on Wednesday. During the interview, the Prince of Wales, 41, put great emphasis on his hopes of becoming a “social leader”, reports to the Sun.
“That’s what I’m trying to find my way in, is, I care about so many things, and previously, the family have been very much spotlighting brilliantly and going ‘round and highlighting lots – I want to go a step further,” he told reporters.
“I want to actually bring change, and I want to bring people to the table who can do the change if I can’t do it.
“And so it’s all about progressing, helping and advancing particular social causes that need to be given more support.
“I’ve been in the homelessness sector for a long time now, and so rather than just being patron, I want to do more. I want to actually build the homes, I want to provide them with the mental support, all the employment and the education they might need.
Britain's Prince William, Hannah Waddingham (left) and Sterling K. Brown pose on the green carpet for the 2023 Earthshot Prize awards in Singapore on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. AP Photo / Vincent Thian
“So it’s all these wrap-around services, it’s kind of going deeper and longer, than it is the case of just having loads of causes that you sort of turn up and keep an eye on.
“It’s more about, how do I show my intent more? How do we do more for you? And give you a better, better future?
“But you have to remain focused - if you spread yourself too thin, you just can’t manage it, and you won’t deliver the impact or the change that you really want to happen.”
The Prince of Wales’ bold declaration follows years of criticism surrounding the royal family and whether they have the ability to actually create real change.
In the last few years, William has focused a lot of his work on mental health, homelessness and the environment. In tow with his wife, Kate Middleton, he has channelled his energy into fewer organisations and causes, which is a break from tradition when looking back at previous royals’ approaches.
For example, the late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip had several hundred patronages each during the height of their reign.
Prince William’s trip to Singapore coincided with the Earthshot Prize, an initiative he founded with the Royal Foundation in order to “discover, spotlight and help grow innovative solutions that are working to repair and regenerate our planet”.
At the annual ceremony - which took place on Tuesday night - five winners were awarded for their contributions to environmentalism.
“I think I’m still digesting after last night’s awards ceremony; sometimes it takes a while just to kind of percolate through as to what’s happened,” the royal confessed to reporters.
“We’re still on the go, doing loads of meetings, so I think the big thing for me is that this year feels bigger than last year, so we’re progressing and we’re building as we go.”
He went on to say that the “key aim” is to get “bigger” every year and spread awareness to more and more people.
“This is the first time we’ve come into Asia, so it’s important the Asian market see us and know what the actual prize is,” William added.
“We’ve predominantly obviously done Western [regions] with the UK and Boston. So I think it’s all about working out: where do we go next? How do we join the dots?
“You’ve just seen downstairs the impact investment side - that’s really crucial. Because we’re not just an award ceremony. People think this is philanthropy. They think it’s just a prize ceremony. It’s not. This is so much more.
“It’s about how much impact we can achieve by scaling and building up and spotlighting these incredible people with brilliant solutions. We’ve just got to join some more dots between policy regulators [and] governments’ money, and then you blend it all together and then see the impact from that.”
