PRINCE WILLIAM is to work in the City as part of a second gap year intended to usher the reluctant young royal gently into a more prominent public role.
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The Prince of Wales and his senior advisers spent months in discussions with William to try to devise a modern approach to life after university which respected the traditions of the House of Windsor.
In September, William will become the first future King to work in the City when he joins a financial institution for several months. He hopes that it will give him an insight into charitable fundraising.
Clarence House would not name the institution on security grounds but one theory is that he will join his uncle, Lord Fellowes, who is chairman of Barclays private bank.
Alternatively, he could have been found a position by Sir Michael Peat, who is private secretary to the Prince of Wales. Sir Michael has impeccable City connections. His family founded the Peat Marwick accountancy firm which is now called KPMG.
There was also speculation that the Prince would join Coutts, the Queen’s bank.
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William will also work on a country estate to reflect his flourishing interest in the environment and conservation and spend time with a mountain rescue team.
Next May he will enrol for officer training at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy at the start of a minimum three-year period in the Army. The Prince will be conforming with a tradition that has seen all Kings dating back to Henry V and beyond serve in the military.
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Prince William’s new private secretary, is a former high-flyer in the SAS and was a key influence in his decision to join the Army. While Prince Charles was anxious for William to reach his own decision, a friend of William said: “He understands as a future head of state it is important that he has worn the uniform so that he can look veterans in the eye when he undertakes ceremonies at the Cenotaph or if the country is involved in armed conflict.”
It is expected that he will join a regiment associated with Wales to cement his future role as the Prince of Wales.
The announcement by Clarence House about the second gap year marks the end of months of agonising over how to prepare William, 23, for departure from the protective cocoon of university life.
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His departure from St Andrews tomorrow means not just the passing of university life but the end of a hands-off agreement with the press. Editors agreed to give William privacy while in full-time education.
William, because of his youth, his likeness to his mother, and apparent shyness, and the fact that he will be billed one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, will become one of the most sought-after targets of the paparazzi.
Yet William is ill at ease with the media and resents the way his father is portrayed in the newspapers. His brother blames photographers for the death of their mother.
Sir Christopher Meyer, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, went to the palace as part of the discussions about William’s future.
Tim Toulmin, the director of the PCC, said: “Prince William will be afforded the same protection as everyone else by the code on accuracy, harassment and intrusion. Clearly there is going to be greater interest in the Prince than in any other 23-year-old. The palace is realistic about this.”
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Paddy Harverson, the press secretary at Clarence House, has been meeting editors to try to ensure that there is not “open season” on William.
He said: “There is a genuine public interest in William which we will try to meet and reflect. But we hope that the media will allow William time to develop as a young man. I am hopeful but I am also realistic. But I know that the public will want William to grow without any harassment or intrusion.”
Kate Middleton, reportedly William’s girlfriend, will also require advice on the media. She graduated yesterday with a degree in history of art.
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