Royal Expert Says King Charles Finds it "Tough" to "Play Second Fiddle" to Prince William These Days

Prince William has (rather understandably) been keeping a lower profile for most of the year as he's stood by Princess Kate's side during her cancer battle. But as his royal duties have picked back up over the past few months, one royal expert is musing that his increased presence—and resulting media coverage—could be difficult for King Charles.

Historian Dr. Tessa Dunlop told the Mirror that the Prince of Wales's meeting with Donald Trump—which happened after Notre Dame cathedral's reopening ceremony in Paris on Dec. 7—was "a painful reminder of who holds royalty’s trump card."

"It must be tough for Charles, a man who waited over 70 years for the big gig, to play second fiddle to his son," Dunlop told the publication. The historian pointed out that "time and again recently, William has grabbed the headlines" rather than his father.

She referenced the Prince of Wales's recent visit to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards—where he donned military fatigues and fired a gun—along with his Christmas lunch at homelessness charity The Passage as examples. "All eyes are always on William and the Waleses," Dunlop added.

King Charles was diagnosed with cancer in February, and the historian noted that news "took second place to the Princess of Wales's shock diagnosis."

The Prince of Wales represented the U.K. during the Notre Dame event, which celebrated its reopening after much of the cathedral was destroyed in a 2019 fire. Dunlop said she thought "Trump liked what he saw" because Prince William has a different personality than his father.

"Unlike his father, King Charles, long associated with a green agenda, William's brand neatly avoids any one particular passion-project," she said. "These days, the Prince of Wales effortlessly blends his mother's charisma with a careful study of the late Queen’s canny constitutional rule."

She added that "The King, for so long overshadowed by his extraordinary mother, now finds himself outperformed by his eldest son, with William's weekend jaunt in Paris another painful reminder of who holds royalty’s trump card."

It's a story that has been going on since the '80s, when the then-Prince Charles felt overshadowed by Princess Diana and the onslaught of media coverage surrounding the People's Princess. "She was the star of the show, and he wasn’t. And it was something that he found very difficult to take," royal biographer Andrew Morton said in a 2022 Business Insider interview.

And in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, they noted an example when the duchess made front-page news after attending a Remembrance Day event with the rest of the Royal Family, including Charles and Queen Elizabeth. Unsurprisingly, it did not go down well when Meghan—through no fault of her own— overshadowed the senior royals by grabbing the media's attention.

Whether or not The King is threatened by the ever-popular Waleses is anyone's guess, but by all accounts, Prince William's Parisian meeting was a resounding success.