LONDON – Prince William supported the oft-criticized behavior of his brother, Prince Harry, and stuck up for his father, Prince Charles, in a rare interview with the British media published Saturday.
Prince Harry has matured and simply does what he thinks is right, the 22-year-old William said of his younger brother, who landed in the tabloids recently after scuffling with paparazzi outside a London nightclub.
“I don’t see as much of Harry as I used to because obviously we were at school together, but he’s grown very much into his own man,” William, a geography student at Scotland’s St. Andrew’s University, said in an interview provided to the British media. “He’s very self-confident. He does what he feels is right.”
William, who is second in line to the British throne, also said he wished the media would focus more on the charitable work done by his father. A recent scandal has centered on a memo written by Charles that criticized British schools for offering children too much false self-esteem and not enough realistic criticism.
“I just wish more of his charitable work was concentrated on because he does do a hell of a lot of work,” William said. “I just really hold him in great admiration about the amount of time he gives up to do work here and there.”
William was interviewed at St. Andrew’s, where he is in his final year. Prince Charles’ office struck an agreement for the press to allow his two sons to complete their education without attention from the media in exchange for intermittent formal, pooled interviews.
The interview and accompanying pictures, released in increments Friday and Saturday, were published in most British newspapers Saturday.
William said members of the royal family remained close despite busy schedules and the wide-ranging interests of his brother and father.
“We’re a very close family,” William said. “There are disagreements, obviously, as all families do, and when there are, there are big disagreements. But when there’s happy times, we have a really good time. It’s just difficult getting all three of us in the same house at one time.”
William said he would want to fight on the front line if he joined the military, as many royals do. But he said he was not sure whether he would sign up after graduating next year.
The prince said being second in line to the throne would present problems if his unit was sent into action, but he would not want to be held back.
“The last thing I want to do is be mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool, because if I was to join the army, I’d want to go where my men went and I’d want to do what they did,” he said.
Associated Press
Prince William is interviewed at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland.
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