Prince William’s decision to keep COVID-19 diagnosis a secret slammed - NEWS.com.au

When Prince William offered to “share a little secret” with the world in May, we now know it wasn’t the biggest one he was keeping.

The Duke of Cambridge revealed he had been helping out on a crisis helpline during lockdown.

“I’m going to share a little secret with you guys, but I’m actually on the platform volunteering,’’ he said.

What he omitted to tell his audience on the video call, was that like his father Prince Charles, he had been struck down by the coronavirus.

RELATED: William’s secret virus battle revealed

Prince Charles was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-March and remained with Camilla at their Scottish home, Birkhall, for weeks.

Now, after The Sun broke the story on Monday and the BBC confirmed it had also been told by Buckingham Palace sources, it’s understood Prince William contracted COVID-19 in April.

According to The Sun, William continued with his telephone and video engagements because “there were important things going on and I didn’t want to worry anyone”.

But actually, it does worry me. Because it suggests that the future King of Australia doesn’t believe he owes his subjects the truth.

The intent of putting the story out now, as London heads into a second lockdown, is clearly to paint the future monarch as some sort of gallant hero.

I’m not so sure.

RELATED: Prince William’s snub to Harry revealed

First of all, one does wonder, to use the Queen’s vernacular, how contract tracing worked if Prince William’s diagnosis was a giant secret?

Did he make everyone sign confidentiality clauses? Did he simply not do it? Perhaps he was already in lockdown and confident he had got it from Prince Charles or Camilla? How long did he spend in quarantine? What protections were in place for his servants?

Who knows, because he isn’t saying. I’m sorry he was sick and I am glad he is better but honestly, I would prefer some honesty.

Whether we like it out not, the Queen is Australia’s head of state.

One day, Prince William will be King of Australia. What do we learn from this little episode? That he likes keeping big secrets.

The idea that London, Australia or indeed the Commonwealth would be plunged into crisis if they knew that Prince William had COVID-19 suggests a healthy ego that perhaps inflates his own international importance.

It’s true that at the time Prince Charles and the British PM were diagnosed in swift succession, but why lie?

Carefully briefing it out later and getting your office to confirm it on the hush hush but on Instagram official, seems tricky too.

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest Prince William is happy enough to demand transparency and corrections from others.

This year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also fought a high-profile legal battle over a story the couple didn’t like in the glossy magazine Tatler titled ‘Catherine The Great’.

“This story contains a swath of inaccuracies and false misrepresentations which were not put to Kensington Palace prior to publication,” the Palace said in a statement.

And yet, we learned today he’s happy to brief out that he’s a hero who contracted coronavirus but didn’t tell anyone

Earlier this year, Town & Country magazine reported that Prince William had “opened up” about the anxiety he felt when his father, Prince Charles, was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

Guess he forgot about the part where he was infected with the same virus, huh?

The Duke of Cambridge said he was particularly concerned because Prince Charles is over 70.

“I have to admit at first I was quite concerned,” William said.

“He fits the profile of somebody of the age he‘s at, which is you know fairly risky, and so I was a little bit worried.”

“And actually, he was very lucky, he had mild symptoms. I think the hardest thing he found was having to stop and not being able to go and get a bit of fresh air and go for a walk. He’s a mad walker, loves his walking. So I think he found it quite difficult. especially also with his mental heath — being sort of stuck inside and not being able to go for walks.”

If you believe recent reports by respected journalists covering the royals, including Robert Lacey, Prince William was also in a strop over the secrecy surrounding the birth of Prince Harry’s first child.

In an excerpt of the upcoming book, Battle of Brothers, author Robert Lacey writes: “There was the deception over the announcement of Archie’s birth, which unlike every other royal birth of modern times took place in total secrecy: Buckingham Palace announced at 2pm on May 6, 2019, that Meghan had gone into labour that morning — when in fact, she had safely given birth to baby Archie eight hours earlier, at 5.26am.

“That was followed by a refusal to make public the names of the godparents. It is still expected by the monarch, palace and just about anyone with a stake in the game that the world should be told who the new royal baby’s “sponsors” are.

How can you judge the suitability of a sponsor who remains unknown? Yet the names of Archie’s godparents are still a secret today.”

In other words, secrecy about Archie’s Godparents is a no-no, not telling anyone you have a potentially deadly virus is OK.

Samantha Maiden is news.com.au’s political editor.

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2020-11-02 06:02:33Z
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