Prince William won’t be playing a part in Prince Harry‘s birthday celebrations on Tuesday, with the Prince of Wales instead travelling down to Princetown.
William is due to launch a new regeneration scheme in the isolated rural community, which is located close to Dartmoor Prison. The Princetown Community Fund is due to release £250,000 into the local community to help with locally led social, economic and environmental projects.
During his visit, the heir to the throne will head to Gather & Moor, a new community and cultural hub for the area where he will meet representatives from heritage business Princetown Press.
William is also set to meet local residents at a youth club, which recently received money from the Duchy of Cornwall to improve their facilities.
It was revealed back in May that William planned to invest £500 million, largely from land sales, to have a “positive” impact on tackling housing and environmental issues. The sales would come from the £23 million Duchy of Cornwall property empire over the next ten years.
Speaking to The Times, Will Bax, the chief executive of the Duchy since 2024, said: “If we don’t see an opportunity for positive impact, then perhaps we don’t need to be a part of that place.”
Addressing the planned sale, he said: “But where there is social need and where there is environmental challenge and where there is an opportunity to enable change, then we’ll be a great partner in working with people to achieve that.”
William’s response to Prince Harry’s return
Prince Harry surprised many when he confirmed last month that he was returning to the UK alongside his family, with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet enrolled in a UK school.
While Harry has been in contact with King Charles since arriving at the end of August, it’s unlikely that he’s yet been in contact with his older brother, whom he’s been estranged from since standing down as a senior member of the royal family in 2020.
An immediate repair to their relationship is highly unlikely, and speaking about the possibility of this on HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast, HELLO!’s royal editor, Emily Nash, explained it’s “one step at a time” when it comes to reconciliation.
“I think this is going to be very much one step at a time, and from people I’ve been speaking to who know them, I think they’re very much working on the basis of let’s get the children settled, let’s get started on what we want to do, and then the rest is something to consider down the line,” Emily said.
© Getty Images“But, crucial to them is the relationship with the King. You can’t go any higher than him. And if you have him on side and you are spending time with him, then that does half of the work for you.”
However, it’s not just his brother that Harry would need to win back, as Emily revealed: “There is a risk, I think, of other members of the family continuing to avoid them, it might make them look petty or unforgiving. Now, there’s a lot that would need to be forgiven. Let’s be honest about this, and you can absolutely understand why William and Kate might never want to go there.
“You know, their decision to leave affected that whole generation of the royal family. And it’s left a lot of responsibility on not just William’s shoulders, but on those of his children. And then you’ve got all the things that they said, about how they were too formal and they didn’t like being hugged. William pushed Harry into a dog bowl, broke his necklace. It’s endless.”
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