Prince William has found his voice as he discusses the most polarising of conflicts
It feels like Prince William has found his voice.
Whether you agree with him intervening on the Middle East conflict or not, it’s been noticeable how he wants his statements about the human impact to be heard, and that was again clear as he visited a synagogue in London.
Earlier in the week, he had to pull out of a family memorial service because of unknown personal reasons, but he couldn’t miss this meeting with members of the Jewish community, which had already been cancelled once due to the Princess of Wales being unwell.
Chatting to students, he was full of questions about their experiences of the recent rise in antisemitism.
Visibly appalled by their stories of being targeted, he gave the strongest possible message of support.
This wasn’t just a throwaway comment, but a carefully worded statement, delivered off the cuff without a script, but it felt prepared.
The prince and his team appreciate that any misplaced words could be catastrophic when discussing the most polarising of conflicts.
You can’t forget how he surprised everyone with his intervention last week, calling for an end to the fighting in the Middle East. Too political, his critics would say – some suggesting he may have been encouraged to do it by the Foreign Office.
But for William, this is a humanitarian issue. After visiting the Red Cross last week to talk about conditions in Gaza, it was important he met the Jewish community to show his support for both sides.
Some argue that William doesn’t yet have the grasp of faith issues that his father has, but as he talked to Holocaust survivor Renee Salt, this felt like a learning exercise for him at a time when some, especially a younger audience, would expect him to have an opinion.
As Keith McLay, a history professor from the University of Derby, said to me, it’s not new for a Prince of Wales to be perceived as being outspoken, but it’s possibly more acceptable now.
He said: “Students where I teach, and the modern communications age 24/7, they expect someone who occupies a role as the Prince of Wales does in contemporary society – they would find it odd if they were not making some statement about what is obviously a political issue but also a humanitarian and social issue.
“So yes I think it is important that there is that commentary and contribution coming from the modern-day Royal Family, provided they are staying within an acceptable boundary, and in this instance Prince William clearly did.”
As we enter the second year of this new reign, it feels as though members of the family including the Prince of Wales are more clearly showing us how they intend to conduct themselves in their new roles and what they want to achieve.
Albeit maybe slightly differently from how they intended with the health worries about the King and the Princess of Wales hanging over them.