Queen Elizabeth Has Given Prince William a New Royal Position
The Duke of Cambridge has a new title to add to his list.
On Saturday, Kensington Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth had named her Prince William as the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The new royal role and title (which lasts for 12 months) means that Prince William will act as the British monarch’s representative to the Church of Scotland, carrying out ceremonial duties and visits as needed. “The Lord High Commissioner’s role is to maintain the relationship between the State and the Church,” the royal family’s official website explains.
Several of members of the royal family have previously served in the role, including Prince William’s father, Prince Charles, as well as Prince Edward and Princess Anne.
The appointment comes of the heels of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell decision to step away from royal duties. Just last week, Queen Elizabeth announced that the family had reached an agreement about the pair’s future, explaining that Harry and Meghan would no longer receive public funding, that Harry would forfeit his military appointments, and that neither Harry nor Meghan would use “HRH” titles.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have been continuing on with their royal duties amidst the news, hosting a reception on the queen’s behalf at Buckingham Palace last week. While the couple haven’t made any official statements about Harry and Meghan’s move, Prince William reportedly told a friend that he was upset about how the situation played out.
“I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives, and I can’t do that anymore…. I’m sad about that,” he said per the Sunday Times. “All we can do, and all I can do, is try and support them and hope that the time comes when we’re all singing from the same page. I want everyone to play on the team.”
News later emerged that the brothers had also spent time, alongside their wives, repairing a longstanding rift before Harry and Meghan began their new private lives in Canada.
“William and Harry have spent time together privately away from the official Sandringham Summit working on their relationship and discussing their future,” a source previously told The Sun. “It has been ground-breaking in terms of saving their bond as brothers and has been totally driven by them.”