The Royal Family May Not Find This Internet Joke So Funny After Being Accused of ‘Economic Crime'
The South Yorkshire Police’s post on X was innocent enough — they were just looking for community involvement when it came to “economic crime.” They wrote, “Do you know someone who lives a lavish lifestyle, but doesn’t have a job? Your intelligence is vital in helping us put those who think they’re ‘untouchable’ before the courts.” Well, they got quite a response that they certainly weren’t looking for.
The first response was a portrait of King Charles III in his military regalia while sitting on a gilded chair. “Here is your target,” they joked. And Prince William wasn’t immune to the internet’s hijinks either. His photo popped up in the feed with one user adding, “This lad.” Another social media account questioned the South Yorkshire Police, “this must be a bait post… until I looked I thought a parody.”
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No, it was not a parody, but there seem to be quite a few British taxpayers who are upset by the royal family’s work ethic. It’s a criticism that’s been led by the anti-monarchy group, Republic since Charles took the throne, but it sounds like their message is reaching ordinary citizens. Republic’s chief executive Graham Smith told The Telegraph in March 2023, “[Charles] has 70 years’ worth of baggage and in the three or four years leading up to the Queen’s death it was one scandal after another after another. The monarchy is a weakened institution, it’s holed below the waterline, and if we keep pushing, it will sink. People didn’t believe that was a possibility 10 years ago, but they believe it now.”
It’s an open secret that Prince William’s nickname was “Work-Shy Willie” in the early years of his marriage to Kate Middleton. It was reportedly Queen Elizabeth II who scolded him for his light schedule. Now, his focus on family instead of his royal obligations (outside of Kate’s health issues, of course) still irks the media. According to the Daily Mail, palace insiders call him the “10 am to 4 pm” prince because those are the only hours he wants to work.
Last summer, the Prince and Princess of Wales received harsh criticism for their extended summer vacation. “They’re very popular, they’re a huge asset to the UK, but there have been eyebrows raised in other parts of the royal household about the amount of time they’re not doing official engagements,” GBN’s royal correspondent Richard Palmer explained on the Royal Round Up podcast, via GBN.
“It may well be that they come under a little bit of pressure to up their number of engagements,” he continued. “There aren’t many families where both the father and mother are able to have 12 or 13 weeks with their children on all of their school breaks. I think there’s an awful lot of goodwill towards them, but they do need to keep an eye on that.”
The couple will likely get some grace because of Kate’s cancer battle this year, but there are a few anti-monarchists who think William should be stepping out for work more often. The comments under the South Yorkshire Police’s X post might have only been a joke, but they are tinged with an overall feeling of the royal family’s place in the U.K.
Before you go, click to see all the biggest royal scandals in the past 50 years.
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