Prince of Wales forced to follow royal orders despite reservation over the matter
Prince William made a significant appearance on behalf of his father King Charles on Saturday, as he attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Italy.
The monarch had visited the late pontiff just 12 days before his death during the Italy State visit. A royal historian suggested that while Charles would be hoping to “break royal protocol” to attend the funeral.
Moreover, Prince of Wales also had some hesitancy to follow these particular orders but had to abide by them any way given his responsibility to the throne.
According to insiders cited by MailOnline, William was “reluctant to obey the order to go to Rome on Saturday until his father pulled rank”.
The reason behind William’s reluctance still remains a mystery, but it is possible that the Prince knew about his father’s closeness to the Pope and his willingness to attend.
The King, who previously attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 as Prince of Wales, is abiding by an old royal tradition that “the Sovereign does not attend funerals”.
However, in the end, William, dressed in a dark blue suit with a black tie as a sign of mourning, came through and represented King Charles and the British monarch in the sombre event held at the Vatican.
The heir to the throne honoured the late pope with a solemn gesture of bowing his head in reflection by the coffin as he was accompanied by UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
