The Prince of Wales sparked a heated online debate this weekend, by bringing eldest son Prince George along to help feed the homeless as part of some charitable Christmas lunch preparations.
The pair of heirs were photographed in matching aprons on Saturday (20 Dec), helping those working at The Passage in South London – a non-for-profit organisation famously supported by Princess Diana.
The late mother-of-two brought a young William to the same venue when he himself was just 11, as part of a tradition that the 43-year-old seemingly hopes to pass on to his own son.
He and George, 12, featured in a compilation of video footage of their latest outing, posted to the Wales’ official YouTube account.
The former could be seen pouring Brussels sprouts onto an oven dish, whilst the latter laid out Yorkshire puddings.
The father-son duo were later seen chatting to local attendees, as well as decorating the charity’s Christmas tree, and laying the table for lunch.
“Proud to join volunteers and staff at The Passage in preparing Christmas lunch – this year with another pair of helping hands,” the caption of the sweet clip read when shared on social media.
As we say, however, the duo’s public engagement has since raised a number of eyebrows, with critics questioning why William and Kate Middleton’s two other children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, weren’t invited along.
“There are a number of PR opportunities where William has taken both George and Charlotte,” one Reddit user noted. “But as far as I can tell, it does not appear as though he has ever done one on one events with Louis.”
They went on to demand: “Why is that? Or am I missing something?”
A second hit out: “Sadly Louis is not as important to billy Idle in trme of PR as the heir and the heir of the heir.”
Thankfully, however, a number of royal fans went on to defend the decision to keep the younger twosome – particularly seven-year-old Prince Louis – out of the spotlight.
“He’s too young to handle that long out,” one argued. “The media is so cruel and so ready to pin a ‘naughty boy’ label on him.”
Another agreed: “My theory is that Louis is still young enough that he doesn’t have the patience to keep it together at longer events just yet.
“I’m sure we’ll start to see him out and about more as he gets a bit older.”
A third suggested: “Or he doesn’t want too or they haven’t found one he would actually like to go to.”
Of the pair in general, another went on to note: “They tend to keep the kids away from public / volunteer appearances when they’re younger. For a while even Princess Charlotte wouldn’t be seen at appearances outside of full family functions like Christmas or Trooping of the Colour.
“I’m sure once Louis is 10 he’ll be joining more.”
A fifth admitted: “I always figured it was the same reason William went more places than Harry did as a kid – he’s the heir, Harry was not. William was basically job training, & now it’s George’s turn to learn.
“Louis & Charlotte will still be trotted out for obligations, but not like George.”
