Today is Prince William’s 42nd birthday. Kensington Palace released yet another “new photo” to celebrate. I said in the Father’s Day post that I genuinely believe that the pics from this Norfolk photoshoot are the first recent and somewhat authentic pics we’ve gotten from KP in months. The photos for Charlotte and Louis’s birthdays felt like they were taken last year, and Kensington Palace just blatantly lied about when they were taken.

This birthday photo once again features William with Charlotte, Louis and George. It’s a beach scene and they’re all wearing the same clothes as the Father’s Day photo (because this was a whole photoshoot done on the same day). There was some talk about how the Father’s Day pic was AI-generated. Yeah… probably not? It’s more likely that it was a real photo which was just airbrushed to hell, same with this pic. KP posted the pic with the message: “Happy birthday Papa, we all love you so much! Cx.” Hm.

Meanwhile, as a pre-birthday gift, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast ranked William at #1 on “The New Royal Power List.” From the Daily Beast:

How could anyone be more powerful than the king? Until the beginning of this year, any royal power list would have put King Charles at the top. But his illness has changed things, and focused insiders minds on the simple fact that given his age, the reign of King Charles will necessarily be a relatively short one, even if he makes a full recovery from the cancer he is currently valiantly fighting.

Unlike Charles, who was widely believed at various moments in his apprenticeship as Prince of Wales to want his mother to abdicate so he could take over, and did indeed lobby for and seize more control in the last years of her reign, William is not pushing for increased responsibilities. On the contrary, he and Catherine are distraught at the idea of his destiny being forced upon him before their children finish school. They are quite happy living in the modest confines of their four-bedroom home, Adelaide Cottage, and have no desire to relocate to either Royal Lodge (assuming Prince Andrew can be evicted) or what is assumed will be their final home, Windsor Castle.

Yet as one source says, “There is a sense that William has stepped into the Prince Philip role. Philip ruled the family with a rod of iron and you saw when he died that discipline collapsed. Now William is calling the shots when it comes to family discipline. He can be scary!”

The most notable effect of his role as enforcer is the absolute ban on Harry returning in any way, shape or form to the family fold. Charles would like to see more of Prince Harry, but William, who still refuses to even speak to his brother, isn’t having any of it, and that, says the source, “tells you everything you need to know about who is really in charge.”

[From The Daily Beast]

How many lies can fit into four paragraphs, my god. “William, who still refuses to even speak to his brother.” “They are quite happy living in the modest confines of their four-bedroom home…” LMAO. William screams and cries and briefs against Harry every single month and has done so for more than five years. He’s a now-42-year-old man-child sick with jealousy over his younger brother. And no, William and Kate are not “quite happy living in the modest confines of their four-bedroom home.” Please, no one even believes that they both live there.

Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace, Cover Images.