Royal Knave

The fear is rising in Buckingham Palace that third-in-line to the throne, Prince William, may be perceived as a cad ... like dad. With granddad something of a loose canon; dad either an eccentric or a jerk; son an image still waiting to be formed, there is concern among royal handlers that our boy Bill's handling of on-again off-again girlfriend Kate may cause the public to perceive him as negatively as they did his father in Diana's rout of his Charles on the field of public image.

Like father, like son can only be bad for the British tourist industry built as it is on the shaky foundation of Windsor mythology. No word has leaked on Charles' advice to his first son.

** Perhaps any father-son relationship lived in public an dbased on the public's need for an heir and spare, is doomed. **