Prince William and Kate have been portrayed mostly favorably by the press, particularly in the UK, for years, but it seems the tide may now be turning.
Last month it was revealed that Prince William had only completed 20 hours of flying time a week and has only carried out a handful of his royal duties so far.
Prince William, who recently been called “throne idol” and “work-shy” by the press, reportedly participated in only 122 royal engagements last year, which is 128 less than his 94-year-old grandfather, Prince Philip.
The scrutiny of the royal couple comes just as Kate and Will shared snapshots from their lavish ski vacation in the French Alps. British tabloids published the pictures with headlines like "Part-time Wills slopes off with Kate and kids” and “Busy? I’m snowed under.”
Kate also faced backlash from the vacation snapshots. In one photo she is seen in ski gear and gloves. PETA UK saw the snap and went after the royal, honing in on the gloves she had on, which seemed to be made of possum fur.
Meanwhile, Prince William’s bosses at East Anglian Air Ambulance tried to calm the criticism and defended him, according to People. The bosses called Will a “respected and integral team member” in regards to his fly time.
A spokeswoman at William's office at Kensington Palace told People in a statement, "The Duke is incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to carry out his skilled work with the East Anglian Air Ambulance."
According to Vanity Fair, Prince William recently skipped out on the BAFTA Awards last month, though The Duke of Cambridge is the president of BAFTA.
And William has also come under criticism for choosing to spend most of his time at Armor Hall instead of living at Kensington Palace, which just recently underwent renovations at the expense of British tax payers.
It seems now perhaps the royal couple is attempting to redeem themselves in the eyes of the press.
Kate recently spent a day editing the Huffington Post, and she also launched a Children’s Mental Health Week.
The couple teamed up to support suicide prevention at St. Thomas’ Hospital on Thursday. William spoke about why mental health is important to them.
“For both of us, the mental health piece has got lots of aspects,” he said, according to Reuters. “It’s such a big issue that we need to do something about it. We feel it’s been raised higher up the ladder. It’s suddenly bubbling just under the surface. Now we need to get up to the next level, to the surface.”
Royal biographer Robert Lacey told Reuters he has hopes the negativity toward the royal couple will ease up.
"Young royals are very popular and old royals are very popular, but when you're in the middle, approaching middle age and losing your hair, you have to work and be seen to work,” he said. “I have no doubt that this is a temporary situation. William will step up to the plate.”
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