Print

Mail

wiki links

Prince William won't be Aussie governor-general

Australian leaders yesterday ruled out Prince William becoming the country's governor-general, with one commenting that the best place for British royals was half a world away in the UK.

A new biography on the future heir to the throne says the prince has been suggested as Australia's governor-general, a post coveted by his father Prince Charles in the 1980s.

Charles' overtures were rejected by then prime minister Bob Hawke who felt that having not only the Queen as head of state but also her son serving as governor-general was a "double dose" of the British monarchy which many Australians were likely to find unpalatable.

The national mood has hardly changed since then, with current prime minister and avowed monarchist John Howard saying that Prince William would not be an acceptable choice.

"Although I remain a supporter of our current constitutional arrangements, I do think the practice of having a person who is an Australian in every way, and a long-term and permanent resident of this country, is a practice I would not like to see altered," Howard told commercial radio.

Howard's view was backed by that of opposition Labor leader Kevin Rudd.

"There is a great place for the British royals, and it's in Britain," Rudd said.

The idea that Prince William could take on the Australian vice-regal role has come from former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, author of The Diana Chronicles.

In the book, Brown said that Charles "really wanted the job because he saw it as a way to get the hell out of the grip of Prince Philip and the Queen."

"You might like to know... it has been thought up in regard to William, too," she told the Australian Women's Weekly.
This story has been viewed 1659 times.