Prince William has stunned his father Prince Charles by vowing he'll never be king -- because he can't forgive the royal family for the way they mistreated his beloved mom, Princess Diana.
And the defiant Wills, 19, has even insisted he wants to quit public life completely, reveals royal expert Nicholas Davies in the blockbuster new book that all of Britain is eagerly awaiting: William, The Rebel Prince.
Now the furious queen believes her grandson has inherited Di's stubborn, unconventional nature. And she's ordered Charles to get the headstrong William to toe the royal line.
But William has dug his heels in -- and says he wants to hand over the throne to his brother Harry, 17. Now, in the second installment form Davies' book, Star takes an exclusive look at the boy who doesn't want to be king.
After months of deliberation, Prince William has informed his father that he aims to drop the title prince and continue the tradition he initiated some years ago of being called simply by his first name.
Far more importantly, however, William has also told his father that he does not wish to remain heir to the throne and wants to renounce formally all claim to the throne.
William has insisted that his rejection of his title and his claim to the crown is no teenage rebellion, something that will pass with time, but a decision that he has been mulling over for a couple of years.
In Straight-talking discussions, William has insisted: "I don't want to be king, I don't want the job."
William first discussed this with his father in the fall of 2000. Understandably, Charles was deeply concerned, realizing full well that if William did indeed go through with his intentions, his decision would have disastrous consequences for both the House of Windsor and, perhaps, for the very survival of the monarchy in Britain.
Charles finally decided to inform the queen. Her first reaction was to instruct Charles to get a grip on his wayward son and instill in him the meaning of the word "duty". She told Charles to pass on her message to William, telling him in no uncertain terms that there could be no rejection of his role as heir to the throne and that he should banish all such thoughts from his mind.
She instructed Charles to inform William that his role in life had been predetermined by birth. He had been born into the royal family and, as the eldest child of Prince Charles, he is the future king -- and nothing will change that state of affairs.
The queen then turned on Charles, blaming him for not bringing up William to understand that he has never had a choice as to whether he does or doesn't want to be king.
Charles prefers to take a much less heavy-handed approach to the whole affair, still hoping that William can be persuaded to accept his lot in life.
Charles also asked William whether he would be happy to take part in the celebrations planned for the queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, marking her 50 years on the throne.
However, in a dramatic gesture of open defiance, William told his father that he wants nothing to do with the celebrations. He doesn't want to tour the country with the queen because that would show the nation that he was happy with his role as heir to the throne, a prince of the realm.
Those close to Charles believe that William is acting out in his own life what he had learned from his beloved mother when he would listen to her launching into an attack on the royal family, the queen and particularly Prince Philip.
There are others who feel that William is a "chip off the old block" and that, in his heart, he feels the smae way toward the royal family and the monarchy as his mother did.
Princess Diana was unable to accept the tough discipline of royal life and needed to escape from the strict confines and rigid rules. Headstrong and determined, Diana finally did break away and began to lead her own life. In doing so, she won the love and devotion of the nation and the respect of people around the world.
William may simply be following in her footsteps.
Diana wanted to show William a facet of life that virtually no other members of the royal family had ever experienced.
She would explain to William that although he would have to conform to royal tradition and carry out the necessary duties throughout his life, he didn't always have to conform to protocol, convention and tradition.
She wanted William to think independently, make his own decisions and not be bound solely by the strictures of life within the royal family.
She would tell William how she had fought against some of the petty restrictions members of the royal household and Prince Philip had tried to impose on her.
Diana had frequently bucked the system to try to do her own thing. Sometimes she had protested to such a degree that she had been permitted to deviate from royal traditions and go her own way. But that wasn't the case very often.
Published on: October 18, 2001
