The Windsors often do very obvious photo-ops, but the appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge alongside Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall this week was something altogether. Sure, technically, it was a photo-op for a good purpose, to draw attention to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre and the good work done for veterans and military peeps. But the fact that this was the first time in nine years that the two couples stepped out was notable for all kinds of reasons. And as the official photos from inside the DMRC came out, it became very clear: this joint appearance was merely done for the photos of William and Charles looking like they don’t hate each other. That’s all. Their offices coordinated and decided that they needed a “narrative-changing” photo-op between father and son, Future King and Future Future King. Sussexit really threw everything in disarray and now Poor William has to act like he doesn’t hate his father. And of course, all of the Cambridge and Wales-sycophantic media has to eat up the palace’s talking points about Will and Charles’s improved relationship. Some this Katie Nicholl piece at Vanity Fair:

The photo-op spoke volumes: The timing of the trip is significant and “spoke volumes” about their relationship according to Charles’s biographer Sally Bedell Smith. “One sensed a spontaneous warmth between them,” she told Vanity Fair. “Apart from the very visible bond, there’s plenty of evidence indicating a closer alignment between Charles and William. During the crisis over Prince Andrew’s scandals last year, both the Queen and Prince Charles ensured that Prince William played an active role in the decision-making. That cooperation was also apparent in hammering out an agreement with Harry and Meghan to leave their official duties with the royal family.”

Stepping up to the plate: With the departure of the Sussexes and Andrew from royal duties, the Cambridges are stepping up to the plate more than ever…Sources close to the couple say that the coming months will be “exceptionally busy” for the pair, with an official trip to Ireland on their travel agenda along with a rumored visit to the bushfire ravaged parts of Australia. “There’s a sense of the family pulling together and presenting a united front and being busier than ever. There has definitely been a shift in William’s relationship with his father,” a family friend said. “They are very much a team. With Harry and Meghan overseas, a lot rests on William and the word that keeps coming up is ‘sovereign.’ Charles is passionate about sovereignty and how he and his son will be the embodiment of that. I would say it is what drives him and what he is most committed to.”

William is ready to be Prince of Wales? As a young man there were times when William struggled with the notion of kingship but today, he is a respected statesman in the making and a vital and hard working ambassador for the Queen and the royal family. Sources who know him say he is ready for the next chapter in his life as he prepares to succeed his father as the next Prince of Wales. “There was a time when Charles was hurt when William turned down the chance to take over the Prince’s Trust and I think he worried about the future, but not now. He has every faith in William and respects and admires the work he and Catherine do with the Royal Foundation,” the family friend added.

Mentoring William: Bedell Smith pointed out that Charles has been mentoring his son and preparing him to become the next Prince of Wales in recent years: “Under the direction of Prince Charles and various advisers, William began more intensive training to be Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and eventually King William V. He took courses in land management, attended the sustainability leadership institute at Cambridge, and began to immerse himself in his father’s Duchy of Cornwall.”

Charles & William working together? William has even adopted his father’s passion, sustainability. “As William has matured and taken on more public duties, he and his father have more naturally cooperated on various initiatives including William’s recently announced Earthshot Prize, which seeks to build on Charles’s decades of work on climate change,” she said. “It’s significant that the prize was designed to operate in parallel with Charles’s own Sustainable Markets Council—indicating that father and son are collaborating in new ways to find solutions for global environmental issues.”

[From Vanity Fair]

“There was a time when Charles was hurt when William turned down the chance to take over the Prince’s Trust and I think he worried about the future, but not now. He has every faith in William and respects and admires the work he and Catherine do with the Royal Foundation…” Yeah, no? The Royal Foundation barely does sh-t, and the only time it had any tangible, effective projects was when Meghan was forced to run all of her charitable projects through it. Anyway, they’re really beating us over the head with this sugary bulls–t.

I honestly think Charles is quite concerned – secretly, of course – about Future King William. I also think that Charles is actually the only one who really grasps the beating the crown has taken in the past year. Charles knows that what happened to Harry and Meghan hurt the crown and hurt commonwealth relations. Charles knows that William and Kate are fundamentally too lazy to pick up his work. Charles knows that the Queen’s favoritism and caping for Andrew is a horrible look. This will go to hell very quickly, you know?

Photos courtesy of WENN and Backgrid.