Revealing stories about the inner workings of the royal family making their way to the press is nothing new.

Just recently, headlines buzzed with speculation after photos surfaced of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s press secretary meeting with King Charles’ communications chief—prompting rumors of a potential ‘peace summit’ between the Sussexes and the Palace.

But back in 2009, a far more controversial story emerged. The Mail on Sunday uncovered documents suggesting that Prince Charles—then the heir apparent—might never become King. Instead, his son Prince William, only 27 at the time, was allegedly being groomed to become a “shadow king.”

A Transfer of Power?

In her royal biography The Making of a Royal Romance, author Katie Nicholl explained that the documents revealed William and Prince Harry were expected to take on an increasing number of royal engagements on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. To Nicholl, this was a sign that a gradual “handover of power” was taking place.

“The revelation suggested that William was being lined up as a ‘shadow king’, and fuelled speculation that the crown could skip a generation when the Queen dies,” she wrote.

The Palace quickly responded, reportedly horrified by the suggestion, and firmly denied any plans for William to take the throne before his father. William’s press office also issued a statement to dismiss the rumors: “William will not be ‘shadow king’.”

Still, Nicholl noted, “there’s no smoke without fire.” Regardless of the denials, the records showed that both princes were indeed taking on a greater royal workload.

William: The Reluctant Heir

Interestingly, the person most opposed to the idea of William becoming heir sooner than expected was William himself. According to Nicholl, he was deeply uncomfortable with the idea and “could not think of anything worse.” He was content to support his grandmother, the Queen, but didn’t want to be rushed into a full-time royal life.

At the time, his passion was firmly rooted in his career as a search and rescue pilot—a path he wasn’t ready to abandon. “He was happy to represent his grandmother… but he was still not ready to become a fully-fledged ribbon-cutting royal,” Nicholl noted.

It wasn’t until July 2017 that William officially became a full-time working royal, following his time as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Before his role with the Air Ambulance, William began his military career in 2006 at Sandhurst. Though Queen Elizabeth reportedly supported his participation in frontline duty, the government deemed it too risky due to his position in the line of succession. Instead, he served with the RAF and the Royal Navy.

One of his most notable moments came in July 2008, when he was part of a Royal Navy operation that intercepted a speedboat attempting to smuggle 900kg of cocaine worth £40 million (now worth over £60 million). William had joined the HMS Iron Duke just four days earlier.

Deployed as part of a Lynx helicopter crew, William helped monitor suspect vessels off Barbados’ coast. The team, which included a sniper and pilot, identified a smuggling boat, and US Coast Guard officers boarded the vessel from the Iron Duke to make the arrests.

Commander Mark Newland said at the time, “To have had a direct impact on the flow of cocaine into Europe just four days after we arrived in theatre shows the benefit the Royal Navy can have.”

Long-Lasting Impact and Royal Banter

Royal biographer Penny Junor remarked that William’s time with the Navy involved “a lot of excitement and a lot of danger.” He enjoyed it so much that he extended his service with the Navy before returning to the RAF.

Years later, in a 2020 Remembrance Day video call with Leading Physical Trainer Damon Bell of HMS Montrose, William laughed when Bell referenced a recent £20 million drug bust—joking it didn’t match HMS Iron Duke’s record.

William replied with a grin: “I wasn’t going to bring that up, Damon, but I am glad it’s still being talked about.”