Relaxed, smiling and surrounded by his adoring children, the Prince of Wales was a picture of happiness in the sweet photograph released by Kensington Palace to celebrate Father’s Day in the UK.
And according to those close to him, William – who also celebrated his 41st birthday on 21 June – has never been more content.
“There’s a sense that, right now, his life is both settled but about to take an exciting turn,” says a family friend. “His 41st year will mark his first full year as Prince of Wales and he’s already laying down the markers for what that will look like. His home life is very established and settled.
“He and Catherine really feel they have the balance just right between their public roles and being a family unit. They love living a less-visible life in Windsor and, after a pretty momentous year, William is looking forward to putting the drama of the past behind him and embracing new beginnings.”
He’s a typical hubby with a can in hand!
Wills admitted in a recent TV interview that the ongoing feud with Prince Harry has “taken up far more airtime” than he would like and he really wants to put their family squabbles behind him.
This is particularly important at the moment, with Wills about to launch “a really big project” – his first significant undertaking as heir to the throne.
Already a patron of Centrepoint, a charity that helps homeless young people in the UK, the prince has taken his mission to another level with plans to build social housing on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, which he inherited as Prince of Wales.
Wills hopes his project will have a “tangible impact” on homelessness and will go on to provide “living conditions up and down the country that improve people’s lives who need that first rung on the ladder”.
He has also pledged to educate Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, on homelessness in the same way his late mother Princess Diana did for him.
It’s plain to see the kids look up to their dad.
Wills insists that he wants his kids to grow up “knowing that some of us are very fortunate, some of us need a little bit of a helping hand and some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help others improve their lives”.
Kate, 41, and his children are central to everything the prince does, say friends.
“He just loves being a dad and having a settled family around him, particularly after all the drama with Harry,” a close source reports.
“Having children always puts things into perspective. Whatever happens at work, he has to go home and be a normal person for the sake of his kids, which has made him more at peace with the reality
of his other life.”
