Prince William Could Break This Major Royal Tradition When He Becomes King, Marking a “Historic Turning Point”

Rachel BurchfieldThu, October 29, 2026 at 12:38 PM UTC

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Prince William on October 21, 2026.Credit: GettyThe Gist -

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries, nearly all of which were formerly under British rule.

Queen Elizabeth served as head of the Commonwealth, a tradition continued by her heir, King Charles, who is currently in the Caribbean visiting three Commonwealth nations.

Prince William, though, seems to have no desire to continue the tradition, and his “position hasn’t changed” on the matter, according to a new report from The Times.

As Prince of Wales and even before he took on that title in 2022, Prince William has proven time and time again that he is keen to do royal life his own way—royal life with a “smaller r in the royal,” as he previously put it. As King Charles embarks on a nine-day, three-country Caribbean tour, one of the changes William plans to implement when he is king has come into greater focus—and it involves breaking a long-held tradition that meant so much to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.

According to a new report from The Times, William will likely not follow in his father’s footsteps in serving as head of the Commonwealth, which is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries, nearly all of which were formerly under British rule. Though the decision has not yet been made official, William not leading the Commonwealth “could mark a historic turning point for the British monarchy and say a great deal about the future of the Crown,” Vanity Fair reported.

King Charles and Prince William on May 13, 2024.Credit: Getty

According to The Times, Charles is aware of William’s position on the issue. Unlike the British throne, the leadership of the Commonwealth is not automatically passed from the British monarch to his or her heir. “It is a symbolic role, and succession is decided by the leaders of the member states,” Vanity Fair reported. Queen Elizabeth was head of the Commonwealth, and Charles assumed the role after her death in 2022. Four years before her death, it was agreed upon by the Commonwealth heads of government in 2018 that Charles would take on the duty when it became time. William, though he is born to be king, is not obligated to accept the Commonwealth leadership role—and it seems, according to The Times report, that he doesn’t want to take it on.

“This does not necessarily mean distancing himself from member countries, but rather a different interpretation of the role the British monarch should play in relation to them,” Vanity Fair reported. The prospect that Charles is the last member of the British royal family to lead the Commonwealth “would hold historical significance,” the outlet continued.

King Charles arriving in the Bahamas on October 27, 2026.Credit: Getty

The conversation is an apt one as Charles kicked off his Caribbean tour on October 27. The tour will see him visit the Bahamas, Guyana, and, finally, Antigua and Barbuda, where he will take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The king will undertake his visits to the Bahamas and Guyana solo, before Queen Camilla joins him in Antigua and Barbuda from November 1 to November 4.

When William and Kate Middleton went on their own Caribbean tour in 2022 (which The Times described as “a hot mess of controversy and diplomatic glitches”), William addressed becoming the head of the Commonwealth, noting (per Marie Claire), “Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what’s on my mind.” As The Times put it, Charles’s tour is one undertaken “almost certainly as the last royal head of the Commonwealth.” When speaking to sources close to William, they confirmed that the Prince of Wales’s “position hasn’t changed” since his 2022 comments.

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Kate Middleton and Prince William arriving in Belize for a royal tour on March 19, 2022.Credit: Getty

Charles faces an uphill battle on his current tour. As The Times pointed out, at every stop he makes, the king will face “the thorny issue of Britain’s role in the historic slave trade, and calls for reparations will be inescapable.” While Charles will “not shy away” from the issue, the outlet reported that he won’t apologize, though he will acknowledge the “darkest days of our past.”

Philip Murphy, director of history and policy at the Institute of Historical Research and former director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, said, “Charles will handle the matter as well as anyone could. He’s very good at the charm offensive, he’s good with people, he’s actually turned out to be a very good constitutional monarch in that he’s a very good communicator.”

King Charles in the Bahamas on October 28, 2026.Credit: Getty

An aide added, “He knows what is expected of him, he knows how to read the room and land a message, he’s a very safe pair of hands. He has been given all the briefing he needs to help him navigate difficult interactions. He also knows that the issue of apologies and reparations is for government.”

In September, Buckingham Palace said the king remains “personally and wholeheartedly committed” to finding ways to address “historic wrongs” around slavery, per Hello!.

King Charles planting the silver buttonwood tree on October 28, 2026.Credit: Getty

Poignantly, while in the Bahamas, the king planted a silver buttonwood—sometimes called a silver mangrove—which is indigenous to the Bahamas coastline, according to Hello!. Told that the tree could reach its full height within 20 years, Charles replied, “If I’m still alive, I hope to see it grow into something bigger.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”