"So, now is the time for each one of us to share leadership... every single one of us has a role to play." This coming from one who was born to such unimaginable privilege, yielding his 'unique position' and turning his privilege to service that is dedicated to restoring our beloved planet in order that future generations can enjoy it is truly inspiring.
His Royal Highness, Prince William, the Prince of Wales is truly an inspirational human being. He may be imperfect (and who isn't?) and may come up short of the tremendous expectations that come with the "HRH" attached to his name no matter how hard he tries to measure up, but we know, especially now, that he is all about service.
In the past year and months, Prince William's graciousness and strength of character was put to the test in a very public character assassination that involved no other than his own brother, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. From many parts of the world, the perspective was that Prince Harry unfairly lambasted Prince William publicly in a bonfire of self-serving and attention-grabbing parade of private family matters 'orchestrated and scripted' to get people cruelly see things out of context in exchange of $$$. For whose benefit? Ah, we all can use our imagination to answer that question. For anyone in this world who is family-oriented, what Prince Harry and... uhm, not sure if the name is even worth mentioning here... so, I wont! Well, what Prince Harry did was a breach of trust... and he did it without remorse, too - striding cockily in Westminster Abbey a few days back like a Hollywood celebrity. Wishful thinking! It was full of drama that the world did not need. Personally, about a decade ago, I did believe that Prince Harry had finally grown up and became a responsible person after a string of embarrassing controversies. Of course, he looked grown up around the positive influence of his older brother and sister-in-law. And then all that rubbish happened, and it got me thinking... "is the old selfish, irresponsible Harry back?" We all know the answer to that... so, I will 'spare' you the details.
The Princes may have been reared in a difficult family situation as children but they were still surrounded by positive influences from which to draw good judgment regarding their situation. Therefore, we can only hope that things will be right again someday with the Princes. After all, there is something that they both share that cannot be changed no matter what: they are each other's brother.
Amid all the cruel and very public accusations, two gracious human beings who are worthy of emulation (re-)emerged: Prince William, of course, and his equally wonderful wife, Catherine, the Princess of Wales. They consistently soldiered on, serving the United Kingdom quietly and with a smile despite the obvious heartbreak. We have seen Prince William evolved from being this larger-than-life British Royal to 'just being among us' by quietly bearing the personal pain caused by his own brother, and carrying out his duties and responsibilities without 'loud' 'hollywoodish' PR stunts - much like his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. He worked with such perseverance and diligence, effectively earning whatever title bestowed on him by virtue of his birth, if he didn't earn it yet, that is. With the quietly elegant, and brilliant in her own right, Princess Kate, alongside him, we have seen him evolved from this young man who is born into privilege but grew up to be of substance and with a strong sense of responsibility to this wonderfully mature Servant Leader and a wonderful father to a growing family. He is worth-emulating for his humility and focus on service despite his heartache; admirable for his vision for the world and his brilliance in articulating it; and inspirational for his love and devotion to country, family and God.
While he is and will always be the son of Diana, the "People's Princess", the son of Charles III - the reigning British Monarch, and the grandson of the legend that is Queen Elizabeth II, he has effectively emerged from the shadows of his parentage and ancestors - owning his birthright with such graciousness and clarity of purpose as a world leader while keeping his reverence for history and respect for traditions that makes UK a one of a kind country that it is then and now. I do not exactly know what it means to be the King of UK and the Commonwealth, but I can certainly see Prince William to be a very good world leader. Thanks to the difficult situation with his own brother, he has 'emerged from his cocoon', and now the world sees him for the wonderful Servant Leader that he is.
I am a chemical engineer with specialization in food engineering, an educator and a scientist, and I stand by Prince William. Like him, I commit to doing the best I can, using my knowledge (as limited as it may be) and my small influence as a humble servant leader in my small part of the world to help restore and nurture our planet back to good health. May God bless Prince William and his family, and may God bless us all.
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Video credit: The owner of the video is indicated in the video itself, The Earthshot Prize - thanks. Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.
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