How Prince William’s Recent “Approachable” Outing Is a Glimpse Into the Type of King He Will Be Someday

Rachel BurchfieldThu, October 15, 2026 at 5:56 PM UTC

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Prince William on October 13, 2026.Credit: GettyThe Gist -

Prince William’s down-to-earth royal engagement on October 13—where he played cricket on The Mall in London—gives valuable insight into the type of king he will be one day.

Body language expert Darren Stanton says the Prince of Wales “doesn’t rest on his laurels” and isn’t afraid to “get his hands dirty.”

The future king “never puts himself above anybody else,” Stanton added.

Earlier this week, Prince William took to The Mall in London for a very down-to-earth game of cricket. As he prepares to head to Mumbai, India next month for the sixth iteration of his Earthshot Prize Awards, he queued up that visit by playing cricket, which is wildly popular in the country.

This October 13 outing in particular gives insight into the type of king the Prince of Wales will one day be. Body language expert Darren Stanton told Marie Claire that this royal engagement near Buckingham Palace shows that he “doesn’t rest on his laurels as future king or a prince” and that William is “not a person who sits on the sidelines and watches.”

Prince William playing cricket on The Mall.Credit: Getty

Indeed, William jumped into the game himself, even getting a pretty favorable review from a cricket pro. “What’s really great about Prince William is that he likes to get his hands dirty and wants to get stuck in,” Stanton said, noting that his body language shows “how seriously he is taking it.”

“His eyes are fixed on a particular position, and you can see the jawbone and cheekbone tensing,” Stanton continued on behalf of CanadaCasino. “It means he’s extremely focused and concentrating on what’s going on in front of him.”

Prince William on October 13, 2026.Credit: Getty

The future king “never puts himself above anybody else,” Stanton added, and his appearance Tuesday “shows that he’s having fun, playing sport, and interacting with people on their level.”

“He’s very approachable, and he always gives people the respect they deserve, which was demonstrated here as well when he lowers his height to make sure that rapport was established,” he said.

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Prince William on October 13, 2026.Credit: Getty

William himself has spoken about what he’d like to do as king—telling host Eugene Levy during an October 2025 episode of Apple TV+’s The Reluctant Traveler that “I think it’s safe to say that change is on my agenda. Change for good.”

While he admitted that becoming king someday is “not something I wake up in the morning and think about,” he added that he enjoys the idea of change. “I don’t fear it,” William said. “That’s the bit that excites me, the idea of being able to bring some change. Not overly radical change, but changes that I think need to happen.”

“Obviously, I want to create a world in which my son [fellow future king Prince George] is proud of what we do, a world and a job that actually does impact people’s lives for the better,” he added, noting that he likes “to question things.”

Prince William on October 13, 2026.Credit: Getty

That is backed up by a friend speaking to The Times who said of William, “He’s definitely been thinking a lot about how things will evolve over time. When the moment comes, he’ll want to do it his way—genuinely, not just following a script. He’s not afraid to dig into the details, ask the tough questions, and figure out what actually works today. He wants to make sure the whole thing has even more impact and remains relevant.”

Prince William with well-wishers on October 13, 2026.Credit: Getty

Even in the early days of his reign, a source told the outlet that William plans to “take every stone and look underneath it” and assess the “footprint of the institution.” The Daily Mail’s Rebecca English wrote that William has little patience for the “we’ve always done it this way” justification. While he “very much believes in tradition and the magic of the monarchy,” one source said, English added, “it’s also clear that William is firmly in charge of his own destiny, with a clear and confident vision for the future—one that is likely to look markedly different than anything we have seen before.”

“When he thinks about change, it’s very much in the guise of questioning how things are done,” a source said, adding, “If the answer is, ‘But we’ve always done it like that,’ his answer will inevitably be, ‘But why?’”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”