A GB News discussion has highlighted Prince William being branded “demanding” by Duchy of Cornwall staff, with host Dawn Neesom suggesting this lends credence to Prince Harry’s claims in his memoir Spare.

Speaking about the Prince of Wales’s approach to managing his inherited estate, Dawn commented: “He has been branded pretty demanding.

That makes you think maybe some of the things Prince Harry wrote in Spare weren’t far from the truth.”

The remarks came during a segment discussing William’s modernisation efforts at the Duchy of Cornwall, which he inherited upon King Charles’s accession to the throne.

Charles Rae said William was always likely to be demanding

GB NEWS / GETTY

Charles Rae, former Sun editor, defended William’s demanding nature as necessary leadership qualities. “Let’s be honest, if you are the boss of a very big company you are not going to be a pussycat,” Rae responded on GB News.

He acknowledged the royal brothers’ disputes, stating: “I have no doubt Prince Harry, in his truth, believes William done his down in some ways. Brothers fall out, sisters fall out, it happens in all families.”

However, Rae emphasised William’s balanced approach: “I do not believe Prince William is not demanding, but he counters that with a great deal of humility.”

The Prince’s demanding approach is balanced by a notably modern management style at the Duchy of Cornwall. Rural director Matthew Morris revealed that employees “no longer feel the need to put on a tie when the Duke of Cornwall is in town”, contrasting with the more formal approach during King Charles’s visits.

Charles Rae joined Dawn Neesom on GB News

GB NEWS

William communicates with the estate’s more than 150 staff via WhatsApp and asks questions over social media to keep updated.

He has encouraged open dialogue, telling staff to “please give [everyone] proper authority to say what’s really going on. Not being polite because I’m in the room” ahead of meetings.

Estate director Ben Murphy noted William shares a “healthy impatience, as his father did”, while secretary Will Bax described the father-of-three as “pretty ambitious” and “pretty demanding”, adding this approach is “great”.

William’s transformation of the 700-year-old Duchy of Cornwall into a “force for social change” follows scrutiny from a 2024 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary titled “The King, The Prince & Their Secret Millions”.

Prince Harry and Prince William have had a strained relationship since Harry moved to California PA

The investigation revealed how the Duchy profits from public services, including charging Devon county council £300,000 for a 21-year primary school rental deal and billing other schools hundreds of thousands for leases.

The Prince has launched a new mission statement of “positive impact for people, places and planet”, moving beyond the estate’s traditional role of generating private income.

William stated: “We’re not the traditional landowner – we want to be more than that.”