Prince William Might Ask a “Dark Horse” Royal to Step Into a More Prominent Role, a Royal Expert Says

It's no secret that Prince William and Kate Middleton's vision for future is a "slimmed down" monarchy, but they might be getting a little more than they wished for in that department.

Unfortunately, according to one royal expert, the future king might be "running out of royals" to ask to take on the honor (and duty and busy schedule) of senior working royal.

While Will and Kate's wish for a slimmed down monarchy is totally valid, unless they have a Time Turner hidden among the Crown Jewels, they will need at least some help taking on the hundreds of engagements the royal family is invited to attend each year. With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle presumably done for good with working royal life and the older generation of royals rapidly reaching retirement from the hectic schedule of a working royal becoming a necessity, William will be responsible for deciding which other members of the royal family will step up to represent the monarchy at public engagements.

Well, according

According to the Daily Mail's Christopher Wilson, William might look to tap Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh to take on a more senior role.

In his Daily Mail column on the topic, Wilson writes that "the golden years" of the royal family "are all but gone—for the time being." Wilson points to 2011 as the heyday of the modern senior working royal lineup, noting that there were, at that time, 12 major royals and their families sharing public-facing duties.

Even if Will and Kate never decide to grow the working royal roster back to its 2011 size, they will still need some help, at least. According to Wilson, that 2011 Dream Team of working royals covered a collective 3,874 engagements, both in the U.K. and abroad.

"But by 2024, the last figures available, the personnel had dropped by two down to ten—but the overall attendance figures had shrunk by almost half to 2,168," Wilson writes in the column.

After running through a long list of royals that aren't strong contenders for reasons ranging from advancing age to unrelenting public scandal, Wilson points out that, inevitably, the monarchy will shrink and, by extension, so will the number of engagements they do each year—which, he notes, could directly impact the public's perception of the monarchy.

"The answer, inevitably, is less contact with the public," he writes. "And no amount of social media coverage can replace the lifetime’s memory generated by a real-life meeting with a royal."

Wilson calculates that accounting for his time at university, Prince George is unlikely to "step up onto the public stage" until 2034. As for the younger Wales children, Wilson points out that there's no guarantee that Princess Charlotte or Prince Louis will ever "become part of the royal circus."

"William and Catherine have been rightly protective of their children and one suspects they may leave the choice up to them when they arrive at adulthood," he notes.

So, where will future King William be able to turn if he needs to recruit a new class of senior working royals? Wilson points out that William's cousin, Zara Phillips, would be an instantly popular choice with the public, but that she's unlikely to want to give up the freedom she currently enjoys running her own business and living her life with her husband Mike Tindall without the pressures of senior royal status.

William would also have the option to attempt to reverse King Charles' decision that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie should not represent The Firm in public, but that could be messy, especially considering the scandals surrounding their parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.

According to Wilson, there's only one other strong contender in the royal family and William might have to give her serious consideration.

"That leaves dark-horse contender Lady Louise Windsor, 21, who charms all who meet her and could be a decorative and useful asset to the royal team," he writes, adding that even Lady Louise has one clear drawback on her pro/con list. "But her mother Sophie, vastly protective of her daughter, is just as likely to want her to stay out of the spotlight."

Whatever decision he makes, the choice will be firmly in William's hands when he eventually takes the throne.