Prince William's childhood ambition inspired by Queen Elizabeth might not have come true but it speaks volumes about his priorities
The Prince of Wales speaks out in a special Earthshot edition of The Graham Norton Show and reveals two jobs he considered pursuing
From the moment he was born Prince William's royal destiny was set out for him but that didn't stop him dreaming of other career paths anyway. In a new appearance on BBC's The Graham Norton Show airing 23rd October the Prince of Wales was asked if he had ever wanted to be something other than King. His response?
"I did want to be a policeman when I was younger, I thought I could make a good one," William admits. "And then I went through a phase of wanting to be a DJ - I wasn't very good."
His ambitions never became reality (though it sounds like he attempted DJ-ing at least once), though they say a lot about who Prince William is at his core. The wish to work as a policeman in particular looks like it could've been inspired by his remarkable grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
If there's one thing many people agree on when it comes to the late monarch it was that her sense of duty was what drove her. In the Queen Elizabeth, Her Story, Our Centenary documentary earlier this year, Queen Camilla said she doesn't think she's "seen anybody have a sense of duty like" her mother-in-law had.
Although being a police officer is different to being a working royal in so many ways, it also requires immense dedication and living your life to help others. Police officers also serve the nation and Prince William's early dream of being a "good" policeman could show that even from a young age he was being inspired by the Queen's approach.
His "phase" of wanting to be a DJ might have been a brief moment of wanting to be free from the traditions of royal life and do something radical, but ultimately the sense of duty ran deep. The Prince of Wales pursued a military career and then worked as a helicopter pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance until 2017.
It was only then that he stepped back to become a full-time working royal and each of these jobs reflects the same desire to serve and help people that Queen Elizabeth had. We've already seen the signs that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have inherited it too.
Back in 2018 the Prince of Wales attended a reception in honour of Scotland Yard and reportedly told then-Police Commissioner Jayne Richardson, "[George] is obsessed, actually, by the police… cars, toys, everything." Meanwhile, in the past it's been claimed that Charlotte expressed an interest in nursing and Louis in working as a fighter pilot.
There's definitely a similar theme there, though Prince William would surely also be immensely proud if they championed conservation causes like him and King Charles.
The dad-of-three joins Graham Norton on the iconic red sofa alongside Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham and Robert Irwin for a special Earthshot Prize edition of the show ahead of the 2026 awards ceremony in November.
"I thought we could do something more powerful and more optimistic and the idea of an awards' ceremony came about and we could talk about urgency and optimism together. It's all about getting excited," William declares. "There are some amazing people out there doing things to protect the world. We could really highlight what is being done and scale them to the next level to have more impact around the world."
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 23rd October 10.40pm. Also available on BBC iPlayer.
