Why William believes his greatest duty is training George to be a good king: In ... trends now

If there is one thing that causes King Charles to bristle, it is commentators claiming he will be a caretaker until his heir — the 'change-maker' — takes over. Those close to the King say that this is demonstrably wrong.

'When you start much later in your life, inevitably you've got more experience to fall back on and you will have more opinions,' says Princess Anne.

The Queen's sister, Annabel Elliot, agrees. 'People keep talking about 'he's a caretaker'. And I don't see that at all, knowing we'll see quite a few changes,' she says.

So far, as the King and his officials decided from the start, there has been a careful change of gear but no noisy rebranding.

Within the offices of both the King and the new Prince of Wales, it is accepted that both will make changes according to their own tastes and personalities. Whereas the King likes to assemble panels of experts around him, for instance, his son does not.

'William will say: 'Don't get me a meeting with an academic.' He might want to meet a brilliant scientist who is doing something amazing but he doesn't seek intellectual company,' says one of those who has worked closely with him.

'He is a very serious, pragmatic bloke and he doesn't want to make lots of speeches. The King liked amateur dramatics in his youth. His son does not have that same love of showmanship.'

Prince Charles may have been happy to wade into big social issues of the day with a provocative speech or foreword to a book, or by bending the ears of ministers.

Now in his 40s, Prince William has steered a more conventional and cautious path. Within the Palace, some see traces of an earnest, dutiful George VI.

As one of his senior advisers puts it: 'He is one of the least ideological people I have met.'

In many ways, therefore, the royal 'change-maker' is actually father, not son.

Prince William gets most of his news from online sources such as the BBC website and briefings from staff. He prefers cogent, bullet-point memos to the big bundles of documents the King likes to wade through.

Nor does he share his father's fondness for accumulating new homes. The King's purchases of farmhouses in Wales and Romania, not to mention Dumfries House in Scotland, are viewed with a certain degree of trepidation among the Prince of Wales's team.

'No more properties!' replies one adviser, only half-jokingly, when asked if Prince William might be thinking of any fresh acquisitions of his own.

When it comes to Wales, the new Prince of Wales made three early decisions that represent a break with his father's approach.

First, he would not spend months at university learning Welsh. Second, he would not be buying a home in Wales. Third, he had no wish for a grand formal investiture like the 1969 ceremony arranged for Prince Charles. 

'I certainly remember the aftermath of the investiture at Caernarfon,' says Princess Anne. 'We were sent off to Malta for [Charles] to recover. He really did need to recover.'

The Princess recalls that the constant walkabouts had left her brother so exhausted that he was doing them in his sleep: 'He woke up trying to speak to people.'

Today, neither the Welsh nor the UK Government has expressed any desire to hold a similar event, much to the relief of the current Prince of Wales.

Nor, say his officials, does he intend to use the Welsh farm, even though he now owns it through the Duchy of Cornwall. 

He will allow it to become a permanent rental property.

When it comes to leisure, the King has inherited his late father's love of reading. Prince William, by contrast, will dip into books for information, less so for pleasure. 

Asked to name the Prince's favourite author, one official replies diplomatically: 'He's a box-set guy.' Superhero movies are, apparently, a particular favourite, especially Deadpool and all things Batman-related. 'He just likes action flicks,' says one friend.

One hit series which the Prince and Princess of Wales will not be watching is the Netflix royal drama, The Crown.

'The Prince … rolls his eyes when people say that 'it's just drama',' says a source close to him. 'Yet, he will not give it any greater publicity by complaining. He doesn't like the idea of being seen as a complainer all the time.'

What may mark out the future King William V as a 'change-maker' is not what he does, so much as what he may not do. 

According to a close adviser, he is 'very nervous' of being seen to presume he is the future head of the Commonwealth. 'It's something he thinks about a lot.'

However, one idea which he certainly does not favour, says a source, is the idea of being a 'co-head' (with a politician).

The prospect of there being a future monarch who is not head of the Commonwealth is not nearly as big a leap of the royal imagination, however, as having a monarch who is not Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

In royal circles, it is no secret that he does not share the King's sense of the spiritual, let alone the late Queen's unshakeable devotion to the Anglican church.

'His father is very spiritual and happy to talk about faith, but the Prince is not,' says a senior Palace figure. 'He doesn't go to church every Sunday, but then nor do the large majority of the country. He might go at Christmas and Easter, but that's it.

'He very much respects the institutions, but he is not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment.'

His own Coronation, when it takes place, is likely to be quite different from his father's. 

According to one who has heard Prince William's private thoughts about it, he thought King Charles's Coronation 'was brilliant, but he is less instinctively spiritual than his father so he would want something a bit more discreet'.

He would also like his ceremony to be shorter — 'ideally an hour and ten minutes' — and may dispense with some of the regalia.

Quite apart from all his duties as Prince of Wales, Prince William has what he regards as one paramount duty. It is one which some of his predecessors virtually ignored: training the heir.

'In his view, it's not far off the most important job he has — raising the next King but one,' says a family friend.

Equally, Prince George will not be expected to undertake any royal duties until he is well into his 20s.

How well do the King and his son get on? Certainly their relationship has been strengthened by the twin burdens of their new roles and periodic broadsides from California.

Also, the more that the heir to the throne becomes involved in the running of the Duchy of Cornwall and the royal estates, the more he has come to appreciate his father's dedication and achievements.

The King certainly finds it easier to discuss these issues with his son than he did with his late father. 

'Prince Charles and Prince Philip were always quarrelling about the best way forward,' says one royal source. 'Prince Philip did have a tendency to treat his sons as if they were in short trousers.'

Prince William, however, is said to be closer to the late Prince Philip than to his father on farming issues.

According to one adviser, this is especially true when it comes to the merits of organic farming.

Whereas the King is a

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