Prince William recently awarded a top Duchy of Cornwall job to close friend William van Cutsem – but who forms the heir’s inner circle?
William had shelved Queen Camilla’s sister to make van Cutsem an adviser in the estate, according to documents released late last month.
And “VC”, as he’s known, is one of William’s key confidants – not least, godfather to Prince George – but now, GB News has examined seven key players who hold the Prince of Wales’s ear.
The septet comprises school-mates, university pals and even a recent addition to the Royal Family – and The People’s Channel has compiled a fact sheet on just who to spot stepping out alongside William at official engagements, weddings, parties and more.
William van Cutsem
Van Cutsem, the new Duchy of Cornwall adviser, is described in the estate’s annual report as holding a “keen interest in regenerative farming practices within the family’s home and farming businesses”.
He and William – friends since childhood – live some 20 miles apart in Norfolk, and the prince is a frequent guest at at VC’s Hilborough House.
Two of Van Cutsem’s nieces, Grace and Florence, have appeared at the King’s sons’ weddings – with Grace and Florence stepping out as bridesmaids as Prince William and Prince Harry tied their respective knots.
Prince William and William van Cutsem
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The seven form William’s “inner circle”
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Thomas van Straubenzee (left) and Oliver Baker
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Thomas van Straubenzee
Van Straubenzee has been friends with William and Prince Harry since their days at prep school, with all three attending Ludgrove School in Berkshire.
Now a leading estate agent at Knight Frank, Thomas flew to New Zealand alongside William for the prince’s gap year.
The pair had holidayed in Cornwall as children – but Prince William and Princess Kate eventually ended up introducing Van Straubenzee to his second wife Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe – who taught Princess Charlotte at St Thomas’s Battersea.
Oliver Baker
Baker had met the future Prince and Princess of Wales at St Andrews University – where he too met his future wife, Mel.
Post-graduation, Oliver flat-shared with Kate in Chelsea – and has earned a reputation for keeping his mouth shut about his links to the Waleses.
Baker works as a strategic sourcing manager for Barclays Capital – though colleagues have claimed he “never, ever mentioned his friendship with William and Kate” in the office.
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James Meade (left) and Guy Pelly
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James Meade
James – the son of Princess Anne’s former partner Richard Meade, has also known William since childhood, having shared a classroom at Eton with the future first-in-line.
Meade has managed to maintain cordial relations with both Prince William and Prince Harry – despite the latter’s controversial exile from the Royal Family.
He and his wife, Lady Laura Marsham, are both close with the Waleses – the couple are Princess Charlotte’s godparents.
Guy Pelly
Pelly – nicknamed the “court jester” – first met the Prince of Wales on a fox hunt in 2001, and is Prince Louis’s godfather.
Despite a tumultuous relationship with William and Harry in the 2000s, Pelly has stayed close with both factions of the Wales-Sussex split, even visiting Harry and Meghan in California.
Following the sudden death of Guy’s father in 2015, William rushed to his side – missing the late Queen’s Christmas lunch to attend John Pelly’s memorial service that year.
Both Meade and Pelly – alongside Thomas van Straubenzee – have been labelled the “trio of tearaway toffs” for their partying alongside the Prince of Wales.
Harry Aubrey-Fletcher (left) and Mike Tindall
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Harry Aubrey-Fletcher
Aubrey-Fletcher’s school links to William stretch a long way back, having attended both Ludgrove and Eton alongside the prince.
William was an usher at Aubrey-Fletcher’s 2011 wedding – mere months before he married the then-Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in April.
Mike Tindall
Finally, William is close with his cousin Zara Tindall’s husband, Mike – and is himself godfather to their daughter Mia.
He and the former England Rugby captain have stepped out at official and unofficial engagements alike – most notably, the prince’s birthday visit to a Taylor Swift concert at Wembley Stadium alongside Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
But in an appearance on fellow ex-rugby star Rob Burrow’s podcast last year, Tindall let slip a tidbit about his cousin-in-law: namely, that he calls William “One Pint Willy” because “he is not the best of drinkers”.