PLAN TO SAVE MONARCHY

Family has to find way to keep on good work

- BY RUSSELL MYERS Royal Editor and ANDY LINES Chief Reporter

PRINCE William admitted he is in no state to watch tearjerking Bafta winner Hamnet, as his own family drama dominates headlines.

The heir to the throne is set to play a crucial role in rebuilding trust in the monarchy in the wake of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

William's uncle was questioned for 11 hours on Thursday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to the alleged passing of private information to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Princess of Wales, 44, said Chloe Zhao's film, about the death of William Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, had left her in tears and with "very puffy eyes".

Appearing alongside his wife at last night's Bafta ceremony at London's Southbank Centre, William said: "I need to be in quite a calm state and I am not at the moment. I will save it."

Hamnet, which won Outstanding British Film and Best Actress for Jessie Buckley as Shakespeare's wife Agnes, might be on Williams watchlist but his focus is on the future of the monarchy.

He is understood to have a long-term goal centred on running the institution with a "corporate-like structure" when he succeeds his father, King Charles III, on the throne.

A royal source says William's plan for the future will operate alongside his support for his father in assisting police with any probe into Mountbatten-Windsor's alleged misconduct.