KATE & MARY QUEENS AT LAST!
These strong women are stepping up to help their nations – and their royal families
As soon as the Mountbatten-windsor clan received the news that Prince Charles had contracted the deadly coronavirus, the Duchess of Cambridge knew what she had to do.
As calm and steady as ever, mum-of-three Kate, 38, and her husband Prince William, accepted a phone call from Her Majesty to advise them that they are now in charge of the monarchy – that they were King and Queen of the Commonwealth, if not by name, then definitely in nature, while she and her husband Prince Philip, 98, bunker down at Windsor, and Charles, 71, convalesces at Balmoral.
And just across the North Sea, a similar scene was unfolding at Copenhagen’s Amalienborg Palace, where Australia’s very own Princess Mary, 48, has accepted the same role as Denmark’s monarch from her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe.
‘The Queens are relieved they have Kate and Mary to rely on’
As heads of state across the world fall victim to the virus – including Mary’s nephew Prince Henrik, 10, who was at the time of press being tested, and Prince Albert of Monaco, who on March 10 sat with Prince Charles at a London Banquet, both Kate and Mary are being called upon by the families they married into.
PUTTING COUNTRY FIRST
“Kate and Mary have been called upon time and time again to put their countries, subjects and members of their family first, and this is obviously unprecedented,” says a courtier with knowledge of both royal palaces.
“I believe both Elizabeth and Margrethe are hugely relieved they have Kate and Mary to rely on in these challenging times.”
Woman’s Day has learned that the Queen, 93, treated her phone call with Kate and William, 37, as a coronation of sorts, and formally told them that “she has full confidence” in their abilities as king and queen.
CALM & DETERMINED
“William has been reminded time and time again that he chose the best wife possible,” says a source. “Kate is utterly calm and determined to stay visible and undertake royal engagements at great personal risk to herself.
“The fact that she’s handling this on top of Prince Harry and Meghan quitting the family and leaving the bulk of work to her, and hasn’t complained at all – even if this is proof that they literally abandoned the family even though there’s a great need for them – is a testament to why she deserves to be the queen.”
It’s a similar sentiment from Mary’s husband Prince Frederik, 51, who, our sources say, is “relieved” his wife is leading the charge while his 79-year-old mum self-isolates.
In October last year, Mary was decreed the Queen’s regent in the event Margrethe was too ill to perform public duties – and that role has now been invoked.
“It’s a huge responsibility, one Fred isn’t sure he’s ready for. He assumed he had a few more years of being the party prince before his mum called them up,” says one insider. “Becoming the face of the nation isn’t exactly what he had in mind, but luckily he has Mary to pick up the baton."