KATE’S BURDEN
The growing pressure on our Duchess
Her hair may be enviable, but would you really want to swap places with Kate Middleton at the moment? Kate, 38, really has, if not the weight of the world on her shoulders, then at least more than her fair share of the responsibilities that come with being a Royal. It is quite a significant burden.
At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the Queen and the Royal family continued with business as usual. But now, with the monarch aged 94, Buckingham Palace has shared that ‘changes are being made to the Queen’s diary commitment in the coming weeks’ and she has been whisked away from the capital to Windsor. With Meghan and Harry back in Canada, and talk of four months’ isolation for the over-70s (which covers Camilla, 72, and Prince Charles, 71), the Duchess could be about to find herself taking on more duties in the coming year than ever…
As the wife of Prince William, and Britain’s future Queen, of course Kate was always going to have to take on a great deal of responsibility at some stage. One of the reasons why she is said to be such a favourite of the Queen is that she takes her Royal role so seriously – she has never really put a foot wrong in all her years in the spotlight.
But even level-headed Kate could surely never have imagined just how intense that glare and pressure would become, with the seismic shocks that have rocked the Royals of late – most significantly the departure of Harry and Meghan, and the disgrace of Prince Andrew.
In the space of a few short months, The Firm to all intents and purposes lost three of its senior members – meaning that, while Harry and Meghan get on with their new lives abroad, the focus is on Kate to pick up the slack.
Because, while Harry and Meghan had their critics, even their most committed detractors would have to admit that the glamorous pair had star power and, when performing duties on behalf of the Queen or otherwise, could attract massive attention for any chosen cause.
While William is a star in his own right, all eyes tend to go towards Royal women – particularly ones as effortlessly glamorous as Kate and Meghan. But with Meghan now thousands of miles away across the Atlantic, the focus – and the pressure – is solely on English rose Kate. Just last week it was revealed that Kate has officially overtaken
Meghan as 2020’ biggest Royal influencer.
If reports are to be believed, there was no love lost between the two women, but there is no doubt that Kate was once close to Harry. He once referred to her as ‘the sister I never had’ – the close friendship between the two was touching. But now, not only will Kate have to carry on without him, she will have to comfort William while he deals with the inevitable sadness over the rift.
The Queen is beginning to scale back her duties and, at 98, the Duke of Edinburgh is in retirement. Princess Anne is undoubtedly hard-working, but she doesn’t grab headlines in the way Kate can, so can’t share the attention in the same way that the Sussexes relieved some of the pressure. This is a problem the Royal Family are going to have to come to terms with.
‘The Buckingham Palace balcony is going to look a little bare without Meghan and Harry on it’, commented Royal expert Camilla Tominey. ‘The Cambridge children are too young and won’t be in Royal circulation for 20 years.’
There seems little doubt that Kate is going to have no alternative but to step up an already heavy workload. Certainly, we have seen – and heard – more of her in recent months. Increasingly, she’s finding her voice – promoting causes close to her heart such as mental health and early years development. Confident and assured, Kate looks like she will be up to the challenges ahead. But at what cost?
As Royal correspondent Judy Wade once observed, ‘It’s a life sentence marrying a Royal,’ adding the short split between the future King and Queen before they became engaged may even have been because Kate ‘might have realised the awful burden she would have to take on’.
It seems the burden is proving bigger than she may ever have imagined.