Camilla Tominey
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge has finally found her voice and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the monarchy or the country. Having endured three and a half years of political turmoil and following what has been another annus horribilis for the Queen – how refreshing to hear such a high-profile figure paying tribute to the public that preserves their privileged position.
Yes appearing outside the Lindo Wing hours after giving birth to Prince George of Cambridge was “slightly terrifying”, the Duchess admitted, but everyone had been “so supportive” it was the least she and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge could do.
One can only hope the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tuned into the (unpaid) Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast to help understand that being a member of the Royal family still requires a duty-first approach.
Having been endlessly preached at by the likes of the Sussexes – and endured years of the Eeyoreish Prince of Wales acting as the Royal family’s resident harbinger of ecological doom, finally here was a glass-half-full family member spinning a thoroughly positive message.
When parenting gets difficult, there is a simple solution – take the children outside and get “filthy dirty”. There surely isn’t a mother or father in the land who cannot relate to that.
Having never been the most confident of public speakers, the Duchess’s reserved plumminess has sometimes made her appear posher than her Bucklebury upbringing.
Yet here was a down-to-earth mother-of-three, who by admitting she too had “struggled” reminded the audience that she was still one of “us” rather than “them”.
Few can have forgotten how timidly she uttered her wedding vows at Westminster Abbey almost 10 years ago, seemingly horrified at the prospect of billions listening.
But motherhood has been the making of the Duchess, and here was her chance to celebrate it with parenting expert Giovanna Fletcher.
What we got was the Duchess at her most candid, willingly divulging some tantalising details about life behind palace gates.
Until now, the Duchess has been positively Queen-like in her “never complain, never explain” elusivity. Bar a few hesitant speeches and a picnic table interaction with Princes William and Harry for the Heads Together mental health campaign (which was her idea originally, not the princes’), we’d barely heard a peep out of the former Marlborough College girl.
Clearly empowered by having carved her own path beyond that of royal “plus one”, the 38-year-old not only sounded like she knew what she was talking about, but endearingly passionate about her subject matter.