The key to HAPPILY ever after
WILLS & KATE’S FAIRYTALE THE DUKE AND DUCHESS CELEBRATE A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL SIX YEARS OF MARRIAGE
It was a wedding fit for a Disney prince and princess. There was a beautiful bride in a fairytale frock, a scarlet-uniformed groom, a solemn ceremony and a romantic kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, all watched by an audience of more than two billion people around the world.
But that was six years ago. Today, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very much William and Kate, with two small children, the same friends they’ve had since they met at university 16 years ago and a stated determination to lead as normal a life as possible.
“This is the dream for William,” says a friend who has known him since childhood. “After the disaster of his own parents’ marriage, he always longed for a solid, steady relationship and a family of his own.
“Of course, he respects and cherishes his royal role and duties, but his wife and children are the heart of his life. They come first.”
William’s life may be more glamorous and comfortable than the normal lives enjoyed by his future subjects, with his inherited wealth, the royal protection, the staff and the fabulous homes in Kensington Palace and Norfolk. But in a royal context, he and Kate do their best to be ordinary.
The prince is the first heir to the throne to have had a civilian job, as an air ambulance pilot, and the first to insist on carrying his own children, George (3) and Charlotte, who turns two next week, from hospital to his own car and to drive them home himself.
“I think driving your child and your wife away from the hospital was really important to me,” he says. “I don’t like fuss, so it’s much easier to do it yourself.”
And that’s not the only bit of DIY to creep into this royal household.
“We do our own shopping, we do our own cooking, we have our friends round for dinner in the kitchen,” says Kate (35). “There’s no excuse for not looking after yourself when you perfectly well can – and it’s an example to set the children.
“We do not want them to grow up expecting to be waited on or to get whatever they want without earning it.”
This approach is carrying over into George’s schooling. William (34) and Kate sent him to a small local nursery in Norfolk, near their country home, Anmer Hall, and have chosen family-run Thomas’s in Battersea, south London, for the next stage of his education.
This makes him the first heir to the throne to attend a mixed school – a situation that is now commonplace, and will ensure that he feels none of the discomfort experienced by his father when he arrived at the University of St Andrew’s and found himself the only man in tutorials with seven women.
“William seemed very uncomfortable with the girls... His body language said it all,” says his first tutor, Professor Brendan Cassidy.
Thomas’s has a branch near Kensington Palace, but the royal couple preferred the original site, half an hour away. ”It has the village feel they were looking for,” says a friend.
Not only that, they will be taking and fetching their son themselves, when duties permit, instead of handing him over to bodyguards who could turn on sirens if rush-hour traffic gets too much. Their nanny, Maria Borrallo, will take over if they have jobs that prevent them from joining the other parents at the school gates.
‘ They have their ups and downs, but they’re in this together and for the long haul’
“The fact that they drive a Range Rover means they will fit in very well here during drop-off!” laughs one fellow parent.
Their friend explains, “They are very hands-on parents and, although they acknowledge that it might cause a bit of a buzz to start with, they are hopeful it will soon settle down.
“It’s very important to both of them that George enjoys as normal a childhood as possible, particularly as he settles into a new school.”
The role models for this approach to marriage and parenthood are Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, whose self-made fortune has not got in the way of building a comfortable and relaxed family with strong middle-class values.
“William has always adored them,” says his old friend. “It was almost a novelty to come into a house where he could put his feet up and make a contribution to daily life. It’s what he wants for his own family.
“He was also very aware of the isolation his own mother felt in her royal marriage and has laid down the law when it comes to giving the Middletons equal priority when it comes to big family events, such as Christmas.
“Courtiers may call him pig-headed, but he has his priorities straight – his wife and children come first, and her family matter just as much as the royals do.”
The royals, from the Queen down, have also learned from the disaster that was Charles and Diana’s marriage, and are supporting William in this.
“There is a genuine affection towards Kate and her family,” says royal watcher Emily Nash. “William loves them and clearly wants them to be very much a part of his
family life with George and Charlotte, and his grandmother clearly appreciates this.”
Sally Beddell-Smith, the author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, adds, “William has benefited from the tragedies and strictures on his father’s life, and is now able to live a much more modern life, partly because people saw what it did to Charles and they wanted to avoid the tragedy he endured with his marriage. The Queen was smart enough to adapt the best of Diana and loosen things up.”
But if William continues to learn from Kate’s family, she is also learning from his.
The young woman who left Buckingham Palace the day after her wedding in chainstore clothes has picked up tips on appropriate dress for a future Queen.
These include showcasing the best of high-end British fashion designers, having weights sewn into the hem of her skirts to avoid accidentally flashing her legs or underwear, and opting for lower but more elegant heels than the chainstore wedges and nude court shoes she favoured in the early days.
More importantly, the duchess has been through a long apprenticeship in coping with public appearances, speaking with confidence and her support of causes, such as young people’s mental health, that are dear to her heart.
“Right from the start, William always told Catherine that the most important thing was to be herself – a trick he learned from his mother,” says an aide.
“He has always insisted his wife can be selective about her engagements and is not overloaded. He is so protective of her in everything they do.
“The Queen also sees immense potential in the duchess, and has been at pains to ensure that natural charm is joined by a clear understanding of her role and what she can achieve.”
The result of this meshing of backgrounds and values is that rare thing in royal circles – a true partnership.
“They’d known each other for 10 years by the time they married,” says a university friend. “When you think that Charles had only met Diana about 12 times before he proposed, it could hardly be a more different basis for a marriage.”
Their ease in each other’s company is clear, with William teasing his wife about her cooking and Kate teasing him about his receding hairline during joint engagements.
“They have their ups and downs, but they’re in this together and for the long haul,” says the university pal.
“We’ve always wound them up about being a fairytale prince and princess, but they’re doing everything they can to ensure that they get their happy ever after.”