Middletons centre stage as Princess of Wales makes power play
AS THE wife and mother of future kings, the Princess of Wales is already one of the most pivotal members of the Royal family. Yet the Coronation appears to have strengthened Kate’s role within “the Firm” in ways many would never have imagined.
For years the mother of three, 41, was treated by the palace powers-that-be as Prince William’s “plus one” – a royal Wag (wife and girlfriend), largely to be seen, but not heard.
The accession, however, appears to have changed all that. Now elevated to a Queen-in-waiting, it seems the Princess of Wales is calling the shots and finally being listened to.
Take the prominent placement of her parents Michael and Carole Middleton, her sister Pippa and brother James in Westminster Abbey on Saturday.
The slimmed-down guest list meant many of the King’s closest friends missed out on a coveted invitation, including Lady Pamela Hicks, who is one of only two surviving bridesmaids from the late Queen and Prince Philip’s wedding in 1947.
There was only room for two mem- bers of the King’s maternal grandmother’s family, Sir Simon and Lady Caroline Bowes-lyon, and only one representative of the Mountbatten clan, Countess Mountbatten.
Yet the inclusion of the Middletons, and seating them just six rows behind the Royal family, left little doubt over the Princess of Wales’s growing influence.
The Daily Telegraph understands that Kate requested extra invitations for members of her team – and was given them, despite the pressure on numbers. That never used to happen, apparently.
The change is not just down to the Princess’s advancement up the palace pecking order, but also a reflection of the central role she is playing in helping to modernise the monarchy. Or perhaps that should be “Middletonise”. By her own admission, Kate enjoyed a
“very happy childhood”, describing herself as coming “from a very strong family” with parents who were
“hugely dedicated to us”. She is trying to recreate that for her own children, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.
That hands-on approach to royal parenting, combined with a willingness to put her brood front and centre of major royal occasions, is helping to make the monarchy more relatable than it has ever been.
Kate’s maternal approach, especially on walkabouts – as evidenced by her comforting a crying child in Windsor on Sunday – could not come at a better time, with young people increasingly asking themselves whether the institution is relevant to them.
The latest Yougov polling shows attitudes differ dramatically by age, with young Britons far less likely to support keeping the royals than their elders. While backing for the crown stands at 79 per cent to 15 per cent among the over65s, the youngest Britons are split, with 36 per cent wanting to keep the monarchy compared with 40 per cent who want to have an elected head of state.
It is therefore the younger generation who are key to maintaining popular support, and the Princess who, along with her husband, is carefully preparing them for their future role. Little wonder, then, that the Middletons were given such good seats – Kate couldn’t do it without their help and guidance.
Another reason why the Princess of Wales is being taken more seriously is because of the positive influence she has on Prince William. Both he and the King have short tempers, and just as the Queen helps to soothe and calm her husband (think Fountainpengate), Kate has a similar effect on the heir to the throne. Citing the example of the Oprah Winfrey interview, when the Duchess of Sussex alleged that a member of the Royal family had speculated about the colour of her unborn son’s skin, an insider revealed: “The way the princess handled it all was impressive.
“Meghan had also thrown her under a bus over the bridesmaids dress row but her attitude was very much, ‘I think that’s the least of our worries.’ She can keep a cool head when all those around her are losing theirs.”
Which perhaps explains why it was Kate who tried to broker peace between Prince William and Prince Harry at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral a month later, albeit unsuccessfully.
A level-headed conflict avoider who never puts a foot wrong? With comparisons to Elizabeth II unavoidable, it is hardly surprising that the Princess of Wales is quietly emerging as the power behind the throne.