Royal biographer Robert Jobson has written a book called Catherine, the Princess of Wales. I need some help in determining how much of this you guys want me to cover, because even as I skimmed the excerpts, I couldn’t stop eye-rolling. What’s weird about this is that Jobson has always been more on King Charles and Camilla’s side of things. He wrote a book which was supposed to be a biography of Prince William a few years back, but the book was largely buried because Jobson included so much criticism of William, criticism from his Charles-and-Camilla sources. Criticism like William is “difficult and short-tempered” and William “can be a bit of a shouter,” but Kate gives as good as she gets (yikes). So… just come into these excerpts knowing that some or most of it is coming from Charles and Camilla’s side. You can read the Mail’s first excerpts from Jobson’s book here. Some highlights:
Kate doesn’t like to be compared to Diana: The similarities and differences between the two women were dissected ad infinitum, and even discussed in the royal household. Kate found all such talk stressful. Indeed, it got to the point where she felt she might follow Camilla (who opted to become Duchess of Cornwall) in refusing — when the time came — to be known as HRH Princess of Wales. In the end, however, she accepted her promotion with good grace, out of respect for her husband and the King. Enough time had passed to make the title more palatable, and Catherine had been on the world stage long enough to be appreciated for her own qualities. The truth is that she is very different from Diana: better educated, far more stable and less concerned about making a splash as a glamorous icon.
Kate the keen peacemaker: One reason his marriage works so well is that — like the Queen Mother — Catherine is a calming influence on her spouse. An instinctive peace-maker, she has smoothed the way for William and his father to have a better relationship than they had in the past. ‘In recent years, they have become much closer,’ said a senior source. ‘He also respects his father and his devotion to service, but he feels the fact his father put work first had a detrimental impact on him when he was growing up and didn’t help their father/son relationship.’
William’s craving for normalcy: The contrast to his life with Catherine, who projects a sense of calm, could hardly be greater. She satisfies his craving for normalcy — insofar as any royal can have a truly normal existence. Although William doesn’t blame either of his parents for their problems, he feels that Charles retreated into the safe house of his work, putting duty before being a parent — with the result that both his sons felt a little lost and alone during childhood.
Kate & Camilla: Due to Catherine’s self‑appointed role as peace-broker, however, these simmering resentments have largely been dispelled. She’s encouraged William to be affectionate with his father, and has developed a ‘warm’ relationship with Camilla, whom Diana blamed for wrecking her marriage. ‘[Kate] is somebody who always tries to see both sides of any dispute,’ a source said. She has a cool head and is ’emotionally mature’; she can open William’s eyes to other points of view. ‘She is a stabilising influence.’
Tensions flaring up: Before Harry started lobbing missiles from California, Charles was much closer to him than to his elder son. No longer: William and his father are perhaps closer now than they’ve ever been. Yet tensions between them still occasionally flare up, despite Catherine’s efforts. She has learned to tread carefully and sometimes let time do the healing. One courtier explained: ‘The King’s relationship with both his sons has been difficult over the years. Even now he is King, with the Prince of Wales, there can be differences of opinion and tensions. Of course, they love each other, but they clash, and sometimes William needs handling with kid gloves.’
Charles’s people know that William is tantrum-prone: Another courtier confirmed: ‘You have to check first which way the wind is blowing with the prince. They don’t see eye to eye on several issues, but why should they? [Prince William’s] moment in the top job will come — perhaps he would do well to remember it is not yet. This is His Majesty’s time.’ When he loses his temper, William is a bit of a shouter — and his father tends to give as good as he gets. The difference these days is that their arguments usually blow over quite quickly.
The issue of William’s helicopters: One recent source of disagreement is William’s stubborn refusal to take his father’s advice on safeguarding the succession. Earlier this year, the King had raised concerns with his son about the wisdom of William using his helicopter to fly his entire family around the country. An experienced pilot, William had upset the late Queen when he defied her request not to pilot his family the 115 miles from Kensington Palace to Anmer Hall, their home in Norfolk. The Queen, haunted by the 1967 crash that killed the Captain of the Queen’s Flight (although no royals were on board), ‘did not hold back’, one aide said. After being diagnosed with cancer, King Charles — perhaps reminded of his own mortality —echoed his late mother’s concerns. And when William refused to stop flying with his family, Charles insisted that he sign a formal document, acknowledging the risks involved and taking full responsibility for his actions. It would be scant consolation, of course, for an unspeakable tragedy, let alone for the prospect of King Harry and Queen Meghan…
Kate “has developed a ‘warm’ relationship with Camilla, whom Diana blamed for wrecking her marriage.” It’s almost as if this is a narrative about how Camilla and Charles perceive William and Kate, and C&C are using Kate and William as empty vessels through which they can pursue their own image-rehabilitation. There’s also Charles and Camilla putting William in his place, and emphasizing that William is temperamental, wrathful, someone who needs to be soothed and placated. The part about the helicopter is interesting, I guess – WTF is a piece of paper supposed to do if William crashes though? I guess it’s just boilerplate for Charles too, an acknowledgement that he can’t control and assumes zero liability for his dangerous-idiot son.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.