Robert Jobson has a new royal biography out this week called Catherine, The Princess Of Wales. As I’ve said before, Jobson is an old-guard Charles & Camilla royalist. Jobson’s sources are mainly from the Charles and Camilla side of things, so his biography of Kate is more about the king and queen consort, and it’s more about how the institution of the monarchy has approached Kate over the years. Which would be an interesting thing to study and analyze without agenda, but Jobson’s agenda is pretty obvious on every page. The Daily Mail published some extensive excerpts from the book and here are some highlights about Kate’s lack of work ethic, her lack of interest in being a fashion plate, and as always, her ability to be the keenest lynchpin ever.
Will & Kate’s 2010 engagement interview: It was the first time most people had heard Catherine speak publicly and some were surprised to note that her accent was perhaps overly posh, even compared with William’s. Afterwards even members of her own family gently ribbed her about how upper-class it sounded. (Over time, however, her accent has become less clipped.)
Kate’s ground rules: Diana was always going to be a tough act to follow but, from the outset, Catherine has never tried to do so. Before joining ‘the Firm’, she wisely established some fundamental rules. She wouldn’t be pigeon-holed into carrying out particular duties and insisted on eventually having her full quota of maternity leave, away from the glare of the media and public. Her priority, she emphasised, would be to maintain a balance between her royal obligations and what she held most dear: a loving marriage and a happy family life. This didn’t mean that she wouldn’t carry out royal duties; far from it. But she wanted to offer her patronage only to charities close to her interests and delve into their purpose with in-depth study.
Kate was too lazy to even present her ground rules to QEII: These ‘terms’ were, in fact, presented by William to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles in early 2015, when Catherine was pregnant with Charlotte. On her behalf, he explained that she wanted more space to grow into her role and needed more time to adapt to the peculiarities of royal life.
QEII monitored the Wales marriage: The Queen knew, too, that if this marriage failed, there’d be far more at stake than a broken heart. Since the early days of William’s romance with Kate, Queen Elizabeth had monitored it from a discreet distance. She didn’t interfere, but she was privately delighted by his choice. For understandable reasons, Her Majesty particularly liked the lack of drama that came with Catherine.
Prince Philip’s advice: He gave Catherine some sage advice: never to believe that the attention she’d receive as a member of the Royal Family was for her personally. It was for what she was supporting, he said. He also warned her against looking at the camera, as celebrities do. His advice chimed with her. She has also remained true to her resolution to stick to charities close to her heart — particularly those that deal with the early years of childhood — which means she has fewer royal patronages than Diana did, but can dig deeper.
Kate never complains, lmao: If Catherine has ever struggled to cope with the strains of royal life, she has never complained publicly — unlike Princess Diana or Meghan. True to her upbringing, she just gets on with it. Some have criticised her for being bland. The late novelist Dame Hilary Mantel went further, scathingly describing her as a ‘jointed doll on which certain rags are hung’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although Catherine has learned to play the dressing-up game, wearing sumptuous designer gowns for formal occasions, she’s not interested in being a fashion plate.
The Wales marriage is fine, nothing to see here! With William, Catherine also enjoys playing competitive games of tennis or lolling on the sofa and watching box sets — including Homeland and Game Of Thrones — when ‘the kiddies are in bed’. They like their low-key lifestyle at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, and remain very much in love.
The Keen Lynchpin! She may not have the starry allure of Princess Diana, but she’s brought stability, empathy, glamour and an enquiring mind to the royal institution. Commander Patrick Jephson, the former private secretary to Princess Diana, believes the monarchy needs ‘reassuringly conventional royal performers’ such as Catherine. She holds this royal dynasty’s future in her hands, he says, adding: ‘It helps that Catherine, like Diana, has that indefinable but essential royal quality: presence.’ In a way, she is much like the late Queen — quietly wielding influence without ever succumbing to the siren lure of celebrity. The King, say those close to him, has unwavering faith in Catherine, and sees her as a lynchpin for the modern monarchy.
Jobson’s book is so full of propaganda, I’m more convinced than ever that some serious sh-t has gone down in the past year. Basically, since the coronation, I’m convinced that there’s been chaos behind the scenes in the Wales marriage and drama between the two central royal couples, Charles and Camilla versus William and Kate. Anyway, some quick factchecks! Kate is absolutely a complainer. She absolutely wants to be a fashion plate but fails at it. She’s never been interested in working at all and that lack of work ethic didn’t just suddenly become an issue during her second pregnancy. And the Windsors actually showed this year that Kate is not the lynchpin. People wanted to know if she was okay, they were concerned that she disappeared for six months, but the Windsors actually proved that everything was perfectly fine without Kate.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.