The exact same British outlets screaming “respect the Princess of Wales’s privacy” are reporting a lot of exclusives from “royal sources” these days. To be fair, very little of it is coming from Kate herself or even from Middleton sources. Buckingham Palace has seemingly launched a full-blown campaign to convince everyone that King Charles is especially close to Kate, despite years of evidence to the contrary. I’ll be fair – Charles likes Kate just fine, but he’s also jealous of the attention she gets and BP operations have already worked against Kate specifically many, many times. I still chuckle when I think about Kate’s Chelsea Flower Show thunder-stealing and how we’ve heard, for the past year, that Charles is sick with jealousy about Will and Kate. All of that has been washed away conveniently as Camilla Tominey and every other royal reporter gets glowing exclusives and Charles and Kate’s special connection. From Tominey’s latest:
Kate & Charles’s cancer battles: According to one well-placed source, the fact that they were both in hospital at the same time and are now joined together by the shared experience of undergoing cancer treatment – chemotherapy in the Princess’s case – has been “comforting and reassuring”. The King is understood to have visited the Princess soon after arriving at the London Clinic in January for a planned procedure on an enlarged prostate, when his own cancer was discovered. The source added: “There were other visits when they were both in there together and they have been in contact ever since. They can both empathise with what the other is going through, which does help at a difficult time like this. What we’ve seen in recent weeks is that because they are both going through the same health experience it’s cemented that bond.”
Why Kate decided to record the message: One of the reasons the Princess agreed to record the video message is because she felt “encouraged by how warmly the King’s public statement on his health was received, and the positive impact it has had on others going through the same thing”. Although Prince William is understood to have had reservations and questioned “why she should have to explain herself”, Kate apparently resolved that it was the only way to take complete ownership of the news. “She’s got a steely determination inside her,” said one source who knows her well. “Once she’s put her mind to something, there’s no stopping her. She’s tough.”
The timing: The Princess’s announcement came six weeks after the King paused his public appearances following his own cancer diagnosis. Some have questioned why it took Kensington Palace so long to break the news – which the couple received at the end of February. Yet as the Princess carefully explained, it took time to come to terms with the “huge shock”, not to mention working out how to “explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis”. As one Palace insider explained: “The timing priorities were wholly different for the Princess because her primary audience was always going to be an audience of three children rather than millions. His constitutional obligations meant he couldn’t keep it private.”
Camilla the advisor: The Queen, 76, who has two children and five grandchildren is understood to have been “checking in on” the Princess and offering advice on how to handle the media storm. “The Queen hasn’t gone through cancer but she has raised children in the face of a feeding frenzy so can empathise on that front,” added the insider.
Charles has a soft spot for Kate: According to those familiar with their relationship, the King has always had a “soft spot” for the Princess. “It’s a different relationship to the one he has with his son because he’s not just pa-in-law, he is also the King,” explained one insider. “She does often turn to him for guidance on royal matters, but not family matters – she has William for that and her own parents Michael and Carole, to whom she is extremely close. He’s not a father figure as such – she’s got her own dad to whom she’s absolutely devoted – but you could say the King treats her like the daughter he never had. You see it in the pictures of them together. That relationship is best summed up in those fascinating moments when she greets him first with a kiss and then with a curtsey.”
William & Charles are closer now because of the Sussexit: It is not just a case of them working “in lock step” as King and future king on royal matters since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Megxit saga – with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex having launched repeated salvos against them, their wives and the institution of monarchy since they stepped down as senior royals in 2020 – has apparently strengthened their relationship as father and son too…It seems their shared pain over Prince Harry (and Meghan’s) behaviour has helped to bring them back together. As well as having to manage the fallout from Oprah Winfrey, Netflix and Spare, they spent a great deal of time together preparing for the late Queen’s funeral, the Coronation and Prince William’s transition to heir to the throne.
You can really tell who is spearheading this campaign, right? I’ll give you a hint – Camilla has ensured that she’s mentioned in passing in every piece as “Camilla is helping out too, Camilla cares so deeply.” And now, Camilla is “checking in on” Kate and “offering advice on how to handle the media storm.” Yes, I can absolutely see Camilla’s grizzled hand of media manipulation “The Queen hasn’t gone through cancer but she has raised children in the face of a feeding frenzy so can empathise on that front.” Pray tell, what is this feeding frenzy you speak of? You mean Camilla is comparing the fallout from her years-long affair with Charles to CANCER? Also: Charles and William are still not close, William barely did anything to help out during the coronation and the fallout from the past four years of Sussexit has done irreparable harm to the institution.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instar.