She is destined to be the next Catherine the Great. London’s leading royal expert Katie Nicholl explores the making of a future queen.
When the Duchess of Cambridge took her place on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the applause from the crowds in The Mall was deafening. “We want Kate!” they chanted amid a sea of Union Jacks.
What a moment this was for a young woman who had entered Westminster Abbey a commoner and left a duchess.
In pictures: William and Catherine celebrate their marriage
Today, Prince William and his new wife are being hailed as the future of the monarchy. Yet who is this young woman who will one day be crowned and how will she fare as a future queen?
Hopefully, after an eight-year courtship, Catherine has had plenty of time to get used to life in the royal family. It is one of the reasons William waited so long before proposing. “I wanted to give her a chance to see and back out if she needed to before it all got too much,” he explained during their now famous engagement interview.
Marrying into royalty may seem a gilded life, but it involves much sacrifice and Catherine will never be a private person again. Those who know her well say Catherine is no wallflower, but a confident and self-assured young woman who is going in to this marriage with her eyes open. This is, after all, the girl who when told she was lucky to be dating Prince William retorted, “He’s lucky to be going out with me”.
Confident she most certainly is and the world got to witness her innate poise and composure on April 29. Not once did she falter during that four-minute walk up the aisle to the altar of Westminster Abbey and not once did she stumble or shed a tear as she delivered her vows of marriage.
Catherine’s induction to royal life has been slow and deliberate. Unlike many royal brides, she has had a rare perspective on royalty — an eight-year taste of what life behind the palace walls is really like.
I have always been inclined to believe there is much more to the woman who bewitched William in a see-through dress back at St Andrews University.
This was a woman who, as a schoolgirl, never bothered with meaningless flings. Instead, she was determined to hold out for the right man. She wasn’t always the most academic pupil, but she was determined to work hard and, in doing so, she did well. As one friend told me, “When she puts her mind to something, it’s rare for her to be diverted off track. She’s incredibly steely and knows exactly what she wants.”
The first time William made a move on her, after that now famous charity fashion show, Catherine rebuffed his advances because she was already dating someone. The gesture spoke volumes and made William even more determined — this girl wasn’t just a great person with a “hot” body, as he had earlier remarked, she had a strong moral compass, too.
“When it comes to who wears the trousers, there’s a misconception that it’s William,” says a close friend of the couple. “Catherine calls the shots a lot of the time.”
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Those who know them well say the balance of power shifts constantly. On their wedding day, Catherine asked William as they left the abbey, “Are you happy?” Surely, it should have been the groom asking his bride, but according to one friend, “It’s typical of Catherine. She always puts William first”.
With royal support and a husband who truly loves her, there can only be hope for the new Duchess of Cambridge.
Katie Nicholl is the author of The Making Of A Royal Romance.
Read more of this story in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
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