Catherine Middleton is so in love and ready to marry her Prince, reports Katie Nicholl, royal writer with The Mail On Sunday and author of William And Harry.
A hushed silence falls over the appropriately named Queen’s Head pub in the quaint village of Chapel Row as Catherine Middleton and her mother Carole take a seat at the bar. They are well-known in the tranquil village in the heart of Bucklebury which boasts some of England’s prettiest countryside, but nonetheless, the regulars can’t seem to help but stare.
In pictures: William & Kate’s life together
It is a Tuesday night and the two women raise their glasses. The ice in Carole’s gin and tonic clinks merrily in its tumbler. Catherine, never one to really drink spirits, nurses a glass of chilled white wine as they strike up a conversation taking care not to speak above a whisper. With their long legs and perfectly toned figures the two women, who look more like siblings than mother and daughter, draw admiring glances.
Kate will have to embrace change in order to be a success. A sophisticated training program has been in place for some years to ensure that her transition from “commoner” to royal is seamless. At St James’ Palace “Team Kate” is hard at work. She is having lessons in royal history and protocol, which can be confusing. Kate would always be expected to curtsey to the Queen, as do the rest of the royal family, while protocol dictates Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, would curtsey to Kate if Prince William is present and Charles is not. While Kate is receiving support from Camilla, who is said to like Kate immensely, Kate is understood to be having counselling to help her come to terms with the enormity of what lies ahead. One of the things she will have to cope with is the inevitable comparisons with Diana.
So how much will Kate’s life change when she becomes a princess? For the foreseeable future, the answer is relatively little. William and Kate will continue to live on the island of Anglesey, off the Welsh coast, where William is stationed with the RAF as a search and rescue pilot. “They plan to spend the next two, maybe three years in Wales and their daily lives will not change much,” explains an aide. “William and Kate have made it clear they don’t want it to change. He loves his job and Kate wants to be a good wife and support her husband. She is very happy in Wales and they certainly don’t want aides, butlers or anything like that.”
While William has a career, a plan is currently being mapped out for Catherine. Courtiers believe that, for Kate to be popular, being an army wife is not enough. According to one senior aide, “A number of charitable roles are being explored. Kate has some real passions, especially working with children, and this is something she wants us to explore for her.
“We want to make sure we choose the right charities for Kate and there are a number of options. Catherine wants to use her title and her position to help others,” the aide adds.
There are also plans in place for Kate to accompany William on some of his charitable visits and talk of them carrying out an overseas tour. William, who is a patron of Centrepoint charity for the homeless, wants Kate to accompany him on some of his charitable engagements so he can “show her the ropes”. The Queen has also suggested Sophie Wessex act as a mentor for Kate. Prince Edward and his wife recently set up their own charitable foundation and the Queen admires how Sophie balances being a wife and mother with her charitable work and public role.
“What Kate is walking into is not to be underestimated and the Palace learnt from Diana how alienating marrying into the royal family can be,” says one source at the Palace. ‘No one wants Kate to feel isolated. The royal family want her to feel as at home with them as she does with her own family.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
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