Kate Middleton’s popularity is ‘unsettling’ for Charles but she’s seen as ‘great model for monarchy’
The Princess of Wales’s popularity is “disturbing” for King Charles and Queen Camilla – but the palace sees Kate as a “great model for the monarchy,” royal experts say.
On this week’s episode of Mail+’s PALACE CONFIDENTIAL seriesMail on Sunday assistant editor Kate Mansey and Richard Eden, editor of the Daily Mail’s Diary, discussed the surprise appearance of the Princess of Wales at the Chelsea Flower Show.
The royal mother-of-three, 41, made her first appearance at the annual event since 2019, arriving hours before King Charles and Queen Camilla were due to appear.
Discussing the spate of royal activity at the event, Kate insisted the Princess of Wales was “not competing” with her in-laws with her top-secret engagement.
The expert said: ‘I think she is a great model for the monarchy [and] for the royal family and they appreciate that.
The Princess of Wales (pictured) made a surprise appearance at this week’s Chelsea Flower Show – hours before Charles and Camilla were due to arrive
“They wouldn’t have had her there if they didn’t think it would be brilliant, so I think there’s a way they could all exist.”
In addition, the royal expert noted that the king and queen are currently in Northern Ireland, engaging in “high-level diplomacy.”
Earlier this week, the royal couple hosted their first garden party at Hillsborough Castle since their coronation before visiting St Patrick’s Cathedral in Co Armagh yesterday.
Kate added: ‘So a little glamor and glitz from Catherine [is welcome]. There’s room for everyone!’
That said, Richard Eden noted that the popularity of the Princess of Wales is “troubling” for Charles and Camilla.
Before the Queen died, the royal expert highlighted how there were royal aides who wanted Charles and Camilla to complete as many assignments as possible with William and Kate.
Using the example of the 2021 James Bond premiere, Richard said they were seen as the ‘new Fab Four’ – following the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from the royal family.
He explained: ‘I think this was an opportunity to show that this was the future of the monarchy and it’s in safe hands, that sort of thing.
The Mail on Sunday’s assistant editor Kate Mansey insisted Kate was ‘not competing’ with her in-laws
The expert noted how King Charles and Queen Camilla are currently in Northern Ireland, engaging in “high-level diplomacy”
‘That [Charles and Camilla] his king and queen, it’s something else.
“They want a lot of attention for their goals and the things they feel strongly about, so it can be a little unsettling if they don’t get that attention.”
It comes as Prince Harry claimed that King Charles was jealous of media coverage of the Princess of Wales, accusing her and Prince William of “diverting attention away from him and Camilla.”
In his bombshell book Spare, the Duke of Sussex described how his father “controlled the purse” for his brother – meaning how much the Prince of Wales worked was essentially dictated by his father.
Using the example of the 2021 James Bond premiere, Richard said Kate, William, Camilla and Charles were seen as the ‘new Fab Four’
According to Harry, the King and Queen’s consort (pictured on Christmas Day) openly berated Prince William for “taking attention away from them” with his wife
When the then Duchess of Cambridge announced she was expecting Princess Charlotte in 2014, Prince Harry talks about how his brother started being referred to as “Work-shy Wills.”
In defense of William, Harry wrote, “He did as much as Dad wanted him to do, and sometimes it wasn’t much, because Dad and Camilla didn’t want Willy and Kate to get much publicity.”
Prince Harry claims his father and stepmother ‘openly scolded’ William for ‘taking attention away from them’ [and] their causes’.
Prince Harry gave an example and went on to tell how his father’s press officer was left furious. The Duchess of Cambridge’s team had booked her an engagement on the same day as one of Charles’
Because it was too late for the mother of three to cancel her engagement at a tennis club, press officer Charles instructed that the duchess should not be holding a racket in any photo.
“A winning, catchy photo like that would undoubtedly sweep Pa and Camilla off the front pages,” Harry wrote. “And in the end that couldn’t be tolerated.”