Prince William and Kate Middleton Have ‘Taken the Lead’
Move over, King Charles III. It’s time for Prince William and Kate Middleton to shine. The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 42, are showing what they’ll be like as king and queen having “taken the lead” in 2024 amid King Charles’s cancer diagnosis.
Prince William and Kate Middleton provide a ‘glimpse of the future’
There’s no need to wonder what the royal family will be like with William and Kate as king and queen because they’ve already given the world a look at what’s ahead with them in charge.
“I really do feel we have had a glimpse of the future this week,” Richard Eden, a royal editor, said on Mail+’s “Palace Confidential” podcast, suggesting King Charles has their full support. Eden called Kate’s annual Together at Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey on Dec. 6, 2024, “the centerpiece of the royal week.”
King Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, weren’t reportedly among the many British royals to attend because they wanted to keep the spotlight on Kate (via People.) Meanwhile, William met with President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 7, 2024, in France as part of “engagements overseas.”
William and Kate have ‘taken the lead’ as King Charles continues cancer treatment
Quietly taking the “lead” is William and Kate. “It has felt like they have taken the lead,” Eden said. And they’re faring well. “Let’s say they’ve done it extremely well. So it’s a relief. And it shows how strong the Royal Family is for the next generation, and that’s very encouraging.”
Kate, for her part, despite her own cancer diagnosis earlier in 2024, hasn’t lost her “Queen-in-waiting” skills. “She’s a real Queen-in-waiting I think,” Charlotte Griffiths, the Mail on Sunday editor said of the 43-year-old royal. “She’s always had such amazing poise, great fashion sense, and she’s just grown into the job so well.”
William and Kate have been preparing for the throne ‘sooner’ than expected
The king’s cancer diagnosis, which Buckingham Palace announced in early February 2024, has made William and Kate think about how much time they have left until they’re king and queen. One commentator even described the possibility of being much closer to the throne as a source of “tremendous anxiety” for the pair.
According to royal author Sally Bedell Smith, because William has had to step up this year, he and Kate have been faced with preparing for the future. “Although The King is carrying out his duties with typical determination, he has had to accept limitations during his cancer treatment,” Bedell Smith told People.
That’s meant shortening trips, resting more—no easy feat for the well-known workaholic—and even pausing treatment while on a royal tour abroad.
“As a result,” she continued, “William has been taking on more responsibilities. And he and Kate have been preparing for their future roles sooner than they would have expected.”
So, life as William and Kate know it—living at the modest (in royal terms) Adelaide Cottage, lots of family time—may be over sooner rather than later.
