This Royal’s the ‘Power Behind the Throne’ and It’s Not Prince William
The British royal family is headed by the monarch, King Charles III. But the “power behind the throne” is someone else. According to a commentator, there’s another royal whom “a lot of the members of the family look to.” And that person is — drumroll, please — none other than Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.
Kate’s a ‘key player’ in the royal family, ‘always front and center’
Kate doesn’t hold her own place in the line of succession. Her husband, Prince William, and their children are in line for the throne. Nevertheless, she’s still a future queen with a prominent place in the Firm.
“The interesting thing about Kate, the Princess of Wales, is her steeliness,” Nick Bullen, cofounder of True Royalty TV, said in Kate Middleton: Working Class to Windsor. “She is a very strong character who has transitioned from being a young bride to being a key player within the royal family.”
Kate officially became British royalty in April 2011 when she and the Prince of Wales married.
“If you look at all the photographs now, she’s always front and center,” Bullen continued. “She looked amazing at the coronation. She looked incredible at Ascot.”
Kate’s “now every inch the princess. And I think at the coronation, everyone agreed that she looked very much like the next queen,” he added.
The 41-year-old’s image of a graceful, pitch-perfect future queen involved years of practice. “From the beginning, Kate Middleton had a great deal of support from the royal family. Which was really instructed by the Queen[Elizabeth II],” Ashley Pearson, a royal commentator, said.
“This was to make sure she knew as much as she could possibly know and what to do in every situation,” Pearson explained. “Bearing in mind, of course, that she didn’t grow up in this world.”
Kate’s position in the royal family isn’t an ‘accident’
Kate holds a lot of “power” and sway in the royal family and, according to Bullen, “This hasn’t happened by accident.”
“She is a clever, smart, determined woman. And I’m told by people who work at the various palaces that she is quite literally the power behind the throne,” he said.
“I think a lot of the members of the family look to her, including William, obviously. I believe she is involved in making quite a lot of the decisions on how things move forward and how the family is portrayed. She just continues to get better and better.”
In recent years, the power Kate wields has become apparent in various ways. She was reportedly behind the “recollections may vary” line in the royal family’s statement regarding Prince Hary and Meghan Markle’s 2021 Oprah interview.
Now, her star power as a couple with William is said to be a key element in King Charles’s reign. Not to mention, Kate reportedly had the final say in where Prince George, her and William’s oldest child and heir to the throne, will go to boarding school.
Kate is close with Queen Camilla after following her royal ‘metamorphosis’
Kate had a front-row seat for Queen Camilla, formerly known as the Duchess of Cornwall, and her rise from “commoner” to senior royal. According to royal expert Jennie Bond, the two women likely have a close relationship because of it.
“Kate must have been watching Camilla’s metamorphosis from commoner to queen with particular interest, and I think it must be reassuring for them both,” Bond told OK.
“What a unique relationship it must be,” she continued, noting Kate’s among the “very few people” Camilla “would feel able to confide in” privately. “There is literally no one else for Catherine to turn to who has direct experience of the role that will one day be hers.”
