Over the years, several commenters have astutely pointed out that Carole Middleton is the one with a Princess Diana obsession. Like many women of that generation, they became mothers at the same time as Diana, they watched everything Diana said, did and wore, and they copied her when she was alive. In Carole’s case, she treats her daughter like her own little Diana doll, encouraging her to endlessly “homage” Diana. I also think Carole has played a dangerous game with Diana’s memory. I remember back in 2021, around the unveiling of the Diana statue in Kensington Gardens, Middleton HQ released a steady stream of furious briefings because Prince William didn’t want Kate at the unveiling. Team Middleton made sure to remind everyone that Carole was a better mother to William than Diana ever was, and it’s Carole’s word against a dead woman’s, so there. Anyway, it’s time for yet another royal biographer to discuss how Carole is the most important person in Prince William and Kate’s marriage.

On the Wales family’s outing at the Commonwealth Games: “The children are the future royal family, so William and Kate accept that they need to be seen in public sometimes,” Robert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy, tells HELLO!. “The reality is that they’re still very protective of them, but in certain situations, it works, and I think this worked really well. It’s also good for the kids without overwhelming them. They’re very natural when they’re out – they sat among the crowd and weren’t given special treatment. They know they get privileges and I’m sure they’re told that it’s a great honour for them to meet these athletes.” Robert adds: “Louis is a character, there’s no doubt about that. The public love him and it’s nice to see all three of them together.”

Carole Middleton instilled a love of sports: The children’s love of sport is something instilled in them by their parents from a young age. It runs in the family: the Princess’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, encouraged Kate and her siblings, Pippa and James, to participate in sport while they were growing up, in the belief that it would build confidence. The Middletons’ influence does not end there, with William and Kate having incorporated Carole’s hands-on approach to parenting – dubbed “the Middleton model” by commentators – in their own family life. This includes spending plenty of time outdoors, sitting down together for family meals and imparting a strong work ethic.

Carole is the real linchpin!! For William, who grew up in royal residences and experienced his parents’ bitter divorce and the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was a teenager, the Middletons’ cosy and caring family provided him with the stability he had missed out on. Carole, an entrepreneur who built a multi-million-pound party supplies business, is the linchpin of that tight family bond, and described her grandparenting style in an interview in 2021. “I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground. As long as I’m able to, that’s what I’ll be doing,” she said. “I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides. I have tried hard to be a listening grandmother and mother-in-law. That is why we are all still close, because our relationship has evolved as my children have had children.”

Simon Vigar on Carole’s influence: “[William and Kate’s] children are having a very similar childhood to the ones Catherine, Pippa and James had,” he recently told HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast. “I was told by one of my sources that the late Queen, very early on, identified what a good thing Catherine was, and how the absolute backbone was the Middletons. I think the Middleton family will have a huge impact on the future of the monarchy.”

[From Hello]

I love how consistently they’ve tried to reimagine how QEII really felt about Kate. While QEII might have grown to accept Kate later on in their relationship, the late queen definitely thought that Kate was lazy and desperate back in the “waity” years. Additionally, QEII thought Carole Middleton was a trainwreck. It’s Middleton PR that keeps pushing these stories about Linchpin Carole and her brilliant parenting style, but I really don’t know who’s buying it at this point? And Kate must be so pissed that Carole is trying to steal her parenting thunder too. Kate wants credit for encouraging the kids to go outside and play sports!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.