The Prince and Princess of Wales are raising their children in a very different way to royal parents before them and Kate's family dynamic has inspired their hands-on approach. She's spoken about her "happy childhood" and how Carole and Michael Middleton "sacrificed" a lot to be there at every sports match cheering her on.
They're also heavily involved in Prince George, Charlotte and Louis's lives and Carole has worked to be this kind of granny. In 2021 she explained, "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."
"I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground," Carole said. "As long as I'm able to, that's what I'll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides."
She clearly treasures every moment she spends with her family and Kate and William's parenting style closely mirrors her mum's. Last year Prince William revealed that they all sit down and talk as a family and are "strict" about the children having no phones.
Meanwhile, Carole Middleton told The Telegraph in 2018 that she thinks children should be allowed to join the adults at the table "as soon as they can sit up properly".
"As a family, we try to have as many meals together as possible because that's when you talk and have fun," she added.
Royal correspondent and author Simon Vigar believes that Prince George, Charlotte and Louis are experiencing a "very similar childhood" to their mum and her siblings. So it's perhaps no surprise that "listening grandmother" Carole could really influence the Royal Family's future.
"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," he claimed on Hello!'s A Right Royal Podcast.
The Middletons are regularly invited to big royal occasions, including the King's coronation which had a scaled-back guest list compared to Queen Elizabeth's. They've clearly developed bonds with the rest of the Royal Family too, as Zara Tindall and Carole were pictured chatting and spending time together at Cheltenham in March.
This reflects how important Carole, Michael, Pippa and James all are in the Waleses' lives and they represent a different path to the upbringing royals traditionally had. Whilst the late Queen reportedly thought of the family as the "backbone", royal author Ingrid Seward has described Carole as the "unflappable mum and grandmother".
Opening up previously to Hello! she also alleged, "The Middletons are a traditional family, which is why William enjoyed being around them so much. When things go wrong, they pull together under Carol's direction. She is the matriarch of this family and they all take her advice because they have great respect for their mum."
