When your work involves being a Queen (or a future Queen), naturally you’re drawn to others—how very few of them there may be—who understand the distinct pressures, demands, and burdens of the role. Also, when you’re a (future) Queen, your work doesn’t end at work—you’re also married to a (future) King, and that certainly makes a marriage unique.
No one understands the Princess of Wales quite like Queen Camilla, and the same in reverse is true. OK reports that the two women share a “unique relationship” because of their shared “destiny,” and royal expert Jennie Bond said that Kate is paying attention as Camilla has transitioned from being the wife of the heir to the throne to the wife of the monarch.
“I’m sure 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 said. “What a unique relationship it must be. There is literally no one else for Catherine to turn to who has direct experience of the role that will one day be hers.” Bond added that there are “very few people” Camilla “would feel able to confide in”; Kate is surely one.
In addition to watching Camilla, Kate also learned from Queen Elizabeth; Kate’s husband Prince William, in particular, benefited from Her late Majesty’s tutelage, royal biographer Katie Nicholl wrote in her book Kate: The Future Queen. “Those sessions were also an opportunity for her [Queen Elizabeth] to mentor and teach him, as her grandfather George V did with her,” she wrote. “They became incredibly close and as his respect for her grew, he began to embrace his destiny.”
Kate also benefited from the late Queen’s guidance, Ashley Pearson said in Amazon Prime’s Kate Middleton: Working Class to Windsor. “From the beginning, Kate Middleton had a great deal of support from the royal family, which was really instructed by the Queen,” she said. “This was to make sure she knew as much as she could possibly know and what to do in every situation—bearing in mind, of course, that she didn’t grow up in this world.”
Queen Elizabeth and Kate share commonalities, including their stoicism, resilience, and grace under pressure. “The interesting thing about Kate, the Princess of Wales, is her steeliness,” said True Royalty TV cofounder Nick Bullen. “She is a very strong character who has transitioned from being a young bride to being a key player within the royal family. If you look at all the photographs now, she’s always front and center. She looked amazing at the Coronation. She looked incredible at Ascot. She’s now every inch the princess. And I think at the Coronation, everyone agreed that she looked very much like the next queen.”
Though Kate was born outside of British aristocracy, Bullen said that Kate has evolved into a force to be reckoned with. “This hasn’t happened by accident,” he said. “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. 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.”
