The Duchess of Cambridge would prefer to be dubbed ‘Wait Katie’ again, the nickname she was given before marrying Prince William in 2011, than put a foot wrong in public, royal experts have claimed.
Speaking in the Channel 5 Documentary Kate: Our Queen in Waiting, airing this Saturday at 9pm, several royal watchers have commented on how Kate Middleton, now 39 and a pillar of the royal family, has taken the time to grow into her role.
They reflected on how she went from being the shy, hesitant girlfriend of Prince William who waited eight years for a marriage proposal, to being a royal confident enough to take on more responsibility.
They also noted how by 2017, Kate had become secure enough in her place as the future Queen to welcome and advise Meghan Markle, then Prince Harry’s fiancée, on how to act as a royal – although the two women have certainly had their issues.
Kate: Our Queen in Waiting, airing tomorrow on Channel 5 at 9pm, reflect on how Kate Middleton has grown from a shy new member of the royal family to a pillar of The Firm. Pictured on Tuesday at the Natural History Museum
Royal commentators said Kate Middleton was a ‘shy’ and ‘hesitant’ young woman when she got engaged to Prince William in November 2010
Several royal watchers said Kate Middleton had welcomed Meghan Markle in the royal family with open arms, because she was another outsider.
‘Kate did try as much as possible as she entered the royal fray,’ royal commentator Emily Andrews said.
‘She said, “If you want me to put you in touch with any fashion designers that I know of course I can”,’ she added.
‘Kate of course then invited Meghan to Winbledon with her, they went to the polo together,’ royal journalist Katie Nicholl said.
‘By all account during those early months, she did reach out to Meghan, said filmmaker and royal watcher Bidisha.
‘Apparently, Kate also schooled Meghan in some of those English conventions which you may not think about as an arriving American, all those unspoken rules that you need to follow if you’re a royal.
Filmmaker and broadcaster Bidisha said Kate’s efforts to teach Meghan Markle, right, about the British conventions and invited her to Wimbledon, although the relationship between them is said to have been strained
‘And that makes me think that when it’s her time to be Queen, she herself is going to kind and warm and open to successive generations.’
It was reported this week, however, that Kate was ‘wary’ of Meghan from the start, while her sister-in-law claimed the future Queen made her cry during a row over bridesmaids dresses.
It took years for the Duchess of Cambridge to carve her own royal role, and with the support of her husband, she spent years studying what was expected of a Queen-in-waiting before stepping up to the plate with confidence.
‘Kate has taken a very long time to concretise her role within the royal family,’ Bidisha said.
‘I think perhaps in the past, there had not been much to say about what the Duchess of Cambridge stood for,’ Emily Andrews added.
‘The flip side of her being very cautious, not wanting to kind of rush into anything, has meant that some people have questioned “Well, who is she, what does she stand for, what is she doing?”,’ she added.
‘When Kate married into the royal family, she made a point of really doing her research. She wasn’t at all afraid to go across Buckingham Palace and speak to courtiers and advisors and to get their advice,’ Katie Nicholl said.
Kate Middleton had been criticised for her steadfast approach to royal life in the past, and during her eight-year relationship with Prince William before their engagement, she was dubbed ‘Waity Katie’ by the press.
At the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh on April 17, Kate shone as a steadfast, strong member of the royal family, established as a Queen-in-waiting
‘She didn’t want to make mistakes and if that meant being accused of being “Waity Katie” again, all over again, she very much wouldn’t mind,’ she added.
Royal journalist Victoria Murphy agreed that both the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wanted to make sure Kate was comfortable in her royal role before launching her further into the public eye.
‘It would have been easy to jump in from the beginning when the interest was sky high and to take on lots of things, and put her out there in many different ways,’ she said.
‘But actually, what William and Kate did was that they wanted to build up very gradually for her to take time to grow in confidence, to grow in understanding, and for her to really build gradually a profile on the world’s stage,’ she added.
The documentary also showed how Kate Middleton had become confident enough to do things her own, while always respecting the old royal traditions, in what Emily Andrews called the ‘don’t frighten the horses’ way.
‘In 2019, early 2020, just before Britain went into a lockdown, we were really seeing and hearing much more of the Duchess that he had ever before, and in many ways, I think she’s been a slow burner,’ Katie Nicholl said.
At the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on April 17, Kate established herself as a Queen in waiting by showing support to her father-in-law Prince Charles, as well as working to bring estranged brother William, 39 and Harry, 36, together after months of tensions.
‘Here was a woman at the top of her game, perfectly turned out, but also quite rightly taking her place as one of the most senior members of the royal family,’ Emily Andrews said.
‘You really saw Queen Catherine in Waiting,’ she added.
Kate: Our Queen in Waiting, airs tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 5.