Kate Middleton’s family will have a ‘bigger influence’ on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children than the royal family, experts have claimed.
Royal commentators Jennie Bond and Tom Quinn predicted it will be Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, who will spend the most time with Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five and Prince Louis, two.
Speaking in a new documentary, Quinn said it would be ‘entirely wrong’ to think the royal family will have the biggest impact on the children’s upbringing, because the Firm is ‘too formal and stuck in its ways’.
Meanwhile Bond spoke of ‘tension’ within the family, claiming Kate, 39, will always turn to her 65-year-old mother Carole for ‘help, advice and guidance’ over the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
In Channel 5’s When the Middletons Met the Monarchy, airing on Saturday, Quinn said: ‘I suspect everyone thinks that in terms of the children, the royal family will inevitable have the most influence, but that is entirely wrong.
Kate Middleton’s family will have a ‘bigger influence’ on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children than the Firm, experts have claimed. Pictured, Kate and William with Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five and Prince Louis, two at at Anmer Hall in Norfolk
Royal commentators Jennie Bond and Tom Quinn predicted it will be Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, who will spend the most time with Kate and William’s children. The pair are pictured in 2018
‘It will be the Middletons that have the influence, because the royal family is too formal, it’s too stuck in its ways.’
Bond added: ‘I suppose there is a little tension at times between who gets to see the grandkids the most.
‘Kate will always turn to Carole for help, advice guidance, and just get together and romping around with the kids – possibly before she would get together with Camilla and Charles.’
Quinn went on to reveal how Charles, 72, was ‘shocked and saddened’ after discovering the couple had chosen to locate their country home in Norfolk, leaving him ‘out in the cold,’ and more than 200 miles from his home of Highgrove in Gloucester.
Richard Kay also expressed how important Carole and Michael are to William, claiming that he’s always made clear that Kate’s parents will be part of their lives.
‘Prince William has said, “Look I am not always going to be available for the royal family, I have another family and that is Mike and Carole Middleton and that is very important to me and Kate and my children”.’
Bond spoke of ‘tension’ within the family, claiming Kate, 39, will always turn to her mother Carole for ‘help, advice and guidance’ over the Prince of Wales and Camilla (pictured in July 2020)
Quinn went on to reveal how Charles, 72, was ‘shocked and saddened’ after discovering the couple had chosen to locate their country home in Norfolk. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess with their children outside Amner Hall
Vanity Fair’s Katie Nicholl agreed, adding: ‘William made it clear the Middleton’s couldn’t be cast aside.’
Royal commentator Ashley Pearson also spoke to the programme, revealing the Cambridge children will have a ‘modified’ royal childhood, more similar to Kate’s upper-middle class upbringing in the quiet village of Bucklebury in West Berkshire.
Michael and Carole Middleton met while working for British Airways as an aircraft dispatcher and air hostess, marrying in Buckinghamshire in 1980.
While Michael, 71, was born into well-off family, Carole grew up in a council house in Southall, west London.
The pair founded hugely successful business Party Pieces in 1987 from their garden shed.
They moved into their home in Berkshire in 1993, where they raised their three children Kate, Pippa, 37 and James, 33.
Michael and Carole Middleton met while working for British Airways as an aircraft dispatcher and air hostess, marrying in Buckinghamshire in 1980. Pictured, Carole, Michael, James and Pippa Middleton
Due to their thriving business were able to send Pippa and Kate to the prestigious Marlborough College.
Speaking of the couple, family friend John Hayley said: ‘They can get on with anybody. olThey’re so natural, so relaxed, very family orientated. They were liked by everybody’.
Kate met William while attending the University of St Andrews, and Nicholl claimed it was Carole who encouraged her daughter to enjoy the thriving party scene when the pair briefly split in 2007.
‘It was Carole that said to Kate, you go and show him what he’s missing, said Nicholl. ‘Carole knew her daughter was perfect future Queen material’.
Bond called the family ‘exemplary’ in terms of joining the royal family, insisting they’ve stuck to the main royal rule of ‘discretion’ in the face of intense public scrutiny.
Speaking of Kate’s success in the royal family, etiquette coach William Hanson added: ‘Catherine is the template for those who wish to marry in to the royal family.
‘She knows she has to listen to those who have come before her and she gets it’.
- Channel 5’s When the Middletons Met the Monarchy will air on Saturday January 30th