Kate Middleton and Prince William: How the world fell for the royal couple
It’s six months yesterday since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tied the knot, and Wills-and-Kate mania is stronger than ever. According to royal watcher Ingrid Seward, it’s all down to the special chemistry the couple share. “These two are the Royals’ greatest asset,” she says. “They are a perfect team as well as a perfect match.
“Together, they have a unique quality, a kind of magic. Normally one half of a royal couple overshadows the other, but these two are equally popular.
“Kate is beautiful and warm, and William has Diana’s magic. It’s their combined glamour that makes them special.”
She says they exude a feeling of love, adding: “You can see it in the way they gaze at one another and mirror each other’s body language.
“Kate is always beaming. I hear they call her the Duchess of Smiles, and I think it suits her rather well. She just glows with happiness when she’s with William.”
But Kate has star quality in her own right, as she proved last Wednesday with her first solo royal appearance, representing the Prince of Wales at a charity dinner.
Robert Jobson, author of William And Kate: The Love Story, says it’s a sign that she is being brought out of her supporting role.
“It was a stellar performance, she did fantastically well,” he says. “And the fact that Charles asked her to do it, even calling her ‘my darling daughter-in- law’, shows the esteem and the affection that he has for her.” It was the couple’s triumphant tour of the US and Canada that established them as international mega-stars, with Hollywood royalty queueing up to meet them.
Relaxed and informal, the couple, both 29, happily posed for snaps with people in the crowd, wore matching cowboy hats and beamed their way through all their official engagements.
A change to the rule of succession, which will allow the couple’s first child to succeed to the throne even if she is a girl, is another sign that the Royals are being brought firmly into the modern age. Indeed, Ingrid believes that in the royal partnership, it is Kate who wears the trousers.
“She is very strong and organised,” she says. “William was a bit of a non-committer before. People would ask him to do things and he would dither a bit. She guides him into what she would like to do, but he doesn’t mind her being boss at times.”
Ingrid believes that marriage has worked wonders on the Prince, saying: “He seems much happier. He has Kate now, and she gives him confidence. And she is one of those girls who can talk to anyone, which is the the biggest asset you can have in that family because really your job is to talk to people.
“And remember, she has gone into this with her eyes wide open. William has trained her well.”
It is clear Kate has blossomed into her role, although she appears ever more slender in each picture.
The “Kate Effect” is as strong as ever, with each high street dress she wears flying off the shelves in hours, and her designer outfits inspiring budget copies.
Wills and Kate were the obvious choice of royals to visit Birmingham in the wake of the August riots to bring comfort to the traumatised community.
And next week they will visit a Unicef feeding centre in Denmark, where relief supplies are stored before they are shipped to famine-stricken East Africa.
Robert Jobson sees it as the clearest indication yet of the direction Kate’s role will take.
“I think people have been happy to give Kate this bedding-in period, living a quiet life in Anglesey, but they will want more.
“I think that has been recognised by the Palace. The timing of the Denmark trip isn’t accidental.
“William and Kate want to have as normal a life as possible, but they are not normal people. They are the future King and Queen, and with that comes expectation. When the Queen was William’s age, she’d been in the job five years.”
Jobson expects Kate’s involvement with charities to expand greatly. “The personal touch is what we want, and Kate will be good at that,” he says. “She recently sent a note to a child with cancer she’d met, and that is the direction I think we will see her heading in. She’ll be a tremendous asset.
“The truth is, the monarchy needs to start connecting now, and there is no better way to do that than with Kate and William.
“They really are the jewels in the Royal Family’s crown.”