To what extent did Carole Middleton influence the beginning of Kate and William’s romance?

For some, Kate Middleton’s meeting with Prince William at the University of St. Andrews is a miracle. A girl’s story Middle Class: managed to seduce the future king of England. For others, it is primarily the result of Carole Middleton’s well-rehearsed cunning. Series: The crown portrays the mother as a careerist, a strategist and ready to do everything for the success of her offspring, and in particular, the elder Catherine.

In the seventh episode of season 6, which premiered on Netflix this Thursday, December 14, we dive back into 1996. in December. Carole and Kate Middleton are shopping in London when they are stopped by the flashes of photographers. Reason ? The presence of Princess Diana, who came with her son William to support the charity to raise funds. Out of charity (or attention?), Carole Middleton hands a note to her daughter, who comes to bring it to Lady Dee. “That’s very generous of you. What is your name?” the princess asks the teenager. “Katherine,” her mother, Carole Middleton, immediately replies. “But Kate’s good too,” adds the main stakeholder, while William smiles at her and hands her a copy of the magazine. The big question.

The rest of the episode takes place in the teenage bedroom of Kate Middleton, who cuts out a photo of Prince William from a magazine. “Someone made a strong impression,” says the mother. “He looks beautiful and has a beautiful face,” modestly admits the young Englishwoman. “She especially has her mother’s face,” gushes the matriarch. “And beautiful eyes,” Kate adds. “Well, who knows,” Carroll concludes with a mischievous grin. “Mommy, he’s a prince…” Kate fumes, rolling her eyes. “So what?” asks the business manager. “When I met your father, he was also very good to me. I was just a humble flight attendant. I pushed carts. His grandmother was close to the queen’s aunt. His father had served with Prince Philip in the RAF. I felt so lucky. Then I started the family business and was so successful that your father was able to quit his job and come to work for us full time. And I realized that maybe the opposite is true. That he was the happy one. Never underestimate yourself. Never think you’re not good enough.”

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Self-made a lot strategist

Today, nothing allows us to say whether Carole Middleton made such a speech with her eldest daughter. On the other hand, it is rumored that her mother played a major role in Kate’s fate. The self-made millionaire did everything he could to get her on the road to William of Wales. And that’s what we get for the rest of the episode The crown.

For example, on the Peter Morgan show, we see Carole Middleton driving her car when suddenly, on the radio, a news flash announces William’s study plans. And for good reason, the young prince has just revealed publicly that he has turned down his first choice, the University of Edinburgh, to join St Andrews University, closer to Balmoral, instead. But he will do it only after the sabbatical. “It will build his character. Of course, St Andrews will still be there when she comes back,” her father Prince Charles confirms in the episode. In fact, William actually arrived on the benches of St Andrews in September 2001 after a year of humanitarian work. In a strange coincidence, Kate Middleton also took 12 months off her studies, choosing to attend the University of St Andrews rather than Edinburgh. In the eyes of many royal commentators, everything was premeditated by Carole Middleton.

Kate would hardly be where she is today if her mother hadn’t effectively helped her negotiate this royal romance.

Tina Brown

According to Tina Brown, an expert on the British royal family, it’s even “unlikely that Kate would be where she is today if her mother hadn’t effectively helped her negotiate this royal romance.” In Chamber papers (JC Lattès), an ultra-documentary investigation into the Windsors, the journalist writes that Carole Middleton has “infinite strategic flair”. “When it was announced in 2000 that Prince William would continue his university studies at St Andrews in Scotland, Kate suddenly moved 50 miles away from the University of Edinburgh to attend St Andrews. However, Kate had already found an apartment with her two best friends, Emilia and Alice. It wasn’t like Kate to give up what she had worked so hard for, nor was she happy to take a year off before re-enrolling in a place that offered the exact opposite atmosphere than her original choice. Carol was the opportunist in the family, not Kate.”

“Coach Carroll”

Carole Middleton’s other stunts are highlighted Chamber papers. We learn, for example, that Kate spent half of her student holidays taking Italian and art history classes at the British Institute in Florence, courses favored by the girls. rich. But above all, after being in Italy, he followed Raleigh International’s 10-week program; a real life course in Chile to support international sustainable development. The very one that Prince William had just finished. Then in September 2001, when Kate arrived in St Andrews, she moved into the same halls as the Crown Prince’s residence, on the floor below William’s. Fate again?

In St. Andrews, away from the paparazzi, Kate and William gradually became classmates, friends, roommates, and then lovers. And here again we find the stamp of Carole Middleton everywhere, especially during Kate’s first steps on the royal chessboard. There desperate mother (I get it, a mother who pushes, who invests as much as possible in her children’s success) also showed unwavering support to her eldest as soon as her romance with William hit a snag. “Whenever Kate found herself bruised in the ring, she retreated to Bucklebury, where trainer Carol would rub her wounds, give her advice on how to get back on track and motivate her to keep her eyes on the prize,” writes Tina Brown. .

We still remember that when she split with William in April 2007, Kate took an exclusive leave from Jigsaw (where she worked as a buyer) to visit her parents in Bucklebury. There, Carole Middleton took charge of her daughter, who was in low spirits, and devised a strategy to make the young prince regret his divorce. British journalist Stephanie Marsh summarized the attack plan The times “Get your health back on vacation with your ex’s old girlfriends. He’ll be amazed by your lack of jealousy and feel paranoid thinking about the different topics of conversation you can bring up. Revise your opinion on the intrusive side of the press. Have you photographed doing all this as often as possible?’ The strategy paid off. William is back to win Kate’s heart. And the prince married a commoner on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey, under the eyes of a triumphant Carole Middleton.