Prince William is “protective of Kate and can get angry” but his wife soothed the tension after the couple were hit with Meghan Markle’s bombshell claims, a royal expert has said.
The royal pair will have been rocked by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex departing from royal duties.
But Kate has been a rock, the peacemaker in the rift between William and Harry following the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey, sources have said.
If Kate was hurt by Meghan’s claims she showed no sign of it as she chatted to Harry at Prince Philip ’s funeral, coaxing William to join.
“William is protective of Kate and can get very angry,” royal author and expert Penny Junor has said.
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But Kate clearly soothed the tension, only wanting her husband’s happiness.
Diana’s former private secretary Patrick Jephson has said: “She’d have wanted her sons to marry women who would enable them to fulfil their duties in a way that still left room for them to be happy.”
Ten years after their wedding, it is clear William did just that.
At the beginning, just one week after her weddding day and with a green poncho slung around her neck, the Duchess of Cambridge dashed across Waitrose car park to return her trolley.
The only sign casual Kate had recently trod the aisle of Westminster Abbey was the sapphire engagement ring glinting on her finger.
After driving off in their Aston Martin in a cloud of wedding bliss 10 years ago today, the young couple returned to their £750-a-month rented farmhouse on Anglesey to begin married life.
A honeymoon in the Seychelles would have to wait because William could not secure leave from his job as a search-and-rescue pilot.
But down-to-earth Kate didn’t seem to mind a jot. Supermarket or cathedral aisle, she appeared equally content.
The middle-class princess had always approached their relationship without starry eyes. At 29 she had married not a prince but a “friend”, and one she’d known for nearly 10 years.
And that’s exactly what William wanted and needed from his wife.
Speaking in their engagement interview, he said: “I now believe that being friends with one another is a massive advantage.”
He made clear he had wanted Kate to enter marriage to him with her eyes wide open, and with the maturity to make the difficult role of Queen-in-waiting her own.
Asked why he had lingered so long before proposing, he explained: “I’m trying to learn from lessons done in the past and I just wanted to give Kate the chance to settle in and see what happens on the other side.”
He also clearly felt his role was to shield her. “No one is trying to fill my mother’s shoes,” he said. “It’s about making your own destiny and Kate will do a very good job of that.”
Surely their well-tested foundation explains why the couple’s union is today stronger than ever.
And why Kate is beginning to fill the role of future queen with increasing confidence.
That modest early married life they enjoyed in Anglesey, with few staff, was key.
One friend said: “They wanted to live for as long as possible like any other newly married couple, even though their security meant they could never be completely alone.”
They enjoyed cooking roast chicken and sausages – William’s favourites – and visiting the local pub and cinema.
But royal duties could not be escaped altogether. Two months after their wedding they embarked on their first tour, to north America. Kate dazzled.
In flowing lilac at a BAFTA event, William’s university sweetheart looked every bit as glamorous as the stars – and the crowds adored her.
Royal coaching helped. Royal expert and author Katie Nicholl explains: “Kate had a great deal of support from the Royal Family which was really instructed by the Queen.”
However, while Kate never put a foot wrong in the limelight, she didn’t court it. Experts have highlighted her unwillingness to upstage her husband.
Royal biographer Penny Junor has said the Duchess was aware of the Princess of Wales’ struggles with her husband.
She said: “Charles was Prince of Wales and not used to having the limelight taken from him. That caused huge problems. Kate is being very careful to ensure she doesn’t outstrip William.
“She is a working woman doing a job. She didn’t leave the human race when she joined Planet Windsor.”
That the pair was doing something right was clear to see the following year, at the London 2012 Olympics.
Their happiness shone as they embraced in the Velodrome crowd as Team GB scooped gold, a rare PDA.
In December they announced they were expecting their first child. Prince George’s birth in July 2013 followed a difficult pregnancy. Kate suffered hyperemesis gravidarum – acute morning sickness.
And she has spoken of her initial struggles as a mum in Anglesey, as something she “totally underestimated”.
But William was more hands-on than his own father had been. Princess Charlotte arrived in May 2015, and Prince Louis in April 2018.
A friend said: “William shares their bedtime routines, bath times and nappy changing.”
The couple’s precious time in Anglesey came to an end when William left the RAF and they moved to Kensington Palace, three years after their wedding.
William then joined the East Anglian Air Ambulance, prompting another move, this time to Anmer Hall, on the Queen’s Norfolk estate.