Kate Middleton The Making of A Queen I Princess Catherine and Prince William

I actually went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you. Kate Middleton's rise to her position as wife to the future king is a modern-day fairy tale of true love. Obviously, we have been going out a long time and, you know, it just seemed natural enough to start the both of us. Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, is admired around the world. Taking her place on the global stage, tying the knot with Prince William... I think any parent would sort of know what this feeling feels like. Very special. ..and swiftly making history with their firstborn child and third in line to the throne, Prince George. As we look at Kate's incredible journey from being a commoner to the future queen consort, we delve into the wonderful story of Catherine Middleton and her journey into royal life. This is Kate Middleton, the making of a queen. She is probably a good example of one of the best things that the royal family has done for years. She is a very beautiful young woman who's very intelligent and rather polished. You can say anything you like about the Duchess of Cambridge, but you can't accuse her of not being impeccably well brought up. Born the eldest of three children, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born in Berkshire, England, raised by mother and father Michael and Carol Middleton. Both of very different backgrounds, Kate's parents found that love was in the air as they met when Carol and Michael both worked for British Airways. Michael had, perhaps, had a glimpse into the world of the aristocracy as he was born into a wealthy family in Yorkshire. But Kate's mum was from a much more humble family of coal miners and builders. Their relationship blossomed and they made their way in the world through hard work and entrepreneurial flair. I think the ways the Middletons have been integrated into royal life, so to speak, has been quite seminal and unprecedented. Often, girls who have married into the royal family and their in-laws would be ignored or shoved away. Actually, the Queen has actively embraced the Middletons, inviting them to things like royal ascot. Well, the Middletons are hugely interesting because they've been more instrumental and influential than any other family that's married into the House of Windsor. And what they did is what good parents have always done. They've invested in education. It cost them a lot of money. They sent all of their three children to good schools, in the case of Kate, to Marlborough School, which is one of the top public schools, which means private in British terms, schools, where she did quite well. Kate's parents founded a mail-order party goods company which climbed from a small start-up to a multi-million pound empire. It was thanks to this success that Kate and her sister Pippa and their younger brother James were set for an interesting, diverse and financially successful upbringing. But she did well, she was popular, she was diligent, she worked hard. She ended up going on to Down House at the age of 13 and she had two pretty miserable terms there. She didn't like it, she was picked on, she wasn't academic enough and she really felt the pressure there. So I think after two unhappy terms her parents decided that they would pull her out and they went to try Marlborough, the mixed school now in Wiltshire. After becoming a student at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, Kate Middleton first became aware of Prince William of Wales when he attended a charity fashion show at which she was wearing a see-through dress. The youngster shared several classes and soon became close friends. At the university they shared rooms to start with and then shared a cottage with some friends. And as they said, you know, by their own account, they said that they were friends first and then the romance began. It seems that the royal family were protecting William, it's about William to start with, but then William and Kate when the relationship began because they did a lot of their early courting in St Andrews at the Queen's Estate in Balmoral. Away from prying eyes, lots of privacy, lots of time to develop the relationship. I think when it comes to William and Kate's relationship, what's great about it is it's based on friendship first. They were friends at St Andrews University before they went on to start going out with each other. Kate at the time counselled William in changing his course. He didn't like what he was studying and she encouraged him not to leave and go back down to London, but to stick with it and do something a little bit different. We have a very particular picture of her in that respect. She's quite reserved. But, you know, this is the same girl that when she was trying to pull Prince William, you know, she was wearing a see-through outfit dress and sashayed down a catwalk. And she is quite, you know, that was quite a bold thing to do. So she can't have been too shy or backward coming forward in that respect. So I think we get one impression of her in that respect. When they split up, she went to a bunny girl party, dressed with ears and everything. So, look, there's got to be two sides to her, but at the moment she doesn't really seem to want to put a foot wrong and I don't think she will for a while. She wants to play the supporting role to Prince William. Outside, the Queen congratulated William. This was a significant moment in the relationship. Kate's first brush with William's family and she didn't look daunted at all. Romance blossomed, although the relationship was conducted very discreetly, mostly due to the prince's extreme distrust of the press. However, a slip in their cautious approach led to Kate being caught by paparazzi while on a royal family ski trip, leading to an immediate official response and their relationship quickly became the subject of intense scrutiny and tabloid attention. The press were relentless, leading to a brief pause in the relationship, at least as far as the public was concerned, as William had grave concerns that the pressures on Kate, being pursued along public streets by paparazzi, just as his mother had been, would all be too much for young Kate to handle. They took time out and the press looked for stories elsewhere. What you have with William is a guy who has learnt lessons and there's really nothing any of those grey-suited men from Clarence House could genuinely tell William that he doesn't already know about the press. And he understands the media, he understands that as a royal you're never going to be elected, but that doesn't mean that public opinion isn't incredibly important to you and your longevity. And William, I think, really understands that, he gets it. He is very, very open and willing to forge relationships with the press, but he wants it on his terms and he does not want a repeat of what we saw with Princess Diana. At all times they were highly discreet. They were almost never seen together. They were, even with their friends, they didn't allow any gossip to start. People speculated, but there was nothing definite which proved that they were an item. And I think the fact that she was discreet and that she wasn't blabbering on about her love or her regard for Prince William, I think that stood her in good stead. They are an incredibly down-to-earth couple. I remember meeting them together as a couple for the very first time on the day the palace announced that they were getting married and a few journalists were invited to go to St James's Palace and have a cup of tea with them. Well, that's not an offer you get very often, so of course we jumped at the invite and took tea with them. And I think everyone was terribly nervous, not least William and Kate. It was the first time they had met the British media. I'd seen them at nightclubs before. I'd spent my time watching them at polo matches and charting this amazing relationship. But the first time really to actually sit down and talk with them, I remember Kate being very nervous but incredibly sweet and kind and interested in what we were doing and how we were covering the story. And they both just seemed so well-matched. You could see it in their body chemistry, even at that stage, and on a moment fraught with nerve. They were about to meet the world's press. All the paparazzi and the photographers, rather, were waiting next door to take their pictures. But even under that sort of pressure, they gravitated towards each other. I remember William having his hand in the small of Kate's back, guiding her, making sure she was all right. And I think that's what you've seen over the years. He has wanted to just make sure that she is comfortable, that she feels confident and happy in what she's doing. And as he said in that engagement interview, and I think it was such a poignant and important thing that he said, that he waited so long to propose, not because he wasn't sure. I think he probably had been sure for a long time. But it was so that he could give Kate the opportunity to see exactly what married life would be like and get out, if it wasn't what she wanted. And, you know, when you see them together, you do see a couple genuinely in love. They're very happy together. They work well together. They're a team. And I think they are great assets for the British royal family and great assets for the country. I think, equally, one of the secrets of the success of their marriage is that they do seem much more equal than, say, for instance, Charles and Diana. They had a situation when they got married where Diana eclipsed her husband, and he often grumpily complained that, you know, people on the wrong side of the road who would groan if they got Charles on a walkabout and not Diana. I think, as well, Kate has been very careful not to upstage her husband. I think that she's the yin to his yang in that he, although a level-headed, down-the-line kind of guy, can be prone to a few temper tantrums, perhaps, and likes to dig his heels in and knows his own mind, and I think can sometimes get quite angry. One gets the impression that Kate's the one pulling him back and reining him in, saying, all right, let's just keep calm. And I think, as well, why Kate's brilliant for William is she has been so well brought up in such a loving and stable family, the kind of family, let's face it, the prince has never really had, that that's hugely grounding for him. And, actually, her middle classness and her lack of aristocratic airs and graces and the fact that she isn't royalty is no bad thing because it dilutes the royal family a little bit and it reminds this man who has been brought up knowing nothing else but royal life what real life is like. This is a young woman who really wasn't raised in the public eye to any degree and also isn't a naturally gifted speaker. So with all the attention on her, and she's quite shy as well, it just complicates things and makes it very difficult. The first time we really got to hear her voice was in the interview when William and Kate announced their engagement when she wore that very famous and much copied Issa blue dress. Right afterwards, they did a sit-down where they kind of informally talked to one of William's favourite reporters and at the time, Kate got very flustered and nervous and William a couple of times kind of answered the question for her that she was asked or corrected something and was obviously very protective of her. She was not comfortable very clearly speaking on camera. You're obviously going to enter this family. William's mother was this massive, iconic figure, the most famous figure of our age. Is that worrying? Is that intimidating? Well, obviously I would love to have met her and she's obviously an inspirational woman to look up to. It's a wonderful family. The members who I have met have achieved a lot and, you know, very inspirational. So, yeah, I do. There's no pressure, though. There's no pressure because, like Kate said, it's about carving your own future. No-one's going to try and fill my mother's shoes and what she did is fantastic. It's about making your own future and your own destiny and Kate will do a very good job of that. And then, of course, we saw her first speech as a Duchess and, you know, what we saw there is a very beautiful young woman with notes in front of her who couldn't say more than four or five words without looking down again to figure out what she was going to say next. It was a very stilted performance and she was widely criticized in the press. But, again, you have to remember that this is a young woman who is not running for public office and she wasn't even born into a royal family. She's coming in from the outside and she's trying to make everybody happy even though it's not necessarily her own natural gift to stand up in front of people. I would wager that that's probably the hardest, most challenging aspect of her role as William's wife is the public speaking component and judging from what we've heard, she has been getting some help, she has had a little coaching, but she still finds it very, very challenging. Today I have seen again that the Treehouse is all about family and fun. For many, this is a home from home, a lifeline enabling families to live as normally as possible during a very precious period of time. What you do is inspirational. It is a shining example of the support and the care that is delivered not just here but in the children's hospice movement at large up and down the country. I mean, it's very difficult, I think, for anybody who's come from the outside of the royal family to a full-on public figure to be brilliant at public speaking straight away. Prince Harry seems to have got it almost instantly. He's an excellent orator and he does it with natural charm and fun and a degree of wit. I think there's no doubt that Kate was very nervous when she started her role as Duchess and speaking publicly. In her role as the patron of the Stanglian Hospice, she had to make a public speech. I thought she did very well, but it was a little stilted, a little disjointed. I think she would probably admit that she was more than a little bit nervous when she had to make it. But in time, I think she's improved. She's undoubtedly had some help, I would think, from external advisers. I mean, Princess Diana herself used Peter Settlin to help train her in public speaking. In fact, she used to have marbles put in her mouth to help her speak more clearly. I don't know if Kate's gone to that extreme, but she certainly has improved. She's certainly more confident. True love prevailed, however, and the couple's official engagement was announced in November 2010 during a vacation to Kenya, where William presented Kate with his mother's engagement ring. William's decision to give Kate his mother's engagement ring, for outside observers, we might look at that and say, that wasn't a great marriage, really, on the grand scheme of things. I think what it means for William is a far more sort of intimate, has a far more intimate meaning. Prince William will rarely ever talk about his mother publicly. He will very, very rarely do anything to kind of draw comparisons with him and his mother, and certainly hates the thought that Kate might be seen as the new Princess Diana. But his decision to give her his mother's engagement ring, I thought was very significant, because it sort of showed that William wanted his mother, on his big day, to be right there at the very heart of what was going on. And actually it was quite, you know, in a non-soppy way, I thought it was quite touching that he chose to give them that ring. Of course, if he'd decided to go down to the local jewellers and buy a little engagement ring, then he would be accused of airbrushing Diana out of history, and certainly Prince William's never going to do that. His mother is still the most central figure in his life. And the ring gives us all permission to look again at this union, particularly because Charles and Diana's marriage went so bad and began, we now know, on such rocky foundations. You know, it may be that we're imagining it, we're just hopeful and optimistic, but it looks like this one is different, and it looks like this one is very much a personal choice of the two people involved, clear and simple. And I think people would have inevitably made those comparisons privately. I felt on the day when it was obvious that was the ring he'd given her, I felt that was his way of taking control of that narrative and taking control of that story. That's what I think it was. The couple later announced plans to live in North Wales, where Prince William was stationed with the Royal Air Force. He's gone and retrained as an air ambulance pilot, which means he can remain flying, which is his first love. It also means he can have a career aside from the Royal Family, and it's in a perfect arena, of course, because he's going out and helping to save lives. Before I started Search and Rescue, I had a little brief introduction to it, and it was immediate to me. I spent three hours flying with the guys, and it was totally apparent to me straight away how important the job is, the skills the guys employ, the flying aspects, the general airmanship you need to have around you, and all the wits you need to survive the weather and whatever sort of situation you're thrown into. It definitely is advanced flying, and it's rewarding, so it put the two together, and it's a fantastic job. It's pretty rich coming from a ginger, so I'm quite happy to let Mum and Spike go for it. He's a good-looking ginger, sorry. On April 29, 2011, six months after the official announcement of the Royal engagement, the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton took place, with a worldwide TV audience of over 300 million people fascinated by this beautiful and beguiling newcomer to the Royal Family. The marriage, the ceremony, the wedding, just actually puts a seal on what everybody has been aware of for a long, long time. As Prince Charles said when he was asked about the engagement on the day it was announced, well, he said they'd been practising long enough. It was rather a sort of flip comment, but to a degree it was true. There's going to be no huge surprises. They are friends with each other. To my mind, I think the basis of the relationship is respect. She has never been a dog's body or a doormat. She's always fought her corner. Somebody said to her, aren't you very fortunate to be going out with Prince William? And she said, no, he's very lucky to be going out with me. Sir, may we just ask your reaction to the wedding, please, sir? Obviously it's true, thank you very much. We've been practising for long enough. Tying the knot at Westminster Abbey in London, all eyes were upon the most important royal wedding since that of Charles and Diana. I think people will recognise that this is a royal couple for the modern age. It's interesting that in planning their wedding, they have decided to do it their way. They haven't been completely tied up in royal red tape. They've insisted on having a degree of control over what is a state occasion, but is also a very private time for them. So, in very many key areas, I was pleased to see that Kate Middleton decided not to stay at Clarence House within a royal palace before her wedding. She decided that she would stay at a hotel with her parents, with her parents paying the bill for the hotel, for her leaving from the hotel from her parents or with her father in a car and going the mile to Westminster Abbey, not in a carriage. In other words, she wasn't going to allow the royal family to capture her from the very beginning and put her inside the bubble, the royal bubble. She wanted to assert herself and she was saying, in effect, my family are very important in this too and I'm not going to have them forgotten. This is when the English and the British come to their own. We have all the equipment, we have the household cavalry, we have the wonderful carriages, we have those ancient Rolls Royces and there's a great spirit here, a spirit I think you could say was evocative of 1981 and the wedding of Prince William's parents, Charles and Diana. There's a real enthusiasm for it. The biggest decision for any bride is her dress and the public was desperate to find out what Kate would wear. Her choice, a dress designed by Sarah Burton, remained a very closely guarded secret until the big day. What my opinion of the dress was that it was... ..youthfully regal. It was modern with a classic twist to it, which was fantastic because I didn't want Kate to sort of lose touch of Kate in the whole pageantry of this occasion and I think Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen did a sublime job. I think the lace was so effortlessly executed. It was almost as if she had like a white tattoo all the way down her arm and the fine buttons and then you saw that quintessential McQueen detail on the rough of the spine. I thought the skirt was just enough skirt for a venue like the Abbey. I think, you know, to have something slimmer with a long train, she might not have filled that space with the sort of ease that she did with this dress. But I thought she looked very, very beautiful, very exquisite, seriously polished. Royal sources tell me that the royals indicated very strongly to Kate that they would prefer her to wear her hair up for this very special occasion. However, Kate had her heart set on wearing her hair down with long flowing curls, which is her favourite way to wear it and actually William's favourite as well. They ended up compromising on her look. She had kind of a half up, half down. So from the front, she had an updo. From the back, she had the long flowing curls she wanted. Prince William looked fantastic in that sort of royals and blue, red uniform. Very unusual, matched the red of that carpet that went up the centre of Westminster Abbey. He looked marvellous. And the white gloves when he was waving at the crowds, he looked the dashing prince. If only he could have ridden up to Westminster Abbey, he would have been the perfect, perfect prince, wouldn't he? I thought William's choice of the red was fantastic. I mean, Kate's heart must have gone pitter-patter completely when she saw her prince standing there. And I caught that glimpse of Harry when he took a sideward glance at seeing Kate while William turned the other way and he said to his brother, she's beautiful. And that was really, really charming between the two boys. You know, how wonderful was that? And, you know, what got me was I looked at the father, you know, Mr Middleton, and I thought to myself, you know, all those many years ago, he had a little girl. And look what happens. You know, how, you know, the twists and turns of life. Kate met with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth shortly before their wedding when it was confirmed that her royal title would be Catherine, Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate came in completely from the outside into this very tight-knit royal circle. To her great credit, Queen Elizabeth appears to have also learned from the lessons of Diana and really welcomed Kate into the family in a way that I don't think Diana was ever exactly welcomed. And Kate was given a lot of support by royal staff and royal household as she grew into the role of being a duchess, of being a princess. They gave her time and space and resources in order to help and support her in that role, and it's done wonders. Queen Elizabeth is said to be very fond of Kate Middleton. She likes her British sensibility. She likes her middle-class values. She likes that she's close to her family. And Kate has never tried to garner extra attention for herself. There's nothing flashy or showy. Kate toes the company line all the time. And that's something that Queen Elizabeth very much wanted from Diana, which didn't happen. She wanted from Sarah Ferguson, which didn't happen, but has very much so happened with Kate Middleton. There are lots of people who believe Kate is a special favourite of the queens because of the way she continuously, consistently supports the family, supports William, and never seems to put a step wrong. Once you married into the royal family, you became a Windsor, and that was that. Well, it was different when Kate and William got married. And when William asked Kate to marry him, he made it very clear that she wouldn't have to leave her family behind her. Once she married into his family, he promised her that they'd always stay a part of the family. And they have done, whether it's joining the queen at Ascot or being on an important barge within the queen's fleet at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, being the first visitors to go and see Prince George when he was born, even before the future king, Prince Charles. All of these things are very significant because they're William's way of saying, you are part of this family, and we are going to include you. I think the prospects for William and Kate's marriage are extremely good, and the reason I think that is because, quite uniquely for a royal wedding, their relationship grew out of cold winter nights spent in a university digs, having spaghetti bolognese and talking about anything other than being a prince or princess. Their relationship has grown out of being just William and Kate, and I think that that's something that throughout their married life, as much as they can, they will try and retain, and if they do, then the prospects for them staying together for a long time will be very good. I think Kate and William have a good chance of making this work. They are both very committed to the monarchy and making kind of a united front, whatever personal problems they might have. Kate has proven herself to be a team player. She's proven herself to be discreet. She's also proven that she's willing to put her own interests behind the interests of her husband. They've seen each other through a variety of circumstances, and William seems to be doing a much better job of preparing Kate for royal life than Charles did for his mother. So Kate has a support system in William. She has a support system in her family, which Diane also didn't have, and she has a man she's known for eight years, and she's spent an awful lot of time getting to know. I think they've got a good shot. It's tough being married, whether you're a prince or you're a pauper. It's tough. You have to work at it. It's a constant renewal every day. I'm sure that they will have their problems. They've had some problems in the past, but they've come through those problems, and as they say famously, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and I think they have got a very, very good basis for the marriage ahead. It was inevitable that when moving into the royal family, Kate would have her fair share of comparisons to the late Princess Diana. Becoming Duchess of Cambridge left fans of the monarchy curious as to how she would settle, as well as her similarities to William's mother. People are always asking me, well, how alike is Kate to Diana? I always say that they're actually incredibly different women. They look very different. Diana was blonde, beautiful and leggy. Kate's beautiful and leggy, and Brunette, they look very different. They are very different people, and I think particularly in the early stages, there was a desire largely by the press to sort of see how Kate would live up to Diana's image, and I remember William saying that there was no expectation that these were big footsteps, and no-one expected Kate to fill them, and I think what Kate's done, which is so commendable, and you really have to take your hat off to her, is she's forged her own identity within the royal family. She hasn't tried to emulate Diana. She's a style icon, but I'd say she's quite a reluctant style icon. She's wanting to put her stamp in other areas, her work with hospices, her work with mental health. Within the comparison, there are huge differences. She's ten years older than the Princess of Wales was when she married Prince Charles. She's more educated. She's more experienced. She comes from a very stable family in which she's clearly very happy. Diana didn't have those things, did she? She had huge charisma, huge inspirational things that she did, and she had massive natural ability with people. We've all seen it, we all know it. Well-documented and accepted. But Kate Middleton looks to be a different creature, and I think she'll just show that herself. And you couldn't try and measure yourself against Diana because she was a really unique kind of character, wasn't she? She was a really unique personality. It's quite interesting, actually, Kate's perception in the UK. She's not necessarily seen as an icon like Princess Diana was, and I think that's because Diana had frailties and faults as well. Kate hasn't really put those out there. She's almost too good to be true sometimes, and I think a lot of younger people find the overwhelming privilege that she has and the fact that she maybe stuck around too long to marry Prince William as both seeing a little bit against her. Whereas around the world, where I do a lot of work in other countries, there's none of that attached to her, and they just like her for who she is, or the perception of who she is. I think in the UK, when she was dubbed Weighty Katie, it didn't do her any good at all, and that was a little unfair because it's not her fault that her future husband took so long to pop the question. And I think, were Diana here, I think she would approve of Kate Middleton. She might feel slightly like some mothers do, oh, dear, I don't want to lose my son to any woman, you know, but I think she would approve. She would see in Kate Middleton some admirable qualities and she'd feel that her son would be safe with her. I'm sure of that. I think she would approve of it immensely. And I think it was very telling that he chose to give Kate Middleton his mother's engagement ring and he said, I want my mother to be part of this, to be present. I think it's really important that she doesn't look anything like her. I was thinking that the other day when I was looking at the engagement pictures. She's a beautiful woman. She's developed a style that's very classic. It hasn't changed dramatically over the years, but it's just a classic, more groomed version of what she always was, it seems to me. Whereas Diana, she was that cultish teenager, wasn't she, who didn't have a sense of style, wore clothes that were 20 years too old for her to style. She really got it a few years down the line. One of her huge successes was fashion. But I think Kate Middleton's a different life story altogether and I think that will be the bedrock of how she copes with that comparison because there is no comparison to be drawn. I think that's the ultimate cushion on which she can fall when this kind of thing starts. There is no comparison because their backgrounds are entirely different, their psychological history is entirely different, their domestic history is entirely different. It'll be a whole different narrative with Kate, I think. Humanitarian work played an important part in Princess Diana's life, both at home and abroad. Her interests were reflected in the organisations of which she was patron or president. With her impact on such admirable work, it was seen fit that with Kate's metamorphosis from fiancée to duchess, she would also hold a pivotal role in similar charitable institutions, fulfilling her duties in a manner appropriate for her position and royal standing. So Kate's set out her stall that she wants to support in the first instance children, so she's supporting some hospice charities, each the East Anglia Children's Hospices. She's equally decided to be a volunteer scout, so supporting children out and about, enjoying country pursuits as she does. She's also been involved in action on addiction, so she's saying that she wants to help people. She thinks that addiction is the root to quite a lot of society's ills, be it children or their parents, and so she wants to get involved in that. And also because she's studied history of art and is a keen artist and photographer, there's her patronage of the National Portrait Gallery and other artistic pursuits. And she's mixed them a little bit, so she also supports a cause called The Art Room, which helps children, gives children therapy through the medium of art. And actually she's been ahead of the curve on most of the choices that she's made. She's put children's hospices on the map and she's also done a huge amount of good for mental health. It's another cause that she's very much behind, so she will know how important she is as a patron to those charities to put them in that international spotlight, and she won't want to spend too long away from them. The importance of support for these charities is also reflected in the work that Kate's brother-in-law, Prince Harry, has undertaken over many years. Kate has had to put in a great deal of work to do justice to the task, often with common goals, as there is no competition between Kate and Harry. They have a long history of working together, and she has gained a great deal of support from him. Well, Harry and Kate have a very warm, affectionate relationship. You know, Harry grew up without a sister and without a mother to a great degree, and Kate gives him a feminine perspective and a feminine touch that he really was lacking, I think, growing up, and it's really nice for him to have that kind of family member. I remember even, you know, proper events, like big ceremonial events, like the garter ceremony in Windsor, where Prince William was all dressed up in the fine robes of the 12th century garter order, and you could see William looking all very serious, but also Kate and Harry were in the audience, and he was just digging her and joking and making fun of his brother, and I'm sure that happens quite a lot, because he is a joker, he is fun, and it's quite a good relationship, I think, for her to have Harry as a brother-in-law. Later on, William, Kate, Harry and Meghan worked together to bring about change under the umbrella of the Royal Foundation, working with charities, organisations and projects, including Heads Together, the Invictus Games and United for Wildlife. Later, as we now know, Harry and Meghan separated themselves from the Foundation as well as the Royal Family, exacerbating rumours of a poor relationship between Meghan and Kate and forcing William and Kate to take on a greater share of royal duties. The question on the lips of the nation, after William and Kate tied the knot, was how long it would be until the world would see a royal baby. For some, it was a long wait until an official announcement in December of 2012 that the Duchess was pregnant. Obviously, there'd been an awful lot of anticipation as when Kate was going to announce that she was pregnant. In fact, I think the announcement was suggested for about six months beforehand. Everyone was writing in the papers that she was pregnant. The Palace had put out the official announcement as she was en route to the hospital because she'd had problems with the pregnancy and it was felt that William and Kate didn't want to even tell the Queen or Prince Charles that she was pregnant until they were absolutely certain everything was OK, so that's what happened. The birth announcement for Prince George did not go according to plan. Kate was forced to announce prior to being 12 weeks pregnant that she was, in fact, expecting because she was hospitalised for very, very severe morning sickness. William and Kate had talked at length about how they wanted to make this announcement to the world and it certainly wasn't going to be this way and at that stage in the pregnancy. Most celebrities, particularly royals, wait until that first trimester is finished before they make any happy announcements. But because Kate was taken very suddenly to the hospital because of her severe morning sickness condition, the Palace was forced to issue a statement as to why she was there and the news of the pregnancy was leaked. There was huge celebration over the birth of Prince George. I remember broadcasting for numerous international networks outside Buckingham Palace. Of course, it was the great Kate Waite. I mean, we didn't know when this little baby was coming along and when he did, it was a hugely important international news story. So when news broke of Kate actually having given birth, I think at 8.34 in the morning on that Saturday, the press obviously instantly started speculating, well, will she leave today? And thinking as a mother, I thought, yeah, she definitely will because you don't necessarily want to hang around hospitals too long, even if they are the Lindo Wing and private and offering all frills. Equally, there's a sense, I think, if you have a second child, that you want to get back to your first. So people sort of looking at their watches thinking, can she do this? Can she have a baby by breakfast and be home at Kensington Palace for tea? And when we got wind of the fact that Kate's hairdresser had gone into the building, we knew, oh, hang on, you know, she's going to make an appearance. And in vintage Duchess of Cambridge style, she turns out in high heels and looking effortlessly elegant, even though she's given birth just hours earlier, which is a testament to her and how she's able to cope, not only, I think, in the limelight, but just in this... ..with this pressure of having to present herself in a certain light. And I think, you know, hats off to her. Whether you love or loathe monarchy, any mother out there will say that it was a pretty good effort to look so good within hours of having given birth. Well, the birth of Prince George was really like a national celebration. It felt like a national holiday. There was excitement in the air all around the country. It very much reminded me of the feeling of the royal wedding day when William and Kate got married. Everyone was universally happy. Everyone was constantly checking the news feeds on their phone and on the television in order to see, waiting for William and Kate to come out from the hospital for the first time, holding the new baby prince. I have several friends, actually, with news organisations who were standing outside the hospital that day, waiting hours after hour for William and Kate to come out. And actually, they came out quite a bit later than expected because typical William and Kate strategy fashion, they were greeting and thanking every single member of staff at the hospital personally for the very smooth birth. They wanted to make sure they thanked everyone from the cleaner to the midwife to the surgeon, to say thank you very much. So they did actually take a long time to emerge. It was a reminder of his tardiness when he was a bit older. I know how long you've all been sat out here, so hopefully the hospital and you guys can all go back to normal now and we can look after him. When they did, Kate was roundly praised in the press for her choice of dress. You know, a lot of women, when they first have a baby, are very self-conscious about the fact that they oftentimes still look pregnant. They still have a very swollen stomach. Kate was not at all ashamed of this. In fact, wore a dress which highlighted the fact that she still had a very rounded tummy. And a lot of women praised her for this, said that it made a difference because it kind of just emphasised the fact that women don't need to be ashamed of their bodies when they've had a baby. And it was really a lovely thing that she did. She came out, she was absolutely beautiful and radiant. I'm sure she had some help with make-up and hair. In fact, we saw some of her stylists coming into the hospital before she emerged. So we know that she had a little help, but she did look fantastic and they looked absolutely in love. As William and Kate were leaving their press call when they came out with the baby, he was seen to be very affectionate with her. He had his hand on the small of her back and he called her Puppet. So we now know one of his sweet names of endearment for his lovely wife. Well, he's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure. He's a big boy, he's quite heavy. But we're still working on a name, so we'll have that as soon as we can. But it's the first time we've seen him really, so we're having a proper chance to catch up and see it. With the arrival of Prince George, there was a quiet warmth and confidence from both William and Kate unearthing a new chapter of their fairy tale. They were holding... They just looked so beautiful and happy. It was really stunning. I'll never forget it. A commemoration of Prince George's birth, the joy that he brought to the world, and particularly to New Zealanders and Australians over the last week and a half. And we have a tradition to remind him for when he's a bit older. He does love it, honestly. I think Harry would be the perfect uncle. All the fun and no responsibility, that is what Harry would like, I'm sure. He's great with kids, Harry. You only have to see him when he's out in Africa, as I've done with the kids they sent to Bali refuges. And he's fantastic. He's fun. He's a big kid himself, I think he says himself. Prince Harry probably has the most fun with Prince George in the entire family. Because with Harry, he can be as cheeky and as silly and as wild as he wants to be with this little baby, and he has a great time with him. One of Harry's best qualities is his childishness and his kind of open personality and just finding fun in everything. And he really connects with George because George, from all accounts, is a baby with a huge personality and character. He doesn't just take a bath, he's splashing constantly trying to get all the water out. George is a really fun, free-spirited little boy. And I think Harry very much has that personality and those two have a fantastic relationship. There's no question that Harry's going to be the favourite uncle and possibly the favourite person for George because he's so much fun. Following the birth of the future prince, it was announced that there was not just one royal baby on the cards. It was revealed that the Duchess was again pregnant with her second child. Congratulations. How's Catherine feeling? She's feeling OK, folks. It's been a tricky few days, a week or so. But obviously we're immensely thrilled. It's great news. Early days, but I'm hoping things settle down and she feels a bit better. Both William and Kate were happy to announce that Princess Charlotte was on her way. Royal watchers and fans worldwide celebrated with the prospect of a baby sister for Prince George. Well, I think when it was announced that they'd had a little girl, it was a great cause of national celebration. Of course, a little sister for Prince George, the daughter that Prince William had always wanted, the granddaughter that Charles had always wanted. But actually, historically, a really important little girl because she will hold her place in the lineage of succession. The antiquated male primogeniture laws were outcast just before Prince George's birth in case he had been a little girl. Now, had those laws not been changed and had the couple or are the couple to go on and have another child that may be a boy, well, Charlotte would have lost her place in succession. With the laws being changed, she will hold on to that position. She is the fourth in line to the throne and no little boy born hereafter will take that place away from her. So she is historically very, very important. Well, Charlotte's birth certainly does herald the dawn of a new era for girl power in that we have a girl in a prominent position at the senior end of the royal family. Obviously, we've been used to the Queen, the ultimate exponent of girl power on the throne, but we face the prospect now of three kings in line, so we're not going to see another woman on the throne for many, many, many years. So how lovely to have Charlotte in this role, bringing up the rear. She's rather unkindly called the spare to the heir, as Prince Harry is, but as he has proved himself, it's a role that you can make your own and I'm sure all ours will be on Charlotte. In fact, there'll probably be even more scrutiny on her because she's female. But, yeah, I mean, how great to have the pitter-patter of pink feet in the royal line of succession. They're very much hands-on parents. I mean, William made it very clear when George was born that he wanted to be a hands-on parent. He took time off to spend with George and Kate. They didn't have a nanny straight away. They were very anti-having an extended staff to look after their children, look after them. But I think as time has gone on, they've realised they do need that extra help. They can't just rely upon, say, Carol, Kate's mother, and other members of the family. They do need that because they're very much in the public eye. But William, in particular, wants to be a hands-on parent. Kate, too, doesn't really want to pass on the responsibility of motherhood either. But, you know, when you're in the royal family, when you're in the public eye, it's very, very difficult to do everything. And I think that even Kate and William have found that and so they are now realising that it's important to have the extra help. CHEERING William's got the princess he always wanted. Diana wanted a princess in the family. She's got her wish, he's got his, and Diana's been remembered in the process. So it really completes it. They've ticked all the boxes. And the other thing about Charlotte is it's the female of Charles, so they've really done everything. The royal couple's third child, who is fifth in line to the throne, a little brother for the first two royal children, Prince Louis Arthur Charles, was born on 23rd April 2018. The public were thrilled at William and Kate's growing family. Kate has taken on more duties and responsibilities as her babies have become toddlers, leaving her and William more capacity to fulfil their duty to the nation. Her efforts in bringing awareness to issues around addiction have made a significant impact as she launched the Taking Action on Addiction campaign. Addiction is not a choice. No-one chooses to become an addict. But it can happen to any one of us. None of us are immune. Yet it's all too rarely discussed as a serious mental health condition. And seldom do we take the time to uncover and fully understand its fundamental root causes. The Duchess has also had a particular interest in children's charities and she has been instrument in launching one of the largest ever early years research studies in the UK. From supporting William in the Earthshot Prize to wowing at the No Time To Die James Bond premiere, Kate has made a place for herself within the royal family, a reputation built on hard work and commitment. As William has said, we have heard time and time again in the course of our work how talking can help heal hidden challenges that we can't deal with alone. We have seen that two heads are better than one when dealing with a mental health problem. Yet the challenge that so many people have is not knowing how to take that first step of reaching out to another person for help. Defying the odds, the Duchess of Cambridge has proven to the world that she could not be more deserving of her position. It is widely acknowledged that Kate's commitment to and love of Prince William enables this fairy tale to continue. Prince William has found someone extraordinarily special in Kate. Her considered approach to her work, her natural warmth and social skills, and her hands-on parenting style paint a picture of a new kind of royal with slightly less formality but with due respect for the traditions of this great dynasty. You have to remember that as much as Princess Diana is famous for her warmth and just closeness to her boys, they very much did not have a secure, stable, warm family environment growing up. Their parents were divorced. It was very acrimonious for quite a few years. Their father is quite famous for being cold and distant, at points very aloof. There really wasn't a kind of happy family for either of those boys. And seeing it in the Middleton family has made a fantastically huge impact on William, and it is precisely the kind of dynamic that he wants to bring into his own family life. After the difficult years through the coronavirus pandemic, Kate organised the Royal Carols. Together at Christmas in 2021, an event designed to offer thanks and bring hope and a little Christmas spirit. She surprised everyone with her own performance. Dazzling the public, she played the piano alongside singer-songwriter Tom Walker. I think that Kate Middleton will be the people's princess. She won't be condescending to the ordinary people. She will be her own self. But I think there will be a lot of people who can identify with her and her background and where she's come from, and particularly as she succeeds in the job, I think they will warm to her. They will see that she hasn't gone out in order to get a prince. They'll see that it's been a mutually arrived-at relationship. And they will recognise that, for once, this is a love match. Unlike the marriage of Prince William's parents, these people are in love with each other. I think she's wanting to establish a unique identity for herself in the British royal family. She's the future queen, and she's going to be her own type of future queen, supported by William, and really, I think, leading the monarchy forward. William and Kate, to me, are about the future. I don't like to look back and compare her to Diana because she is her own woman, and William and Kate, I think, have their own idea of what they want to do, and I think you see these two people moving forward and taking the monarchy forward. And if there is one word which sums up their relationship, I think it's one of respect. Of course love is there, it's got to be there, but without respect, it won't work. I say in my book that modernisation is a very hard word to use in the context of the royal family because the royal family is built on history and tradition and protocol, but actually in William and Kate, you see a future king and queen who are driving it forward and taking it on to the next step. Making her own mark, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, has transformed from being one of the people into the future queen.