Queen Elizabeth II, 96, has never been shy about her approval of Kate Middleton, 40, as a member of her royal family, spouse of her grandson Prince William, 39, and future Queen Consort. With her passion for philanthropy and elegant style, Middleton has long been admired by the Queen even before becoming the Duchess of Cambridge, as Princess Diana’s bestselling biographer Andrew Morton said to Ok! Magazine last week.
Morton, an author who often covers the royal family, just released a new book, The Queen. This coincides with the Platinum Jubilee next week, celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign. When speaking to Ok!, Morton revealed, “The thing about Kate is the Queen was impressed that she adored and loved William for himself, not for his title,” he said. Morton continued, “She spends a lot more time supporting and nurturing the relationship between William and Catherine than she did with Charles and Diana. It’s pretty clear she wasn’t going to make that mistake again.”
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While the rest of the royal household needed time to see it, the Queen, Morton said, could envision William and Kate “very much as the future [of the monarchy]” even in the beginning of their relationship. (The couple first met in 2001 as college students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and William once told The Telegraph that he was friends with his future wife for over a year before their bond blossomed into a romantic one).
Many fans might recall breakup rumors swirling around in early 2007 suggesting that William and Kate had broken up, and others reporting that they got back together later that year. Three years later in 2010, William officially proposed to Kate in 2010 while vacationing in Kenya, and they famously (and lavishly!) wed in 2011.
“Everything that happened in [Kate and William’s] relationship was quite strategic, quite thought through, after a period of time,” Morton added. “In the beginning, nobody in the royal household expected for a second that the university romance with Catherine and William would continue for any time after they graduated, like most college romances which disintegrate under intense scrutiny of jobs and geography.”
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Morton revealed in his new book that naturally, Queen Elizabeth was overjoyed after seeing her grandson and Kate tie the knot after having faith in them for so many years. “The queen was positively playful on the day of her grandson’s nuptials, ‘practically skipping,’ according to one observer, absolutely thrilled at the way the public had reacted to the royal newlyweds,” Morton wrote in an excerpt published by The Mirror. “She had a sense that the future of the royal family, her family, was so secure,” Morton went on. “The monarchy was once again held in admiration and affection by the masses.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge share 3 children: Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4 and are currently preparing for the Queen’s upcoming celebratory events. After finding out what the monarch’s thoughts on the couple were all along, maybe that saying is true— sometimes grandma really knows best!
