This is Us Weekly’s cover story this week: “What Is Princess Kate Really Like?” I mean, we can absolutely judge her from her years in the public eye, her open behavior, her manipulated photos, her Hallmark-style videos and her creepy copykeening, but hey, I guess we need to be told what Kate is “really like” by royal reporters and James Middleton. Would you believe that Kate walks on water, that she’s truly the most glamorous AND the most humble person ever? No, no one believes that. It does bring up an interesting point though – where is Kate? No one will say. Some highlights from Us Weekly:
James Middleton on Kate: “Catherine is very much on a public stage and I’m in awe of a lot of the things she does. I think the thing I’m most proud of is that she’s still the same person that I grew up with.”
The perfect pupil: In high school at Marlborough College in Wiltshire, Kate made friends easily and did well in her classes. “Contemporaries recall her as the perfect pupil, listening to her Walkman, watching… Friends and indulging in Marmite sandwiches,” Robert Jobson writes.
Unpretentious Kate! A former boss at one of Kate’s first jobs (she was an assistant buyer at the clothing brand Jigsaw in 2006) says the future queen was “down-to-earth and unpretentious,” adding, “She sat in the kitchen at lunchtime and chatted with everyone from the van drivers to the accounts girls. She wasn’t precious.”
Ordinary Kate: “She’s so ordinary!” British pop star Cheryl Cole said after their 2012 meeting. “I mean, obviously, she isn’t because she’s a princess, but she’s easy to get along with.” Former first lady Hillary Clinton called herself a “great admirer” of Kate’s, adding, “I think she carries herself with such dignity and poise in the public spotlight.” The Duchess of Edinburgh (William’s aunt Sophie and a close confidante of Kate’s) has said the princess is “very easy to get along with” and “very much the girl next door.”
Kate has been going to the gym: Jobson tells Us: “Kate is very sporty. She goes to the gym regularly and has been doing that during her convalescence, too.”
Kate has a silly sense of humor: Royal author Christopher Andersen says Kate also has a lighter side and can be quite cheeky. “William and Kate have always shared a goofy sense of humor,” Andersen tells Us. “It’s very Monty Python — they both crack up at things that are just plain silly.”
James Middleton on William & Kate: James agrees that Kate and William are “so clearly a good fit, just right for each other.” He tells Us that he admires their strong bond. “I wanted one day to experience what they were experiencing as a couple,” James says, adding that he’s come to view William as part of the family. “Having been brought up…with strong, capable women surrounding me, I’ve enjoyed having this older brother-type figure to bounce questions [off of]. I’m just incredibly grateful that [Kate and William] have been supportive of me over these years as well.”
“I’ve enjoyed having this older brother-type figure” – poor Terrible Moderately Wealthy James Matthews. Matthews even invested in his brother-in-law’s marshmallow business when the royals were horrified by it. Anyway, it’s interesting to watch all of this unfold in real time, the saccharine rewrite on Kate’s character and history. The only thing I believe here is that Kate really IS “ordinary.” That’s one of the big secrets – William wanted ordinary. He didn’t want special or charismatic or hard-working or dynamic. He wanted someone sort of dull and uninteresting.
Cover courtesy of Us Weekly, additional photos courtesy of Will Warr/Kensington Palace and Cover Images.
