What’s with the weird press war between Prince Charles and Carole Middleton?

What’s with the weird press war between Prince Charles and Carole Middleton?

It seems like the press (specifically the Daily Mail) has had an interesting relationship with the Cambridges lately. There has been a slew of press revolving around the unholy quadrangle of Prince Charles, Carole Middleton, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. This is following elephant-gate on the final day of William’s tour of China, and word that the housekeeper and gardener wife/husband team that was employed at Anmer Hall for five months quit because things at Anmer were “too middle class” (ie. they didn’t like being bossed around by Carole).

Shots were first fired back at the beginning of February when the Daily Mail ran a piece about how Charles doesn’t like the Middletons and how strained the relationship between he and William is.

Then things ramped up when the Daily Mail claimed Charles is complaining to friends that he never gets to see Prince George because of Carole and her controlling behavior (because I guess the first article didn’t catch William’s attention?):

    “So vexed is Charles about the so-called ‘March of the Middletons’ that he has complained to friends: ‘They never let me see my grandson.’
    “Adds a source: ‘Carole has rather taken over, dictating when George naps, when and what he eats. All in all, behaving like she’s Queen Carole.’”

Then Richard Kay wrote a rebuttal for the DM claiming it is not Carole that is preventing Charles from seeing George, but rather William and his strained relationship with his father. In fact, the article praises Carole, calling her “a formidable, self-made woman of independence” who wouldn’t dream of imposing herself on the Camrbidges at Anmer Hall, so of course she needs her own house right near by. It seems like as soon as the above article was posted, Carole’s “friends” (Carole herself?) immediately ran to Kay to set the record straight:

    “For his part, Prince Charles has always recognised that the pull on Kate by her mother would be strong. As an aide puts it: ‘Of course, he acknowledges that the mother-daughter thing is natural, and he’s aware it’s likely to be just the same when the new baby arrives.’ […]
    “But is Carole Middleton really the only issue here? Friends of hers say it’s unfair to put the blame on her for Charles seeing so little of his grandson. […]
    “‘All Carole has ever wanted was to give as much guidance and help to Kate and George as any other grandmother,’ says a family friend. ‘She’ll be horrified to learn that William’s father is apparently upset because he is not seeing enough of George. She would never want that.’ […]
    “[Regarding the relationship between Charles and William] ‘Part of William is a rebel who just doesn’t want to be another version of his father, or have a stuffy, traditional royal role,’ says a family friend. ‘It’s one of the reasons why he’s taken the Air Ambulance job.
    “‘I’m convinced he wants to show Charles that he can be not only a royal, but also a ‘Middleton’. His message is that he’s part of their family — a family that gave him a proper home life.'”

Then the DM kind of shaded Carole by calling her the help, claiming she and her husband, Michael Middleton, are taking over housekeeper/gardener duties. The comments about Carole taking control of Anmer could either be shade or praise, depending on how one wants to see it. I choose to see it as saying Carole is too controlling and thinks she owns the place, and also that Kate is completely helpless and can’t even get her own house ready for the new baby:

    “A family friend tells me: ‘When George arrived, Kate and William moved into Kate’s parents’ house. This time the Middletons are moving in to Anmer with William and Kate.
    “There is plenty of space and Kate really wants her mother around. At the moment Carole is getting everything in place because the baby is due around April 25.’ […]
    “Another source added: ‘William is very happy to sit back and let Carole take up the reins. She is ensuring that Anmer runs like clockwork. The nursery and staff will be an oasis of calm and evenings will be sacrosanct for relaxation, sleep and recovery.’”

I mean, we all know the Daily Mail was the go-to Middleton paper during the dating years, but for some reason Charles and Carole have been waging a press war via the Daily Mail. Is William not taking Charles’ calls or something? Maybe they’ll patch things up at the Commonwealth Service.

PS. “[Carole] is ensuring that Anmer runs like clockwork.” This right here is why the housekeeper and gardener quit.


57 thoughts on “What’s with the weird press war between Prince Charles and Carole Middleton?

  1. Thanks for the post KMR, it’s appreciated.

    I feel like there’s a picture here, but I (we) can’t see the image for the paint, you know? Williams POV seems to be absent, no one seems to be speaking for him. And what is Jason the PR guy making of all this? There was a suspicious dearth of William the Future Statesman articles after the tour. They’re usually automatic. There has been a shift between the Cambridges and the press, but no one will come right out and say what’s happened. Frustrating.

    1. My guess is Wills had another temper tantrum about pictures of Kate leaving the Goring, so he’s pouting now and won’t let Jason get out any press releases. Honestly, did Jason bring his thermometer so he can take William’s emotional temperature hourly?

      1. “did Jason bring his thermometer so he can take William’s emotional temperature hourly?”

        LOL

    2. It is interesting that supposedly Charles blames Carole for not getting to see George, when really Charles should be upset with William as it’s William’s son and William’s decision not to let his son see his grandfather.

  2. Based on the series of pictures of W&K and PC&C greeting each other today, Kate was all kissey, William was his usual stoic, jaw clamping self, Charles had what I considered a fake smile on and as soon as the greetings were done the stone faces reappeared. Yeah, there’s something going on and it’s going to be interesting to see how it all falls out.

    1. I saw the same pictures, they all look so uncomfortable. I wonder if Carole and Mike snuck in the back door? They have been at almost every event that W&K have attended lately.

    2. This is so undignified for HM BRF. The stain on the RF is not even from a family member but IN-LAWS…. this so wrong and disrespectful to the monarchy BRF.

      Prince George, new baby, belongs to the RF and should be raised by the royals – HM, POW monarch in training (IF Will don’t step aside) without interference. PoW Lady Di never removed her boys from the royals and was very respectful of their role and duty, but did show the boys the way of life of their subjects and how the other side lives.

      And yes PoW Di, had her boys grow up with her family on holidays together, etc., with both Princes; but the Spencers did not get into the limelight and knew their places inspite of being considered (by some) to be from a family that is more English, regal and royalty than even the Windsors.

    3. Try looking for a video of this. I recall looking at a bunch of pictures of Kate then hating. Then I saw the video and she doesn’t seem that bad. Not amazing, but definitely not terrible.

  3. Considering Charles pays all of the Cambridge’s bills plus helped with the remodel of KP and Anmer, it’s pretty petty of W&K to keep George from him. Also, I don’t know if this is all of Carole’s doing or if Kate is utterly incapable of taking care of things herself without her mother holding her hand, my guess is it’s a bit of both. Kate’s insecure, William doesn’t want to deal with any of it and Carole will jump at the first chance to be mistress of the manor. I kind of feel for Michael, with a strong wife and weak daughter, there goes his relaxing weekends in front of the telly, instead he’ll out mowing the back 40.

    1. Good points Lauri! Love the mental pic of Mike sweating it up. I’d say poor goon, but he needs to buy a cabin, lock the door and go fishing.

    2. Those are great points, especially about Charles paying for their lifestyle and this is how they repay him. Whether it’s just that Carole and Kate are exceptionally close or whether Kate is overly dependent on her mom, it makes it look like Kate is in over her head. If Kate ever makes it to the throne what kind of Queen will she be?

      1. Considering Charles is paying the bills then Kate and William should be giving him open access to George. Charles is not just a grandfather, he’s the bill payer and most importantly he is first in line to the throne, there are things that Charles will need to teach George (how to be a king in waiting) which social climber Carole will never have any idea about.
        Don’t bite the hand that feeds you Kate!
        As for the story that Ma Middleton wants a house near by? Does she want one on the Sandringham estate? Or does she have her eye on the big house? *eye roll!*

          1. That would certainly teach W&K a thing or two. Cut them off and make them pay their own way for a bit, W&K would come crawling back in no time.

    3. lol you’re killing it right now Lauri, love this line, “there goes [Michael’s] relaxing weekends in front of the telly, instead he’ll out mowing the back 40”

  4. Wow, and I thought soap operas were dead. This could replace the long missed All My Children and One Life to Live on American television.
    Kate and Carole. What a team! Mum is the controlling one who wanted nothing but a better station in life. Her daughter became PW’s roomie in college and the stage was set for a Middleton marriage between Carole’s pliable daughter and William, the young man looking for a mum and a way out of his stuffy future.
    It is amazing to me that Kate needs her Mum so nearby after the birth of Baby Two. For goodness sake, every daughter counts on her Mum — after the birth of a baby, especially. But, Kate does seem totally unable to do anything for herself. Truly, won’t PW eventually tire of that?

    1. “Truly, won’t PW eventually tire of that?”

      I wonder if William also needs Carole. Like, he has such a mommy complex that maybe he needs Carole for some weird reason the same way Kate does. Just a thought.

    2. Jenny, “Her daughter became PW’s roomie in college…” Not to be too picky, but this sentence implies that it was just happenstance that Kate was Will’s roommate in college. I think Carole began planning Kate’s future the day Diana gave birth to a boy just 6 months after Kate was born. Of course Carole couldn’t force Will to like Kate, but she made sure Kate went to Chile in the same program as Will, went to the same college and had the same major as Will. And she probably directed Kate in “how to get and keep the attention of a rich guy.” I believe Carole doesn’t know any other way to operate, except to direct. And Kate doesn’t know any other way to respond, except to be directed.

      1. It started earlier, with the fake bullying stories at Downe House, causing the successful switch to Marlborough (sister school of Eton). EVERYONE wanted in to Marlborough, huge spike in applications the year she would have applied. She gets in a year after the big application rush, complete with stories of the wealthy-but-bullied middle class girl.

        If the families at Downe had been so terrible to wealthy middle class “upstarts”, why send Pippa there? That’s where the bullying claims always fall apart. You claim they bullied and abused your elder daughter, so you send the younger one to the same awful place?

      2. On the surface, it just sounds like a romantic story of two friends falling in love. But when you start to dig a bit, there are way too many times that Kate was in place to “accidentally” cross paths with Will to be purely coincidence.

        1. (Begin sugar mode) Why, why, why must you read something that is not there into this epic love story. It was FATE. FATE brought them together. They were meant to be, their love is one that will be written about for centuries to come. (end sugar mode)

          I need to lay down now, my head is whirling from the rush.

          1. LOL! But they are so perfect for each other, their perfect wedding and their perfect love is never ending! Did I mention that they are perfect?

      3. I agree. Everyone has good points, so here is mine. I think there’s more to the Will & Charles situation than a mere spat. Will loves Charles deeply especially after the loss of his beloved mother, Diana. Also, setting aside the Parker-Bowles issues and conflicts. Will on reliable information from QE II has had Di’s death investigation re-opened. Forensic reports and such are saying tampering of evidence occurred on senior royal orders. Di her self named her murderer. There is probable a link to Charles and Will is holding him accountable and distant himself and family from him. I GUARANTEE as King or before William will find out the whole truth. If Charles is involved he can tell Will good-bye FOREVER!

  5. PW is rubbish and inept. Mike is henpecked. Kate is dodo brained. So that rules them out, doesn’t it?

    Whilst everyone else fights about this and that, they quietly go about their lives uninterrupted with all their hearts’ desires.

    Everybody else ruins their reputations with this unseemly dirty laundry airing whilst they remain the perpetual victims forever at the mercy of everyone else. They win.

    1. Dear Acquitaine,

      I do believe you have gotten to the very crux of this (and other) situation. Due to the tragedy in Will’s early life, the press that hounds him and Kate, the BRF that just don’t understand all they want is to be “normal”, the public that actually expects something from them – they are well set up to be the “victim” all their lives. I do hope that someday they can pull themselves up and realize that no one makes you a victim unless you let them.

  6. Thanks for the post summing up. It’s been quite a week in terms of articles about their family dynamics. It is interesting to watch this unfold through the press. I’m sure the truth is perhaps somewhere in the middle. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to events with family who you are pretty sure have been leaking stories against you to the press.

    I’m curious about Pippa and James. Do they still live at home? I wonder what they think about how much their mom spends with Kate. Will Carole help Pippa out in the same way if/when she has her own kids?

    1. bookworm, I think Pippa and James share a flat that’s paid for by the parents. So they’re kind of living at home.

      1. Pippa and James enjoy drinking the milk from sissy’s cow. The only reason Pippa got a book deal and now NBC is the royal connection. James got business loans from Mike, but also private backers for Bompf that a youngish guy would have to struggle to get. They like the cow.

        1. Sugar: I’ve a feeling that most of the backing for James’ little business was furnished by Uncle Gary. A suspicion also arises for the financing of Party Pieces (most business professionals would agree that an online party supplier doesn’t bring in the kind of money that the Middletons have been splashing around). Something is off with this entire family, and it’s starting to smell.

          1. Let’s never rule out the possibility that they get free stuff, steep discounts and special treatment because their name brings publicity. Besides, Carole shares Kate’s wardrobe, all those fabulous stuff….paid by Charles.

          2. I would love to see their books. I can see them being comfortably off but not wealthy enough to afford the house, clothes, etc. before the ring went on. I speculate that Carole had people who want royal access put up $ while Kate was still The Girlfriend, and now will be (or are like Mustique) getting press from Kate supporting their clothes, business. QE doesn’t realize the BRF got played by CM.

      2. I would be curious to know how Carole would be if one of her children didn’t need her and were fully independent. Would she be okay with that? Do you think she is the type of person to encourage her children to remain dependent on her? She certainly doesn’t seem like she is pushing them out of the nest.

        1. I remember reading that Pippa said Carole enjoys it most when they are all home together. So my guess is that she would not welcome a truly independent child (or grandchild).

        2. There are some mothers who want their children to be constantly dependent on them and get aggressive when their children are in any way independent and want their own lives. It wouldn’t take much to convince me Carole is one of those mothers.

    2. I remember Carole complaining/whining that all the attention just wasn’t fair, while W&K were dating, because she had two other children to worry about. It seems to me that Pippa is more independent and self possessed than Kate and will be able to handle her life just fine. I do wonder though how this constant attention on Kate, Will and George must make Pippa and James feel? After all their significant others weren’t invited to Mustique or Christmas services, et al.

      1. Hah! Does Ma Middleton even remember she has two other children? What happens when Pippa is pregnant and needs her Mum? Will Carole be able to tear herself away from Kate. Or from her new job as housekeeper at Amner?

      2. Pippa and James probably feel hurt by it, but then feel a bit better knowing they get lots of perks because of it. So maybe it’s worth it to them?

        1. But the way they get those perks, by bathing in that spotlight, also points out all of their flaws and failures. We always hear about Pippa getting fired or James’ businesses tanking. I’m sure they don’t care for that part of it.

    3. “Will Carole help Pippa out in the same way if/when she has her own kids?”

      I highly doubt it. Sure, Carole would care about her new grandkids, but as soon as the royal ones need her she’d ditch Pippa’s kids in a heartbeat.

    4. btw, Michael’s grand mother or something were rich because of some wool business. That’s where the trust fund for Kate, Pippa, and James’ education came from. It’s a possibility that the mone left in that has been greatly diminished, but still. I don’t think they are as rich as you guys think they are. They don’t appear very extravagant to me

  7. “Evenings will be sacrosanct for relaxation, sleep, and recovery.” Relaxation! Recovery! Relaxation and recovery from what? A grueling day of waving every couple months?

    1. Yeah, that one didn’t make sense to me either. I mean, if they mean relaxation and recovery from the birth, then okay maybe for the first few days, but then why is it only in the evening? Weird.

    2. To me that reads like there is no place for children in that scenario. How many parents with young children say that their evenings are filled with “relaxation, sleep and recovery?” I understand that they have nannies, but even still.

    3. Alludes to all of William’s talk about how loud the baby is, and how he rarely has a positive thing to say about him. Babies dumped on Nanny Maria and Carole, Kate Middleton goes off to tend the ManChild the few times they share the same roof. Sounds like a “children should be seen and not heard” mentality.

      Many speculated that once children arrived, it would disrupt this relationship even further. William has to be the center of attention of the Middleton clan or he walks. When he is there, they have to put all effort into keeping him there. That means no screaming babies or tantrum-filled toddlers.

      1. You have a good point there… the dynamics of their living arrangement suggests that William and Kate have no prolonged time alone together. Sooner or later, her parents are in the picture. When William is around, it must be a concerted family effort to keep him home. I can’t fathom how the Middletons think that this arrangement is sustainable. It means cocooning themselves for the purposes of serving William, losing friends and family in the process, and developing enough cheek to withstand the constant scrutiny and ridicule that they must be accustomed to by now. Heavens, what a price to pay! William must have been emotionally blackmailed into this arrangement for him to have done “the deal.”

  8. Just happened upon this website. With all the hoopla over Kate, it’s nice to see that not everyone is in awe of her. I am going to have fun going through these posts. I’ve always believed, as do so many others, that Carole Middleton orchestrated this entire situation between Prince William and Kate. Sad that he was trapped. Wonder if he will be able to extricate himself.

    1. Hi mary elizabeth!! It’s always great to get new posters, both like-minded and not, but you’re not going to find a ton of Kate sugars here.

      Re William and Kate: I kind of think they will end up staying together forever and be miserable the entire time, but not willing to change the situation. Kate (and Carole) of course won’t want to give up her meal ticket, and William is too stubborn to admit he made a mistake in marrying Kate.

  9. KMR: Thank you for a nice welcome to your site. I’m sorry for not posting sooner.
    A friend introduced me to Kate Middleton Review and I’m loving it! Thanks to all for such enjoyable posts and thanks to KMR for wonderful subjects for all to peruse. This is a ton of work, I am sure.

    As for William being too stubborn to admit that he made a mistake in marrying Kate: Perhaps, with age comes wisdom and he will be able to recognize a mistake. Then again, perhaps he and Kate really are made for one another and they will remain a happy couple. Only time will tell.
    I will say it’s healthy to have a different way to look at Kate, who is generally portrayed in the media as picture perfect. Looking forward to reading more!

  10. I agree. Everyone has good points, so here is mine. I think there’s more to the Will & Charles situation than a mere spat. Will loves Charles deeply especially after the loss of his beloved mother, Diana. Also, setting aside the Parker-Bowles issues and conflicts. Will on reliable information from QE II has had Di’s death investigation re-opened. Forensic reports and such are saying tampering of evidence occurred on senior royal orders. Di her self named her murderer. There is probable a link to Charles and Will is holding him accountable and distant himself and family from him. I GUARANTEE as King or before William will find out the whole truth. If Charles is involved he can tell Will good-bye FOREVER!

  11. La saitul dumneavoastra am aflat doar pareri avizate. Va admir pentru modul in care redactati informatia in pagina aceasta.

  12. Kate is stronger than most people think. She is plain lazy annd uses Carole to do almost everything she doesn’t want to do.

    Afterall, someone has to sympathize and baby Willy in and out of bed. Kate needed Carole to take on another kid so Willy applied and was accepted.

    As for the baby, Willy does love him and is the better parent than Kate.

    Nice site!

    1. Hi Lara!

      I think Kate has it in her to be a lot stronger if she weren’t so lazy. Kate showed she has an attack attitude (when she was keeping women from Will in the clubs), and clearly was willing to set her mind to a goal and accomplish it (get the ring), but now she’s gotten so lazy and has been babied by her mother so much that she just doesn’t bother doing anything.

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