Latest news with #PrinceCharles:ThePassionsandParadoxesofanImprobableLife
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside Kate Middleton's ‘Incredible Bond' With Sons Prince George and Prince Louis: ‘They're Mama's Boys'
King Charles III had a famously formal relationship with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. In her 2017 book Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, author Sally Bedell Smith wrote that the 76-year-old monarch's parents 'only saw their children after breakfast and tea time.' His first wife, Princess Diana, broke the cycle, insisting on forging a new parenting path before her untimely death in 1997. 'I remember [her] telling me that she wanted her [sons Prince William, 42, and Prince Harry, 40] to be brought up in a way no other royal princes had been,' former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond wrote in The i Paper in December. 'And she did her best to give them an idea of what life beyond the palace walls is like,' from secret trips to McDonald's to clandestine vacations to Disney World. William and his wife, Princess Kate, she added, 'have gone further.' While they can't change the fact that their kids, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, 'have been born into an extraordinary destiny,' the former royal correspondent explained, 'they've also given them a taste of a more ordinary existence.' From doing school runs to attending sports practices to spending quality time 'outside in the countryside [when] we're all filthy dirty' — as the Princess of Wales, 43, recounted to the 'Happy Mum, Happy Baby' podcast — 'it's all helped Kate forge an incredible bond with her children,' notes a royals source, adding that she, George and Louis have that 'classic mother-son' connection. 'They're mama's boys, but not in the sense that they cling to her — they're both very independent. They just adore Kate and want her approval!' To George and Louis, she's not a future queen — she's simply their mum. 'Being a good mother is what's most important to Kate, and she works at it,' says the source, calling her parenting style 'hands-on' and 'playful, but firm.' 'Kate prioritizes being present, engaged. She cooks with them, does silly dances with them — her 'Little Grape' and her 'Lou-Bug.'' The royal's instincts have long been to reenforce the values her middle-class parents, Carole, 70, and Michael Middleton, 75, instilled in her growing up in rural Bucklebury, England. Instead of pomp and circumstance, she focuses on 'the simple things,' like 'watching a fire on a really rainy day ... going for a walk together,' Kate shared on the aforementioned podcast, noting 'it totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures.' Plenty of pressure already awaits. To mitigate that, the Waleses have taken a gentler approach to royal duties for their kids, electing to 'wait a little bit longer,' William told Sky News in November, explaining, 'They're at school and I think that takes priority over everything else.' All three currently attend the $30,000-a-year coed Lambrook School near their home on the Windsor Castle estate. But in a matter of months, George will be moving on to secondary school, which has sparked debate. Recent U.K. media reports claim Kate wants to break with royal tradition by giving George and his siblings a more 'normal' education at a coed institution, British royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital in April — perhaps Marlborough College, her alma mater. William, however, reportedly wants his heir at Eton College, the all-boys boarding school where he and Harry were educated. Kate, Hilary claimed, would prefer the children remain together and that George 'live at home versus a boarding school.' Supporting George and Louis' bond with each other is a priority, too. 'Kate wants to make sure George and Louis stay connected,' says the source, 'un-like William and Harry,' who've been estranged for years amid deep-rooted issues that began festering decades ago, the Duke of Sussex alleged in his 2023 memoir, Spare. 'No one wants the same fate for Kate's boys.' She's also working to ensure her sons continue to see her as a guiding force. 'All boys go through a stage of pulling away from their mom, so she's taking advantage of every second she has with them now,' says the source, 'She's extremely proud of George and Louis and will continue raising them to be respectful and in- dependent — that's her focus.'
The Independent
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
King Charles III's fairytale isn't the one we remember as marriage to Camilla reaches 20-year mark
. King Charles III and Queen Camilla, whose paths first crossed over 50 years ago, celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. Their journey to this milestone was fraught with challenges: interfering families, previous marriages, and relentless public scrutiny. For years, their relationship remained largely obscured, overshadowed by the "fairytale" of Princess Diana. As royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, notes, "We missed the love story, there's no doubt about it. But in fairness, it was not something that was very visible." The road between the time they met in the 1970s and their marriage on April 9, 2005, was rocky. Charles, then a young naval officer, fell in love but was soon sent to sea for eight months. While he was away, Camilla accepted the proposal of a dashing cavalry officer. But they remained friends, even as Charles' courtship and marriage to Lady Diana Spencer played out before an adoring nation in 1981. And they were more than friends when both of their marriages crumbled in the mid-1990s. Many blamed Camilla for the extramarital affair that torpedoed his marriage to Diana, the glamorous young mother of Princes William and Harry who was adored for her style and the human touch she brought to her charity work. That resentment flared when 'the People's Princess' died in a Paris car crash in 1997, five years after her messy, public split from Charles. The crash thrust Camilla back into the shadows. Over time, she was slowly reintroduced to the public, starting with a 1999 event where she and Charles made their first public appearance as a couple. There were meetings with Queen Elizabeth II, as well as with William and Harry. Still, there were questions. Should a divorced man be king? Could Camilla ever be queen? But eventually the time was right. A quiet wedding The union came on April 9, 2005, in a modest civil ceremony in Windsor. Instead of the pageantry that marked Charles' wedding to Diana — an extravaganza watched by millions around the world — there was a union between 50-something divorcees. The bride wore a cream silk chiffon dress and matching coat, with a lace-trimmed straw hat. The groom wore a black tailcoat and gray tie. William and Harry attended, as did Camilla's two children. In total, there were 30 guests. A blessing ceremony at the castle's St. George's Chapel later that day was attended by 800 people, including the groom's parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. There were a few boos from the crowd — presumably from Diana fans — but mostly cheers. One banner read: 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' There were waves, but no kiss. A lasting union Their union has now lasted five years longer than Charles' marriage to Diana and shows no signs of faltering. Julie Gottman, co-founder of The Gottman Institute, which studies relationships, said Charles and Camilla appear to embody many of the characteristics needed for a strong marriage: trust, commitment and a sense of shared purpose. 'Before anything, they had a friendship,' she said. 'And when you have a relationship in which friendship is the foundation, you're much more likely to really succeed in marriage and a committed relationship because that foundation is already there.' The public mood has continued to soften in the years since Charles married the woman then known as Camilla Parker Bowles. Camilla, 77, has taken on roles at almost 100 charities, championing issues that range from promoting literacy to supporting victims of domestic violence and fighting child sexual exploitation. Some of her causes pushed the boundaries of the royal family, known for supporting worthy but non-controversial charities. For the public, it seemed as if she was in touch with the modern world. Her style is down to earth. Her sense of humour is self-deprecating. Just like Charles, she loves dogs and horses. More to the point, she seems to make the king happy. Strength and stay George Gross, a royal historian at King's College London, said the relationship reminds him of that between Charles' parents. Elizabeth described Philip as her ' strength and stay'' in her Golden Wedding anniversary speech, recognieing his unwavering support and partnership throughout their 70-year marriage and her long reign. 'I think they have managed to find this way of making it work, and I do think feeding off each other in this strength of resilience, because I think you have to be resilient and if you count the number of, in fact it's very difficult to count, the number of engagements they do every year multiplied by those 20 years of marriage, it's thousands,' Gross said. The relationship has been further challenged by Charles' cancer diagnosis. The king briefly cancelled his public engagements for more than two months last year after revealing that he was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. Camilla stepped lightly into the void, increasing her appearances and taking on the all-important role of keeping the royal family in the public eye. Camilla has helped pick up the slack, demonstrating the importance of her rehabilitation to Charles and the royal family. And when Charles resumed his duties, Camilla took a few steps back. Not into the shadows, exactly, but far enough to make sure that the spotlight shined on Charles. That suggests something else about Camilla that helped make the relationship a success, Gottman said. 'My guess is that ... it wasn't about becoming queen,' she said. 'That wasn't it. What she wanted all along was to be his true love and mate.''
