Why Kate Middleton Protects Her Privacy Around Prince Harry and William
While Kate Middleton has never spoken about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s strained relationship with the royal family, some British publications have run commentary from sources claiming she was a “peacekeeper” to Harry and her husband Prince William.
Endgame author Omid Scobie told ELLE.com in a recent interview that there’s more to the story, at least based on what he has heard. He explained, “I have questioned where Kate the peacekeeper stories come from because I’ve certainly not had anyone tell me anything of the sort. From my observations and the conversations I’ve had with people, Kate likes to stay out of that stuff, and we’ve certainly not seen any efforts from her made to smooth things over with any issues with herself and Meghan or with Harry or any kind of encouragement between the two brothers to talk. I don’t know where the peacekeeper stuff comes from.”
“I sometimes think that it’s just lazy journalism that of course this sweet and innocent wife would just want to get the men together to smooth things over because perhaps in a movie or a TV show, that’s how it would be portrayed,” he continued. “I sometimes think that we know so little about Kate and the people around her are so guarded that I think the press often puts onto her what we expect from her or what we think she would do in those situations, which in many ways is smart because that’s how it was like with the Queen.”
With the Queen in particular, “we knew so little about her, we knew her opinion on very little beyond horse racing. That was largely down to her being an extremely private person, but also the people around her respecting her privacy and receiving that palace protection at all times. I think Kate has that too, and she’s very fortunate compared to a lot of the other royal women who came in and were completely left to fend for themselves.”
“I often find that a lot of the coverage about Kate is either wishful thinking or more insinuating than anything,” he added. “I also find some of the coverage on her a bit disrespectful at times. Just any kind of infantilization of her, the kind of like, wow, doesn’t she sit well? And wow, she twirled her hair. It’s always very breathless and I think well, she’s a grown woman. She’s got a lot more to say and do and prove beyond that. But the comfort zone with the press seems to be how well she can flip a pancake.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.