Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton have forged a very tight bond. When the now-Princess of Wales entered the royal family, Camilla supported her fully and even gave her some important advice before her wedding to Prince William. Meanwhile, Kate reportedly didn’t follow all the advice—but that appears not to have made a difference, as she and William allegedly are “stronger than ever” together.
The last few years have been incredibly challenging for the royal family. It began with Queen Elizabeth II’s passing in 2022. After the feud between Harry and Meghan went into another round with the Duke’s Spare book released this year, Kate and King Charles’ cancer diagnosis has been very tough on all of them.
Queen Camilla has been said to have been very supportive of Kate Middleton in this challenging time. But not too long ago, Kate also proved herself to be a person to rely on. Camilla seemed very nervous during a big royal event, and Kate decided to act.
Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton have been seen as great partners for many years. When Kate was still dating William, the press slandered her, which Camilla knew everything about, considering what she had to go through when her and Charles’ affair became public.
Queen Camilla gave Kate Middleton advice before royal wedding
Therefore, it was probably not surprising that Camilla wanted to give Kate some ideas about royal life at an early stage.
Before her wedding to William, the now-queen brought Kate to lunch, where Camilla is said to have given Kate some advice for what was to come.
“If I can give you one bit of advice,” a person dining next to them,” he overheard Queen Camilla saying.
“They were all getting on very well and they clearly hadn’t asked for an out-of-the-way table and nor did they attempt to lower their voices,” the person told the Daily Mail.
“There was one moment which was clearly meant to be amusing when Kate said, ‘What happens if William doesn’t turn up?’”
The person at the lunch added that there were several “hand-holding” occasions, a sign that Kate and Camilla were getting along very well.
Camilla is said to have given Kate Middleton a very personal gift for the wedding present: a bracelet with the engraved letters Cs on either side of the charm. It’s not a wild guess that they stand for “Catherine” and “Camilla.”
“Camilla had confided to Kate the secret of hanging on to a busy prince”
As per Yahoo, Kate has worn it for several years when appearing at the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
In his royal biography, Battle of Brothers, author Robert Lacey stated that Kate struggled to take advice from her stepmother-in-law.
Camilla wanted to ensure that Kate knew what she had to do to make her marriage with William work. It was a subtle warning to Kate and a guide regarding how she’d make a successful royal career with her future husband, William.
“Camilla had confided to Kate the secret of hanging on to a busy prince: fit your timetable – well, basically your whole life – around his,” Lacey wrote in Battle of Brothers.
Over the years, the press has slandered both Camilla and Kate. However, the queen and future queen appear to have several other similarities.
GB News host Isabel Webster said that Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton have similar ways of supporting their husbands. At the same time, royal expert and biographer Angela Levin explained that Queen Camilla has an instinct for great timing.
“I wrote her [Camilla’s] biography, and she’s got this very strong instinct of knowing what is right at the right moment,” Levin said on GB News program Breakfast earlier this year.
Striking similarities between Queen Camilla & Kate Middleton
“The fact that she could take all the nastiness when they separated from Diana, that now she knows exactly what King Charles needs.”
Levin added, “She’s been there so solidly with the work and the engagements when you saw the picture of their 19th wedding anniversary that came out yesterday, you can see that they are so interactive together. I think that feeling you are loved is just as important as having a pill.”
Isabel Webster continued by explaining how much Camilla and Kate are alike.
“I think there’s a lot of similarities between the Queen and the Princess of Wales. I think they’re both such great partners for the King and Prince William, just temperamentally as well,” she said.
“They’re very good in the background at supporting the leading man, and they’re sort of quite stoical and I can see why actually both of them have chosen those leading ladies.”
Levin added: “Which has obviously helped William get on better with his father. Camilla helped Catherine know what to do when she joined the Royal Family; she knew what the protocol was and how to help her. Catherine was very grateful, unlike Meghan, who she tried to help as well and was not interested.”
Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton have often been on royal duty together. However, one of the more serious and emotional engagements they attend together is the yearly Remembrance Sunday service.
Kate Middleton’s ‘conserned’ gesture to ‘anxious’ Queen Camilla
In 2022, the two appeared alone on a balcony to watch the parade – and Kate stepped in to help Camilla make it through.
The Remembrance Sunday service in 2022 was exceptional as it was King Charles’s first as monarch. At 11 a.m., the chimes of Big Ben rang, followed by the firing of guns by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the nearby Horse Guards Parade. A two-minute silence followed – pictures from the event show King Charles appearing to hold back tears.
King Charles’ wreath design was said to be a tribute to Queen Elizabeth and his grandfather, George VI, featuring his racing colors. Moreover, Prince William also placed a wreath that incidentally looked to be the same as the one Charles used to lay down when he was the Prince of Wales—a title he held for more than six decades before ascending the throne.
Besides King Charles and William, several other members of the Royal Family attended the yearly Remembrance Day service.
Camilla and Kate stood on the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office building nearby to watch the proceedings.
But things were, as mentioned, different from in years past. Anyone who had watched the Remembrance Sunday parades before 2022 knows that three people usually stand on the balcony. That weekend, there were only two; Queen Elizabeth’s spot was empty.
Yet Camilla and Kate seemed to honor the late Queen’s legacy by leaving a space between them.
“Performed a subtle smile of acknowledgment”
The two royals wore black coats and hats and had three poppies, each pinned to their coats. The real reason why the royals wear more than one poppy has never been confirmed but Buckingham Palace. One theory is that it symbolizes the family members who fought and fell in the war.
Queen Elizabeth used to wear five poppies to the Remembrance Sunday service, which was believed to be in tribute to the five branches of the armed services, including the Army, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force.
Yet even as Camilla and Kate stood on the balcony, a worrying report at the time spoke of the pressure that had been placed on the shoulders of the queen came to light.
Speaking to the Mirror, body expert Judi James said Camilla’s Remembrance Day service was a ‘nerve-wracking’ occasion. She further claimed Kate made a polite but concerning gesture to an “anxious” queen.
It was her first time attending the service as then-Queen Consort for Camilla. Luckily, Kate was there to provide her with a sense of calm.
“Watching from the balcony Camilla combined signals of regal duty with some rituals of anxiety. Standing beside Kate, she performed a subtle smile of acknowledgment as her wreath was laid, and as she turned to Kate on their way from the balcony she threw a rather fond smile as Kate spoke to her,” James said at the time.
“Camilla smiled at Kate for a second time before nodding, again in a gesture of acknowledgment as she walked ahead of Kate in her new role of Queen. Otherwise, though, there were gestures of open anxiety from Camilla. She looked unable to keep totally still and spoke to Kate at one point but while looking straight ahead rather than turning to her.”
“A real warmth between the two of them”
Judi James added: “Kate turned her head quickly in a gesture of polite concern. Kate’s calm and very still body language was in contrast to Camilla’s nervous movements that showed the most in the fluttering of her hymn sheet as her two hands fiddled with it throughout.”
A year later, in 2023, Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton once again appeared side by side at the Remembrance Day service. The duo watched the proceedings from a Whitehall balcony, and Kate looked close to tears. They stood closer together than the year before.
Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton were also caught smiling against each other, and at the time, Daily Mail editor Charlotte Griffith said that they appeared to grow closer and closer.
“I think there was a real warmth between the two of them, and I didn’t actually notice it was missing until I now am seeing it more and more as the weeks go by,” she said last year, adding that the fact that they both will be having the title of “Queen” unites them.
“They’re in a business relationship and they’re going to have more and more balcony appearances like that, so they may as well get on and become close,” Griffith continued.
