{"id":296,"date":"2026-05-22T12:56:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thetiesthatbind\/?p=296"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:56:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:56:44","slug":"queen-camilla-thought-kate-middleton-was-too-common-for-prince-william-author-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thetiesthatbind\/2026\/05\/queen-camilla-thought-kate-middleton-was-too-common-for-prince-william-author-claims.html","title":{"rendered":"Queen Camilla Thought Kate Middleton Was \u2018Too Common\u2019 For Prince William, Author Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lorna Roberts \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new royal biography reveals details about the reportedly tense early relationship between Queen Camilla and Catherine, Princess of Wales. The book claims that Camilla once thought Kate Middleton was \u201ctoo common\u201d to marry a future king.<\/p>\n

These claims come from royal author Christopher Andersen in his new book Kate!<\/em>, which looks at Kate\u2019s journey from a middle-class background to becoming the wife of William, Prince of Wales, and future queen consort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, Camilla was one of Kate\u2019s fiercest critics,\u201d Andersen told Fox News Digital<\/em>. \u201cShe did not think she was up to snuff, as it were. She was below the salt. She had no aristocratic blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andersen says Camilla saw royal marriage as a matter of tradition and status. \u201cCamilla always saw herself as the mistress of a king, not a queen,\u201d he said. \u201cShe was very cognizant of the fact that a future king of England should have, she believed, a marriage to a royal personage, or at least a British aristocrat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate, on the other hand, had a different upbringing. She grew up near Berkshire, England, as the daughter of a former airline pilot and a flight attendant who later started a successful business. She met Prince William at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and after several years of dating, they married in 2011.<\/p>\n

Andersen said Camilla had trouble accepting Kate\u2019s \u201cworking-class roots,\u201d especially when compared to her own aristocratic family. He wrote that Camilla had \u201clong lobbied on behalf of the highborn beauties with hyphenated names\u201d who surrounded William during his younger years.<\/p>\n

The author also said the British press made things harder for Kate during her long relationship with William.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople forget the \u2018Waity Katie\u2019 10-year period,\u201d Andersen said. \u201cThe palace didn\u2019t really want her. People like Camilla didn\u2019t want her because they felt that she was too common to be the wife of a future king.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andersen says that even Kate\u2019s mother, Carole Middleton, was criticized by royal insiders and tabloids, who called her overly ambitious. Camilla reportedly saw her with suspicion and worried she was \u201ca schemer.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the more surprising claims in the book is about Kate\u2019s name. Andersen said Camilla once suggested that Kate change the spelling of her formal name from \u201cCatherine\u201d to \u201cKatherine\u201d so it would not clash with the royal monograms used by King Charles and Camilla. William was reportedly very upset about the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe request was nothing less than \u2018insulting,\u2019\u201d Andersen wrote, saying the prince quickly rejected the suggestion.<\/p>\n

Still, Andersen said Camilla\u2019s feelings changed over time as Kate became one of the most admired members of the royal family.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe somehow, as the Brits like to say, never put a foot wrong,\u201d Andersen explained. \u201cToday, as a result, she\u2019s pretty much universally admired.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author also said that both women became closer after their cancer battles in 2024, when both Kate and Charles III were diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCamilla recognizes that Kate is really the one who can make Charles laugh,\u201d Andersen said. \u201cThey\u2019re very, very close. And Camilla is grateful for all that Kate has done to lift her husband\u2019s spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, Andersen believes there is still competition behind palace walls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is really what makes the whole show,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir staffs are constantly feeding information to the press, constantly trying to grab the spotlight for their particular royal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new royal biography reveals details about the reportedly tense early relationship between Queen Camilla and Catherine, Princess of Wales. The book claims that Camilla once thought Kate Middleton was \u201ctoo common\u201d to marry a future king. These claims come from royal author Christopher Andersen in his new book Kate!, which looks at Kate\u2019s journey…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nQueen Camilla Thought Kate Middleton Was \u2018Too Common\u2019 For Prince William, Author Claims<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Author claims Queen Camilla once opposed Prince William marrying Kate Middleton, believing the future princess was \u201ctoo common.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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