Inside Prince William's Relationship With Carole And Michael Middleton

Throughout all the controversies that have plagued Prince William and Princess Catherine over the years, the latter's parents have remained dignified and notably media-shy figures. Princess Catherine's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, are humble folks from Berkshire who were thrust into the limelight when their daughter wed Prince William in 2011. Many parents worry about the sort of partner their children will bring home; in Carole and Michael's case, Catherine's beau brought with him a regal lineage that understandably carries some lofty baggage. "It is all Michael and Carole have ever wanted, for their children to be successful and happily married, preferably into well-to-do families," a friend told Vanity Fair for a "Meet the Parents" profile in 2011. "Never in their wildest dreams did they actually imagine one of them would marry into the royal family."

As the eventual king's in-laws and parents of the future queen consort, a role that Catherine may already be ready to take on, Carole and Michael have a daunting prospect ahead of them. But thankfully, they have their son-in-law at hand to help them adjust to the glare of the public spotlight. Here's a look inside Prince William's relationship with Carole and Michael Middleton.

When Prince William began dating Princess Catherine, much was made out of her parents' class background. Her mom, Carole Middleton, is from a working-class family and grew up in public housing, whereas her dad, Michael Middleton, hails from a well-off family. However, the Middletons became wealthy through their Party Pieces business and were able to give Catherine a traditional middle-class upbringing. Catherine grew up in a gorgeous childhood home and she and her siblings were all sent to private school.

But the class system has long been ingrained in British culture. Being middle-class, Catherine was deemed by some as an unsuitable match for upper-class William. Subsequently, her mom ended up being targeted by the press over her class background. In 2007, William and Catherine temporarily broke up and some blamed Carole for the split. At the time, there were claims that elitist folks within William's inner circle deemed Carole uncouth and uncultured. William was reportedly angered by these classist attacks on Carole. "William does not believe that anyone genuinely — or even remotely — connected with him would say such things and is horrified that these reports have emerged," a source told the Daily Mail. "He suspects there is a great deal of mischief-making going on ... and thinks it is extremely unfair and totally unnecessary, particularly for Kate and her family."

By 2009, Prince William and Princess Catherine's romance was back on, but Carole Middleton was apparently growing increasingly concerned by William not putting a ring on it. "Carole is concerned that Kate's life has come to a bit of a standstill," a source told royal expert Katie Nicholl at the time, per the Mirror. "She says Kate can't get on and do normal things because of the public interest in her."

According to Nicholl's book "Kate: The Future Queen," Middleton held a secret meeting with William to ask what his intentions were. "Perhaps it was the constant references to Waity Katie which got to William," Nicholl wrote. "Possibly it was the words of his soon-to-be mother-in-law which rang in the prince's ears. Before Christmas 2009, Carole Middleton had anxiously asked him when he planned to make an honest woman of her daughter." William, who was training with the RAF at the time, assured his future mother-in-law that he would marry Catherine once he had completed his military training. He stayed true to his promise and asked for Catherine's hand in marriage in November 2010.

Prince William sought the permission of Princess Catherine's father, Michael Middleton, after proposing to his future bride in 2010. It was, of course, an unconventional move, and a risky one at that. "Well, I was torn between asking Kate's dad first and then the realization that he might actually say 'no' dawned upon me," William told ITV News. "So I thought if I ask Kate first then he can't really say no. So I did it that way round. I managed to speak to Mike soon after it happened really, and then it sort of happened from there."

But William's proposal confession tested Middleton's loyalty to the royal family. The prince, of course, needed permission from his grandmother before he could tie the knot. After taking Middleton aside during a shooting weekend at Balmoral, William told his future father-in-law that Queen Elizabeth II had not yet been informed of the engagement. He therefore asked him to promise to keep the engagement a secret until Her Majesty had been informed. Middleton agreed and kept quiet about the joyful news, thus cementing his loyalty to The Firm.

When Prince William and Princess Catherine went public with their engagement in 2010, the former spoke of his fondness for Carole and Michael Middleton, who had already made him feel like a member of the family. "Kate's got a very, very close family," William told ITV News at the time. "I get on really well with them and I'm very lucky that they've been so supportive. Mike and Carole have been really loving and caring and really fun and have been really welcoming towards me, so I've felt really a part of the family."

In 2011, friends opened up to Vanity Fair about William's bond with the Middletons. One pal said that William loved going on vacation with his in-laws because of how relaxed they are, which must be in stark contrast to holidaying with his own family, who are beholden to royal protocol. "He's always saying how much fun Carole is," a friend explained. "She's very young in spirit and a great entertainer. One of her and Michael's favorite after-dinner party jokes is announcing the flights coming into Mustique in their best air-steward voices as they dine alfresco. It always has William in hysterics." This bit is a reference to Carole and Michael's past careers in the airline industry.

Having wed in 1980, Carole and Michael Middleton have been going strong for decades. In 2014, the couple celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary and Prince William enabled them to live like royals for the day. In a sweet gesture that's testament to his close bond with his in-laws, the Prince of Wales invited Carole and Michael to Sandringham and treated them to a tour of the palatial Anmer Hall. He also had the opportunity for some male bonding with Michael. "They had a barbecue on Saturday afternoon," a source told the Daily Mail. "Mike helped William, while the ladies entertained Prince George."

It's touching that Carole and Michael would want to spend their special day with William. The anniversary also fell days after William's 32nd birthday and Michael's 65th, with the joint celebration illustrating how tight-knit the prince and his in-laws had grown in the years after the Wales' royal wedding.

Prince William and King Charles III's relationship has been far from perfect. Infamously, Prince Harry claimed in his 2023 memoir, "Spare," that his elder brother felt tormented by Charles' relationship with Camilla, Queen Consort, whom William supposedly deemed an interloper. But William has enjoyed a great camaraderie with his father-in-law, Michael Middleton, sometimes to the detriment of the prince's relationship with his own dad. According to Katie Nicholls' "Meet the Parents" story for Vanity Fair, William sometimes likes to call his father-in-law "dad," which annoys Charles.

That's not the only issue Charles has had with the in-laws, however. In his 2018 book "Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles," author Tom Bower alleged that Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, was jealous of his son's bond with the Middletons. He apparently felt that his place as family patriarch was being usurped when William chose to spend Christmas with Catherine's family. "The distance between Highgrove and Norfolk isolated the Prince from his grandchildren, and allowed Kate's mother, Carole Middleton, to take charge ... Several of the Queen's courtiers picked up on this," Bower explained. "As a consequence, they decided to ignore Carole Middleton on social occasions." Witnessing how distraught the squabble had left her grandson, Queen Elizabeth II tried to remedy the situation by illustrating to the press that she had a good relationship with Carole.

One can't help but wonder what will happen to Princess Catherine's parents when she becomes queen consort. Carole and Michael Middleton will likely remain without titles when Prince William and Catherine ascend the throne, though they could be in line for honors reserved from commoners. The Middletons will also have to adjust to being parents of the queen, undoubtedly a daunting prospect for the middle-class Berkshire couple.

Carole and Michael needn't worry too much, however, as William has their back. The Prince of Wales has been slowly helping his in-laws prepare for being parents of Britain's future queen. According to the documentary "When the Middletons Met the Monarchy," which aired on the U.K.'s Channel 5 in 2021, William explained to his in-laws that their lives would indeed permanently change, but assured them that they could call him at any time if they needed advice. "For the royal family, they've been born and raised into it, they know the rules of engagement at big events like a royal wedding," explained relationship psychologist Anjula Mutanda. "For the Middleton family, I think it would only be fair to offer them guidance, support, and help about protocol. Otherwise the likelihood for making a mistake is pretty high."

Having been born into aristocratic privilege, Prince William never really knew what a normal childhood looked like. This resulted in immense trauma for the young prince. However, Carole and Michael Middleton have taught William how to be a regular parent to his three kids: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. He has thus been taking notes when watching the Middletons interact with their own children. "He admires the way that Carole and Michael brought up Catherine, Pippa and James [Kate's siblings] and that seems to be reflected in the way William is a down-to-earth father now," royal podcaster Rachael Andrews told OK! In 2022.

According to the 2015 documentary "Kate Middleton: Heir We Go Again," Carole, in particular, has been instrumental in shaping William's down-to-earth approach to parenting. "One of the things that enables William and Kate to be so ordinary is the presence of the Middletons in their lives," said royal author Katie Nicholl.

In a 2021 chat with Good Housekeeping, Carole gave some insight into her down-to-earth approach to her grandchildren, which she has evidently imparted to William and Catherine. "I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground," she enthused.

At the age of just 15, Prince William lost his mom, Princess Diana, in a car crash in Paris. William had to navigate his teens and 20s without a mother, but he has since found a maternal figure in his mother-in-law, Carole Middleton. Subsequently, royal insiders have remarked that Carole is essentially a surrogate mother to William. "William's in-laws have become like second parents," an insider told The Sun in 2021.

As royal biographer Angela Levin has explained, William loved his mother, but she often imposed adult responsibilities on him, confiding in the youngster about her personal problems and essentially parentifying him. Carole has thus provided some much needed maternal stability for the prince. "Carole relieved William of such burdens by accepting him for who he was rather than what he was," Levin told The Sun. "She made him feel secure, comfortable and protected and he didn't have to worry about what he said or be responsible for her emotions."

And whereas Diana often confided in her son, William is now able to confide in Carole. "He, of course, lost Diana when he was very young and probably looks up to Carole because he's lacked a mother figure for so much of his life," royal podcaster Rachael Andrews said in her aforementioned chat with OK! "With Carole and Michael he's got people to confide in who are removed from the monarchy."

Despite all the bad blood between Prince William and Prince Harry, the latter's exit from the royal family in 2020 must have been undoubtedly traumatic for the brothers. The princes lost their mom at incredibly young ages and are now estranged from each other. For William, Carole Middleton was on hand to offer advice amid the fallout of Harry's departure from royal life. Speaking to The Sun in 2020, royal author Phil Dampier revealed the extent of Middleton's influence on her son-in-law. Dampier argued that Middleton, being a savvy businesswoman who had a tough upbringing, was the ideal person to support William during this difficult time.

Moreover, sources told the outlet that William had sought comfort in his in-laws after so-called "Megxit," with Carole staying with the Prince and Princess of Wales in the period that followed. "William has been leaning on Carole and Michael a lot during Megxit," the source said. "Understandably William and Kate have been very upset by what has happened. Not only has William lost his brother as a working member of the family but he and Kate now have a much greater burden. Being able to talk to Carole and share his feelings has been a great help."

Though Carole and Michael Middleton are not titled, Prince William has done everything in his power to make the couple feel included at royal events. For instance, the Middletons attended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's nuptials in 2018. They also paid their respects at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral at Windsor Castle in 2022, accompanying V.I.P. guests and senior royals.

Notably, the Middletons attended King Charles III's coronation in May 2023. According to the book "Charles III: The Inside Story" by Robert Hardman, William made it his mission to secure his in-laws' invites to the prestigious and momentous event. "That has been a direct request from the Prince of Wales himself," Hardman wrote. As a source told the author, "Having all of them there was very important to him. He was absolutely insistent that his wife's family be properly included."

In March 2024, conspiracy theories were rife as to Princess Catherine's whereabouts. The princess had taken a lengthy break from her duties following abdominal surgery, but this excuse simply did not suffice for many royal fans, and the mantra "Where is Kate?" began circulating on social media. In an apparent attempt to assuage these conspiracies, Kensington Palace's official Instagram released a photo of Catherine and her three children for Mother's Day. But sure enough, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the snap had been heavily altered, to the point that the photo came with a warning when it cropped up on folks' Instagram feeds.

The bad publicity was unusual for Catherine, who is usually a media darling. When Prince William became engaged to Catherine in 2010, he assured his in-laws that he would always do his best to shield their daughter from negativity. So, when Catherine was clouded by bad publicity following the doctored photo, William felt hurt and helpless. "He promised Kate's parents that he would protect and look after her so he'll feel guilty for any hardships she goes through because all she's done is fall in love with someone who happened to be a future king," BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! in 2024. "There's obviously a lot of baggage that comes with this — it's a unique and different life which you've got to have a very thick skin for."

When Princess Catherine was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, her parents were understandably distraught. But Carole and Michael Middleton also took it upon themselves to put on brave faces and support Prince William and their three grandchildren throughout the difficult time. As royal biographer Duncan Larcombe explained to the Mirror, Carole and Michael's relative normality likely came in handy as William grappled with his wife's diagnosis. "They are quite an ordinary family unit, which will be important to help aid Kate's recovery," Larcombe said. "I think what we will see now over the next coming weeks and months is William really focusing on the Middleton family and really being that adopted son."

Namely, Carole came to the rescue to help her grandchildren adjust to their new normal. Speaking to The Independent, a friend of the Middletons said that Carole had become something of a Mary Poppins-esque figure in the Wales' life during Catherine's illness, taking the children to school and offering bountiful support. "She's come to the rescue, provided reassurance, and has been a rock to Catherine and William as they come to terms with the news," the insider said.

Testament to their bond, Carole and William were spotted on a low-key trip to the pub amid Catherine's cancer struggle, the excursion undoubtedly providing a semblance of normality for the two.