Kate Middleton must have certainly taken offence from Prince Harry’s claim about women in the royal family forced to fit in a certain “mould” while speaking on his titular Netflix docu-series in 2022.
The Duke of Sussex appeared to boast about his rebellious side when talking about marriage to Meghan Markle.
He said, “I think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.”
“The difference between making decisions with your head or your heart. And my mum certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart. And I am my mother’s son,” Harry added at the time.
Writing for News.com.au, royal author Daniela Elser disagreed with the implication that his brother Prince William married Kate only because she “fit the mould.”
Rejecting the claim, she noted: “The wild, weird events of 2024 so far have proven the extent to which Kate cannot be written off as some mould-fitting docile popsy.”
Elser also cited famed Australian essayist Chiarman Clift, who heralded the future Queen’s work representing “sneaky little revolutions.”
She went on to point out Kate’s prolonged absence from the public eye for the last four months in the wake of her health crisis, in a major break in tradition which required members of the royal family to prioritise the crown over personal life.
“For centuries, to be a woman who married into the royal family required a complete and utter sublimation of one’s own needs, desires and identity for the greater monarchical good,” the royal expert wrote in the piece.
“Kate has firmly but entirely rejected this, prioritising herself and her kids ahead of the needs of the institution.”
Elser also highlighted the other ways the princess “shrugged off any suggestion that she might neatly twist and contort herself to squeeze into a particular mould,” including choosing to raise her kids in a more low-key environment of Adelaide Cottage in Windsor instead of the luxurious world of Kensington Palace.
She also put her foot down against the royal tradition to send her kids to co-ed school.
“My point is, Kate has charted her own course with increasing confidence and a refreshing lack of tractability,” the author explained.
“Harry might have seemingly obliquely disparaged both Kate and William with his 'mould' line but I think we can say that the Princess of Wales has defied this particularly belittling label,” Daniela concluded.