In a touching display, Prince William and Kate Middleton were last week pictured hugging members of the public, cooing over babies and sitting cross-legged on the floor with children on their mini-tour around the UK ahead of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.
The couple travelled to Manchester and Scotland to meet charity workers and the public, with a photo of Prince William hugging an elderly man going viral online with one commenting, “Kate and Will are so sweet! This is how it should be.”
Their successful trip came after it emerged that William, 39 – second in line to the throne after Prince Charles – and Kate, 40, are planning to ask to be called by their first names during visits and not their royal titles.
“They want to be more approachable, less formal, less stuffy, and break away with a lot of the tradition,” a source revealed. “The prince plans to tear up the rulebook to ‘move with the times’.”
Reports claim the move would be part of the couple’s effort to “modernise” the royal family, and royal expert and author of Prince Harry: The Inside Story, Duncan Larcombe, says it’s a great idea – though one that’s not likely to go down well with Meghan and Harry.
“William and Kate’s brand is becoming a lot more modern, and they want to be seen as a down-to-earth and approachable couple.
“They’re likely to keep their titles for banquets and state visits, but if they’re working for a charity, the person showing them around will have been encouraged to, ‘Call me William, call me Catherine.’
“Meghan always wanted to be the ‘modern royal’ and I think always felt a bit like she had to live up to Kate’s standards. So I imagine Meghan will be furious that Kate is now being hailed as the ‘modern royal’ herself and stolen her thunder. I imagine there’s also a pang of regret that if they had stayed, they could have been the fab four modernising the monarchy together.”
It’s been a shock turnaround since 2018, when Prince Harry, 37, and his new wife Meghan Markle, 40, were hailed as the “modern royals” – entrusted by their fans to pull what many have described as an archaic institution out of the past.
Meghan had a successful career as a Hollywood actress in US drama Suits under her belt, and with Harry well-known as the rebellious royal, their supporters saw them as the future of the monarchy.
But after sensationally quitting their roles as senior royals in 2020, Harry and Meghan moved to California and took a very different path as they signed multimillion-dollar deals with streaming giants including Spotify, Netflix, and Apple TV – while befriending Hollywood A-list neighbours, including Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Ben Affleck.
Now Duncan says that while Harry and Meghan – who share children Archie, three and 11-month-old Lilibet – broke the mould in cutting royal ties, aiming to create their own wealth and live independently, the couple’s dreams may have reached stalemate as they’ve found themselves more reliant on their royal titles than ever.
He says, “I think Harry and Meghan hoped they could be the modern royals. But the nature of the work they’ve set upon, the contracts they’ve signed and the money they’ve made is reliant on their association with the British royal family. Them naming Lilibet [after the Queen’s family nickname] has solidified that connection even more.
“I have no doubt Meghan could design a handbag and a range of perfumes – but let’s not make any mistakes; she’ll be doing that as someone who was the Duchess from the palace.
“So Harry and Meghan cannot get rid of their titles, they’re trapped with them, because they need their royal association. And that jars with their hopes to be modern and progressive.”
Earlier this month, it emerged that Harry and Meghan would be heading back to the UK for the Platinum Jubilee next month, but that they’ll be banned from carrying out royal duties and won’t appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen’s 96th birthday.
This will be the second time the couple have visited the UK in the space of a few weeks after a brief visit with the Queen before the Invictus Games last month. They came under criticism at the time after reportedly travelling with a Netflix crew in tow as part of the filming for their Invictus Games documentary – a project the couple are hoping will still go ahead after Meghan’s animation series, Pearl, was axed by the streaming company.
And Duncan says their visit will be a real test for the couple, and an opportunity to prove they are willing to build bridges with their estranged family.
But he warns that, with the camera crews last month and Harry’s autobiography due out in September, the royal family will be very wary of their presence.
“It might be that the royals are longing to make up with Harry and Meghan, but I think they’ll be extremely wary of them, especially with Harry’s biography out soon. Anything they say could end up in a book or on TV. Hopefully they’ll quietly show their support for the Queen. We’ll have to wait and see.”