Carole Middleton is the matriarch of the Middleton family - and a key figure in Prince William and Princess Kate's lives.
Kate has often spoken about her close bond with her mother, and has credited both her parents with giving her a loving and stable childhood in her formative years.
It's something that William also admires, and he and Kate are using the Middletons' down-to-earth family dynamic as a model for raising their own three children.
Commentators have also noted that Carole provided a steady, welcoming, and normal family environment for William during his university years and early adulthood, something he happily embraced.
Despite her close connection to the future King and Queen, Carole has managed to maintain a relatively low-profile. But she is an integral figure behind the scenes.
According to royal expert Ingrid Seward, that will continue when William ascends the throne.
Carole's role when Princess Kate becomes Queen
Speaking on the live recording of HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast, Ingrid spoke about how she sees Carole's role once her daughter becomes Queen.
"I think she will be in the background, but she will be in the foreground. I think she's a very determined and clever lady. I really have huge admiration for her, I think we all do," said Ingrid, who has released a new book, Catherine & Diana, which compares the loves of the two women.
© Getty Images"I think she's pushy, but she probably needed to be. I think she will keep in the background and come forward when wanted, rather than pushing herself forward.
"And that's really what she's done since Catherine married William, isn't it? She's been in the background and come forward, for instance when Catherine was ill and she took over. She took over helping with the children and the school and the cooking and making food for William and looking after him, too. I think she's a very strong and determined person."
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How Carole supported Kate through her cancer battle
Carole was a great source of support for her daughter after the Princess of Wales was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in 2024 after undergoing an operation for an abdominal issue.
Following her surgery, Kate stayed with her parents, and a source told Australian magazine New Idea in January 2025: "Carole was chief nurse as Kate went through chemotherapy, and Michael has been helping take care of the kids."
© GettyThey added: "It also meant Kate could recuperate away from the royal residences. They can be a fishbowl at the best of times, let alone when you're going through something so intensely personal."
When Carole reached her milestone 70th birthday, Ingrid told HELLO!: "Carole has always been a rock for Kate, especially this past year – she's been amazing.
"I have met her a couple of times and the word that keeps coming back to me is 'strength'. I imagine her as a sort of pioneer woman driving a wagon with a rifle at her feet, and three children in the back, fighting off any enemy. Basically, that's what she's been doing all her life, isn't it?"
© Samir HusseinShe continued: "Carole is a really helpful, practical and unflappable mum and grandmother. Rather than ask what she can do, she just gets on with it; she's very proactive. When William went back to royal duties, she was doing the school run and probably doing things like filling the freezer with the kids' favourite foods.
"Looking after the three kids would have been absolutely no problem for her whatsoever and Kate would have been able to relax in the knowledge that her mother's hand was on the wheel."
What has Prince William said about Carole?
Carole and husband Michael have known William since their daughter Kate began dating the Prince in 2003 during their university days at St Andrews in Scotland.
In their engagement interview in 2010, William said of his in-laws: "Kate's got a very, very close family. I get on really well with them and I'm very lucky that they've been so supportive.
© Getty Images"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 and I hope that Kate's felt the same with my family."
Meanwhile, Kate said of meeting then-Prince Charles: "I was quite nervous about meeting William's father, but no, he was very, very welcoming, very friendly, it couldn't have gone easier really for me."
