It’s been 25 years since Carole Middleton waved her eldest daughter off for freshers’ week at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where Catherine was to spend the next four years studying for a degree in art history – and also, as fate would have it, falling in love with a prince who would change the course of her life for ever.
Now, as the mother of a future Queen and grandmother of a future King, Carole has proven to be a rock for her eldest daughter, her son-in-law, the Prince of Wales, and their family over the decades, with her position only becoming more significant as the royal couple look towards their own future roles.
And as the Princess of Wales returns to a fuller schedule of public duties this autumn, including a potential trip to India with the Prince next month, it is likely that the steadfast Carole will be called upon to perform more grandmotherly duties, such as helping out with childcare.
After a four-year hiatus, Catherine is widely tipped to return to official long-haul travel when William attends the annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Mumbai, and Carole is likely to be on hand to help with their three children while they are away.
“She may not ever hold the title of Queen Mother, but in the future, she will be the Queen’s mother,” says the royal author Robert Jobson. “And she will be there to help her daughter and the family all the way.”
Keeping the family grounded
Carole’s unwavering support was never more evident than during Catherine’s treatment for cancer in 2024. As the family navigated the shock of her diagnosis, it was Carole who stepped forward to give them strength and help them to keep life as normal as possible for Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight.
© Samir Hussein/WireImage“She took over helping with the children and the school and the cooking and making food for William and looking after him, too,” says the royal author Ingrid Seward. “I think she's a very strong and determined person.
"Carole is a really helpful, practical and unflappable mother 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 after Catherine’s diagnosis, 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 Catherine would have been able to relax in the knowledge that her mother's hand was on the wheel."
A support for Prince William
But just as significant was her role in supporting her son-in-law, as William contemplated the stark reality that both his wife and his father were suffering from cancer.
Carole joined the Prince for a pub lunch in Norfolk once Catherine’s secret was out. It was a chance to enjoy a moment of respite from a “brutal” period, as William later described it.
© Getty Images“She was there to support William and was there all the time for the grandchildren. She's been as solid as a rock,” Robert says. “When everything was falling apart and he needed someone to talk to, she was the one. She took him out to the pub and they would sit and talk.
“She's been a good sounding-board, a wise head.”
The bond William has formed with his in-laws is one that he has treasured from the early days of his romance with Catherine.
Kitchen suppers at the Middletons’ family home in Bucklebury, West Berkshire, were a balm during his time in the military. There, he could enjoy normal family life – joining in with the washing-up included – away from the formality of life behind palace walls. In fact, the couple chose to reside at the Middletons’ home in the first few weeks after George was born in 2013, so that Carole could be on hand.
When William announced his engagement to Catherine in 2010, he said of his in-laws: "Mike and Carole have been really loving and caring and really fun and have been really welcoming towards me, so I've felt a part of the family and I hope that Kate's felt the same with my family."
© InstagramBonding with the royal family
He wanted to ensure that their warm welcome was reciprocated, and from the start of Catherine’s royal life, the royal family and courtiers ensured that the Middletons felt included, inviting them to events and celebrations as well as seasonal shooting parties and visits to the inner sanctums of Balmoral and Sandringham.
“The Queen always wanted her children and grandchildren to be happy, and she recognised what a huge support Carole and Michael Middleton were to William and how they welcomed him with open arms into their family,” says Ailsa Anderson, a former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II.
“She clearly saw all the qualities that the Middletons provided for Catherine and William. She had three out of her four children divorce, so I think she liked the fact that her grandson was marrying into a really close family who have stuck together through thick and thin.
“Carole has never put a foot wrong – she’s been a steadfast presence as a loving, supportive mother and grandmother to those grandchildren.”
© Simon James/FilmMagicIn 2016, Carole was pictured in the passenger seat of a Range Rover being driven by the late Queen, the two women returning to Balmoral after a picnic lunch during a grouse-shooting party, showing just how warm and close their relationship was.
Carole's closeness 25 years on
A decade on, and Carole’s closeness to the royal family has been in evidence more than ever this year.
At the Cheltenham Festival in March, where she was a guest of Zara Tindall, she was seen celebrating with the Queen and the Princess Royal in the Royal Box, her familiarity with them indicating that she has become a part of the royal family’s inner circle.
“From the second she got there, Carole was laughing and joking,” says a well-placed source. “She's equally at home with the King as she is with Zara and her gang.
“She's gregarious. She loves people and she's a fun-loving person. She looks great. She's definitely got a twinkle in her eye and a sense of humour. She comes from that generation where she knows how to go out and have some fun. And she’s clearly got an affinity with the younger generation.”
At the wedding of family friend Madeleine de St Pierre Bunbury to George Packe-Drury-Lowe in June, Carole was “radiant”, according to one observer, and spent lots of time on the dance floor. “This is the music I love," Carole told the bride.
A fun and hands-on grandmother
Her sense of fun extends to time with her grandchildren, too. In a video shared by Catherine to mark the end of her chemotherapy, Carole and Michael were seen playing a lively round of the card game Spoons, substituting used Nespresso coffee pods for utensils at the dining table in Anmer Hall.
© Getty ImagesIndeed, Carole has spoken about how she has always prioritised her family, first in terms of her children, then her grandchildren. "My family are paramount. They come first and that will always be the case, even when I have more 'me time’,” she has said. Just as she did for her own children, Carole cheers on George, Charlotte and Louis in their various sporting endeavours and, like most grandmothers, indulges them with the odd treat from time to time.
She has spoken about the activities she enjoys with the children, saying: "I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground. As long as I’m able to, that's what I'll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides," she said in 2021.
She has also opened up about the pleasure she gets from spending time with her grandchildren and has discussed the importance of being in nature – a feeling she shares with Catherine.
© Getty“If I'm doing planting with my grandchildren, I like to have it all laid out at 'activity stations' with their own little trowel and pot, so they can get started immediately. It's important for children to grow up appreciating nature and part of that is allowing them to get a bit muddy," she said in a separate interview that same year.
In touching photos taken at the end of Catherine’s gruelling Three Peaks Challenge in June, Carole and Michael posed with her, William and the children, showing how crucial they are to the Wales family and how proud they are of their daughter.
They were accompanied to north Wales by their son, James Middleton, in another sign of the family’s tight bond.
That quiet love and support will be every bit as important to William and Catherine in the future, when they eventually become King and Queen.
"I think she will stay in the background and come forward when wanted, rather than pushing herself forward,” says Ingrid, the author of Catherine & Diana. “I think she's a very determined and clever lady. I have huge admiration for her – I think we all do.”
