Prince William was born to be king — but first, he had to be a husband.
So has his marriage to Kate Middleton helped him transform into monarch material?
Prince William and Catherine Middleton's children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and
Prince Louis — were born in 2013, 2015, and 2018 respectively, and have garnered considerable attention.
From George's sweet nursery days to Charlotte's outings with her parents to Louis's hilarious
facial expressions, the kids define a significant portion of William's life.
Of their approach to parenting, Catherine shared in 2017 that they source inspiration
from her parents — Michael and Carole Middleton — and make it a priority to teach important
values to their kids.
She said in a speech for Children's Mental Health Week at Mitchell Brook Primary School,
"My parents taught me the importance of qualities like kindness, respect, and honesty, and I
realize how central values like these have been to me throughout my life."
"In my view, it is just as important as excelling at maths or sport."
Of their lives as a family of five, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in their
book "Finding Freedom" that William and Catherine share "an equal partnership" regarding their kids.
William is said to be involved in "school drop-off and pickup, as well as homework."
William and Catherine married in 2011 to a chorus of praise, celebration, and international attention.
While the sweet, rather innocent-looking newlyweds embarked on royal life together to the best
of their ability, they have come a long way in the last decade.
Notably, William has become the direct heir to the British throne in the wake of Queen
Elizabeth II's death.
His father, King Charles III, finally became king after waiting to ascend the throne for
decades, making William the heir apparent and young Prince George the second in line.
And while Charles is on the throne, for now, many are looking to William and Catherine
as the monarchy's future.
Arianne Chernock, a history professor and British monarchy expert at Boston University,
told the New York Times,
"This is a very transitional monarchy.
I think we're going to have to wait honestly until William and Kate until we see more significant updating.
But always, of course, also attuned to and mindful of tradition."
Public opinion is certainly on William and Catherine's side as well.
The YouGov polling of the British monarchy has Catherine's favorability at 68%, following
only the late Queen Elizabeth.
William immediately follows at 66%, while Charles is down in the No. 7 spot with a 42%
approval rating.
The world stood in silence as Prince William — just 15 years old at the time — walked
behind his mother's casket.
Diana Spencer was a force to be reckoned with, and perhaps one of the biggest differences
we've seen in William since he married Kate Middleton has been his willingness to open
up about his childhood experiences.
For example, William shared in May 2021 that the moment he found out about Diana's death,
while staying with the queen at Balmoral, still haunts him to this day.
"Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning.
And in the dark days of grief that followed, I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors.
As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep."
"And yet alongside this painful memory is one of great joy, because it was here in Scotland
20 years ago this year that I first met Catherine."
William continues to honor Diana to this day, and even Kate has channeled the late princess
with her wardrobe choices throughout the years.
Prince William has enjoyed a wealth of public support amid his marriage to Catherine, now
the Princess of Wales.
The couple's approval ratings are the highest among the living royals, only surpassed by
the late Queen Elizabeth herself.
And while William and Catherine have enjoyed the public's support, they have remained incredibly
tight-lipped about their relationship.
As many of us witnessed during the couple's Windsor walkabout with Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle, William and Catherine stuck to royal protocol and did not really show any physical
signs of affection.
Just a peck on the cheek between these two makes the headlines, and they consistently
maintain a rather polished and stoic public display.
So, why is that?
"That's a very good question."
Lancaster University lecturer and the author of "Running the Family Firm: How the Monarchy
Manages Its Image and Our Money," Laura Clancy, explained the couple's dynamic with the public
to the New York Times, saying,
"We don't really know what their personalities are like — we don't know that much about
Kate at all really, or William.
But you think you do, and that's important."
It's the feud that has generated headlines for years now — Prince William and Prince
Harry, once attached at the hip and united in grief, rarely see eye-to-eye these days,
and Catherine Middleton has witnessed it all go down.
A complete timeline of the conflict between the brothers and their respective wives reveals
that the initial upset began back in November 2018.
A journalist at the time reported that Harry was bothered by William and Kate's unwillingness
to welcome Meghan Markle into the royal fold, prompting then-Prince Charles to step in and
try and smooth things over.
While William's marriage to Kate likely had nothing to do with the eroding relationship,
the Princess of Wales was said to have taken part in the ongoing tension.
During their sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry and Meghan made allegations
about their time as royals but Meghan asserted that it was Kate who made her cry over wedding
details, not the other way around as the press had initially reported.
"She was upset about something pertaining, yes, the issue was correct, about flower girl dresses.
And it made me cry."
Of the couples' brief reunion amid the mourning of Queen Elizabeth, a source told InTouch Weekly,
"You would've thought Elizabeth's passing would have brought them closer as a family,
but it's not the case.
Hopefully, in time they'll heal."
Amid the chaos that has plagued Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship over the years,
Catherine has reportedly tried to help smooth things over.
As discussed on Us Weekly's "Royally Us" podcast, the Princess of Wales has tried to help heal
the rift by playing "peacekeeper."
Have her efforts been fruitful, however?
A source told the podcast that if anyone can help change things for the better, it's Kate.
The insider explained,
"There's a small glimpse of hope saving the brothers from never speaking again, and that is Kate.
She can sense that despite everything that has happened, William still feels the loss of Harry.
She's been frantically trying to play peacemaker, but so far, her efforts have proved unsuccessful."
Of the Princess of Wales's efforts, host Christina Garibaldi commented that she is clearly doing
her best to get William and Harry back on track, but both the Prince of Wales and the
Duke of Sussex are said to be incredibly stubborn.
One — or both — of them will have to take meaningful steps to acknowledge and respect
the experiences and perspectives of the other, and that seems like an impossible feat at
this point in their years-long feud.
While Prince William is the face of royalty and protocol-following today, he once led
a pretty wild life on the London nightclub scene.
During a "boys' night out" in 2007, he was caught embracing another woman on the dance
floor, according to Express.
It wasn't until his then-girlfriend, Kate, laid into William about his partying ways
that he curbed his late-night habits, as she began to see William's antics as a poor reflection
of their relationship.
A friend of Kate's weighed in at the time, sharing that when the St. Andrews student
saw William with another woman in a London nightclub, she put her foot down.
The friend shared,
"Kate told William that he was making her look bad.
She has coped for years with girls flinging themselves at her boyfriend, and, for a while,
she found it humorous and even flattering.
But after his recent behavior, she gave him an ultimatum and told him that every time
he behaved like that in public, he was cheapening her image as well as his own."
There's no denying that Prince William has embraced the royal way of life in recent years.
Having dedicated himself to the crown and maintaining the monarchy — while also modernizing
it — William and Catherine have clearly stepped up to the plate.
It's not just royal watchers and experts who have picked up on the changes within the couple.
The Washington Post spoke to members of the British public about the future of the monarchy
and the idea of Charles as king, and many were supportive of skipping Charles entirely
and jumping straight to William and Kate as royal leaders.
One member of the public who weighed in told the Post that Charles comes across as having
a "holier than thou" attitude, "not appreciating the position he is [in]."
William, on the other hand, is viewed as someone who "understands [his] position of power,"
and has gained respect for talking about issues such as mental health while a prominent member
of the family.
William's dedication to the crown was most prominently seen during Queen Elizabeth's
Platinum Jubilee, as his speech during the jubilee concert was indicative of the monarchy's future.
An inside source told People,
"He was saying to the next generation, 'We hear you' and we will use our platform to
do what we can."
"There is always room for hope."
Perhaps one of the biggest ways in which life has changed for Prince William since he married
Catherine has been rumors and unsubstantiated claims regarding infidelity.
As noted by Bustle, William found himself at the center of cheating whispers a few years
back, thanks to a rumored penchant for kinky bedroom habits.
Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley and the Prince and Princess of Wales's former
neighbor, shared the spotlight with him.
Once a member of the "inner circle" shared with the royals, Rose was said to have been
iced out when rumors about an affair between her and William first surfaced.
While the rumors about William's infidelity were never confirmed, and the prince and princess
never dignified the story with a comment — very much unlike King Charles's affair in the 1980s
— that didn't stop the rumor mill from turning.
The 23-year age gap between Rose and her husband, David Cholmondeley, and the speed of their
union — they were married after just two days of being engaged — didn't help things.
The man now known as King Charles III has been waiting to be monarch pretty much since
he was a toddler, having only just ascended the throne at 73 years old.
And while Queen Elizabeth was indeed dedicated to ushering her son into his destined position
while she was still alive, the late monarch was said to have focused most of her time
on William and Catherine as they had transformed into dedicated, reliable members of the royal
family.
As an insider told Us Weekly, Catherine was very nervous about living up to expectations
during her first years on the job — and William, of course, was going through the
royal motions as always.
But with time, the two became a formidable pair, and the queen began seeing them as the
monarchy's future.
The source told Us Weekly in 2021,
"Over time, Kate has proved to Elizabeth that she can be trusted, and they've developed
a great relationship.
Elizabeth feels confident that Kate will make a great queen.
[...] The queen feels confident that [William and Kate] cross all the boxes to rule."