William and Kate the Prince and Princess of Wales have a PR team,
so why don't they talk to the media? And what do they do to prevent leaks?
The British media is famous for being ruthless, and, over the years, neither Prince William nor
Princess Kate has not escaped its wrath. In 2013, Us Weekly reported that the British
paparazzi rattled Princess Cathrine by snapping photos of her pregnant belly. The publication of
these pictures reportedly left the Princess of Wales feeling violated since they were some of
the first images ever made of her baby bump. As if that media intervention weren't stressful enough,
Prince William faced a brutal set of cheating rumors during the summer of 2022. False rumors
about the prince's sexual preferences went viral, even leading to a degrading Twitter hashtag.
Perhaps because of the brutality of these media interactions, William and Kate's staff are not
allowed to gossip. According to a report in the Daily Record, the prince and princess of Wales
have a "zero tolerance" policy for spreading rumors of any kind. The couple clarified their
position in their description of a job opening in the housekeeping department. Posted on the royal
family's website, the job description maintained that Prince and Princess of Wales housekeeper
would have to excel at, quote, "maintaining confidentiality and exercising discretion."
"And English privacy law is a lot stronger than American privacy law."
While avoiding workplace gossip might not be easy for everyone, royal staff members
are often rewarded for their loyalty. People reported that Prince William and Princess Kate
offer their housekeepers some unique perks, such as traveling with the royal family.
Royal protocol is all about the details. To maintain tradition, members of the royal
family must adhere to strict rules that dictate everything from how they hold their wine glass to
how they stir their tea. Because of this, British royals also expect their staff to have a keen eye
for detail. King Charles III, for example, requires that his staff prepare tea using a
thermometer, and he will only drink earl gray tea if it has been heated to precisely 100 degrees
Celsius. William and Kate require a similar level of fastidiousness from their cleaning staff.
According to the documentary Sandringham: The Royals at Christmas, the Prince and Princess of
Wales expect their housekeepers to notice even the tiniest issues. Tracey Waterman,
the royal family's head of staff recruitment,
told the filmmakers that the Wales' housekeepers must pass a test to lock down the job, saying,
"One of the tests I like to do, to see if a candidate has a potential eye for detail,
is to place a dead fly, either in the fireplace or on the carpet. Once the dead fly is placed,
I then bring the candidate into the room. [...] One out of ten
will actually bend down and pick it up. That's the special housekeeper."
Thanks to all of these strict rules, the British royal family can seem very formal to outsiders.
However, at home, the Prince and Princess of Wales like to keep things as casual as possible. In his
book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, royal journalist Valentine Low revealed that the
Prince and Princess of Wales try to cultivate an informal setting at their residence. To achieve
this, the couple has reportedly asked royal staffers not to wear formal attire to their
home unless there is an extenuating circumstance. As one anonymous staffer told Low in an interview,
"[Prince William] wants it to be casual. The kids run around the office,
and he does not want it to be stuffy. If we have important meetings or are going
to Buckingham Palace, then, of course, we [dress up]."
Even though William and Kate enforce this casual clothing rule,
the couple has a reputation for being formal. In the Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan,
Meghan Markle described the experience of meeting Princess Catherine for the first time.
"I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality
on the outside carried through on the inside."
Nonetheless, within the confines of their own residence, the Prince and
Princess of Wales seem to let their guard down. To justify his "no suits" rule,
Prince William reportedly told the staffer who interviewed for Low's book:
"This is where my family lives."
The Prince and Princess of Wales "no suits" rule is not the only way the Wales household
has diverted from royal traditions. The couple has also rejected traditional parenting methods
in favor of a more modern approach to caring for their three children: George, Charlotte,
and Louis. According to a report by The Sun, William and Kate want their children
to learn to talk about their feelings rather than scream about them. Because of this,
nobody in the royal household — staff included — is allowed to shout at the royal children.
One of the staff members most responsible for enforcing this rule is the couple's longtime
nanny, Maria Borrallo. According to a separate piece in The Sun,
Borrallo disciplines the children using the modern techniques selected
by the Prince and Princess of Wales. As an inside source told the outlet,
"Maria is firm but she never acts unilaterally with the children on discipline."
The insider went on to explain that Maria must reason with the
children instead of punishing them, saying,
"[There is] no 'naughty step' [at the residence] but there
is a 'chat sofa,' [where] things are explained and consequences outlined."
William and Kate's "no shouting" disciplinary rule may seem reasonable, but their unique
parenting techniques do not stop there. The Prince and Princess of Wales staff members
are likely forbidden from using certain words in front of George, Charlotte, and Louis. The reason
for this reportedly pertains to the educational background of Borrallo. According to the Mirror,
Borrallo graduated from the iconic nannying school Norland College, where students learn never to use
the word "kids." As documentary-maker Louise Heren told the Mirror after spending a year at Norland,
"The word 'kid' is banned. It's a mark of respect for the children as individuals."
"And the Norland diploma is highly sought after."
As a result, instead of calling the royal children "kids," Borrallo was
taught to refer to them by their first names.
While some people might find this Norland rule to be unusual, it is worth noting that Borrallo
has an excellent relationship with the Wales children. An anonymous insider told People,
"Maria loves the children dearly."
Moreover, the source shared that Borrallo manages to be caring,
even as the children learn all of the regimented rules of royal life:
"She can be firm and strict, but she is very loving and soft with them too."
The Prince and Princess of Wales have also been reportedly pleased
by Borrallo's performance. A year after the birth of the young Prince George,
Princess Catherine told her friends that the Norland nanny was amazing.
The royal children aren't the only ones that staff must call by their first names.
According to royal journalist Valentine Low in an interview with the Express,
the prince of Wales asked his staff to call him "William." In Low's view,
Prince William's request breaks with years of tradition and even differs considerably
from the rules that King Charles III once had in place. The journalist told the Express:
"It's really interesting the levels of formality and informality. In Charles'
household, when he was Prince of Wales, you know, first thing in the morning,
it was Your Royal Highness. [...] With William, there was none of that."
Prince William's attempts at informality contrast with King Charles's regard for his own staff. My
London reports that the king is regimented with his staff and even asks them to warm
his biscuits to a specific temperature. Separate reports even indicate that the king won't take
a bath if the bath plug isn't in the proper position. Unlike his father, Prince William
tries not to be finicky with his employees. As Low revealed in the same interview with the Express,
"[Prince William's] closest advisors [...] would definitely be on first-name terms."
"Relationships evolve. Friendship endures."
Over the years, Princess Catherine has become a royal style icon. From her glittery roller disco
outfit in 2008 to her many gorgeous homages to the late Princess Diana,
the Princess of Wales has managed to put together some of the best royal
looks. Even Vogue praised the princess for the extra thought and cultural
sensitivity that she seems to put into her outfits. As reported by the outlet,
"Both Kate and Diana have a tradition of tailoring each outfit to the intentions
of their appearance, often paying homage to the country or place they are visiting,
or the nature of the event they're attending."
While some people would enjoy all of the fashion-related praise,
Kate seems to have tired of it. William and Kate's staff have been banned from officially
commenting on her clothing to the press. Before this rule came into effect, palace employees were
allowed to respond to requests for information about her attire, such as brand, designer,
and cost. As of 2022, however, Kensington Palace has stopped releasing this information.
The reason for this shift could be related to the crown's focus on charity in light of
Britain's economic crisis. As royal expert Richard Palmer said in an interview with the Express,
"The cost-of-living crisis may well be part of that as well. It's not a good look, is it,
to turn up to a food bank in a £3,000 coat."
In the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry opened up about the role of
the royal communications teams in palace life. According to the prince's account,
each member of the royal family has their own public relations team,
which deals with the press. Interestingly, however, Prince Harry claimed that these
separate teams would compete with each other for media attention, saying,
"There's leaking, but there's also planting of stories. So if
the comms team wants to be able to remove a negative story about their principal,
they will trade and give [the media] something about someone else's principal."
"So the offices end up working against each other."
While this arrangement might seem like something of a free for all, the royal press staff does have
to follow some rules. The Prince and Princess of Wales’ staff, for example, do not comment
publicly on negative news. According to Prince William's former press secretary,
Miguel Head, the communications team only fights unflattering stories in extreme circumstances. As
Head — who also used to represent Prince Harry — told the Harvard Gazette in an interview,
"I suppose the way that we dealt with it was really directed by [the princes]. [...] So,
our rule of thumb was we only commented reactively on stories if the stories
were judged, in our view, to have a detrimental reputational impact."
However, Head claimed that this was very rare, saying,
"The bar for that was quite high."