Royal column: behind

Royal insider Behind Palace gates with Juliet Rieden

OnJanuary 9 the Duchess of Cambridge celebrates her 40th birthday. With the pandemic still raging, it’s unlikely there will be a big party for the anniversary but it is, I think, a notable milestone. When The Queen was 40, she had already been on the throne for 15 years, motherhood having to take a back seat to the public service role she had devoted her life to and continues to serve at the age of 95.

Over this past year much has been written, including by me, of a switch in gear by the Cambridge family, with William and Catherine looking more and more prepared for their future roles, which will in due course initially be supporting an ageing Charles as King and ultimately leading the monarchy themselves. When that time comes, Catherine will be Queen consort, and since Prince Harry and Meghan have stepped back from The Firm, moving their family to California, the future of the royals, both in Britain and here in Australia, will very much be in the hands of the

“Cambridge five”. When Catherine Middleton first joined the Windsors, she was more noted for what she wore than what she said or did. But 11 years after that timid engagement interview in 2010, things are very different. Last month the Duchess convened and hosted a carol concert at Westminster Abbey, inviting 1200 unsung heroes who had carried the British people through the trauma of COVID-19, as well as guests who may have been more vulnerable or isolated over the past year.

It was a beautiful, substantial event embracing people of all faiths and none, combining traditional elements with contemporary performances from the likes of Ellie Goulding, which was later televised to the nation. It would have been easy to include the Cambridge children in the guests, which would have flooded social media with pictures of the royal trio. But this wasn’t about the Cambridge family or the royals for that matter. Yes, Prince William attended along with other royals of their generation – including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their husbands, and Zara and Mike Tindall – and the Middleton family also were there. Catherine didn’t speak but wrote a message for the program and the universally declared success of this dignified occasion was that it honoured frontline workers and struggling communities. The concert, wrote Catherine, was about “the importance of simply being together”. And yes, I think it’s fair to say there was something restrained and rather queenly about that. It was planned as a one-off, but I imagine the Palace may be considering making it a regular date in the Christmas calendar, such was its positive impact.

Meanwhile, we learned more about the Cambridges behind closed doors from Prince William himself in a surprisingly touching podcast for the Apple Fitness+ app, Time to Walk. The series is aimed at encouraging walking as a great way to keep mentally and physically fit, and guests have included Dolly Parton. During a 40-minute ramble, the guest shares thoughts interspersed with some favourite music clips, and if you’re listening on your Apple device, you

Regal in red: The Duchess of Cambridge’s Together at Christmas community carol service at Westminster Abbey was a triumph.

can watch a few photos pop up as well.

This special episode was recorded early last year and featured William chatting on a countryside walk around the Sandringham estate discussing trauma, his family and the power of nature. The Prince recalled his grandfather, the late Duke of Edinburgh, taking him on this very route when he was a child, and he also shared wonderful memories of time spent with his mother, Princess Diana. Evidently when he and Harry were heading back to boarding school after time spent at home and feeling anxious, Diana would bundle them into the car and play Tina Turner’s The Best, singing along at the top of her voice as she drove them back to lift their spirits.

On a darker note, the Prince also opened up about feeling sad and traumatised following some of the more emotional jobs in his role as an air ambulance pilot. Close to tears, William said he felt like “the whole world was dying … You just feel everyone’s in pain, everyone’s suffering”. He was talking about attending the scene of a car crash involving a boy of Prince George’s age and said he found that feeling hard to shake when he got back home to his own family. Fortunately, the Cambridge trio seem to have their own joyous energy at home and the song they especially love dancing around the kitchen to, said William, is Shakira’s Waka Waka!

Prince Harry has been opening his heart to the public a great deal this year in his interviews, but the power of this initiative from Prince William was that it felt as if he was chatting directly to the listener in a quiet and uniquely intimate way that stays with you.

Earlier in the month the Prince of Wales was also on an emotional mission when he flew to Barbados to mark the nation’s removal of Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. The Prince was invited by Mia Mottley, leader of the Barbados Labour Party and Prime Minister since 2018, to attend the inauguration of the country’s first President – Dame

Sandra Mason – who had been Governor General since 2018. Of course, the royal family respects the decision and I think the Queen has a very pragmatic attitude to the establishment of a new republic in the Caribbean island, but it would have been a very poignant day for her and for Prince From top: Prince William chose Charles, who has Sandringham for his Time to Walk podcast recollections; Prince Charles’ courageous speech in Barbados; been a visitor regular to Barbados The Queen visiting the island in 1966. over the decades. In a courageous and historic speech, the Prince of Wales became the first member of the royal family to formally acknowledge the “appalling atrocity of slavery” in the Caribbean, saying it “forever stains our history”. Here in Australia, Barbados’ severing of the royal apron strings will no doubt be a watching brief for republicans. But for the Queen it was a day on which she bade farewell to “the beautiful country” and its people that “have held a special place in my heart”. For Charles there was also an opportunity to talk about the ties that will continue between the UK and Barbados as part of the Commonwealth. In 2018 he was elected to take over as the Queen’s successor when the time comes, as Head of the Commonwealth, and in the future as more nations may choose to break formal royal ties, the Commonwealth will play a much more important role. AWW