What to Know
Before Prince William and Kate Middleton were raising their own brood of three kids, Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, were raising three of their own, including Pippa and James. According to a royal expert, Will and Kate are intentionally following her parents’ lead on raising their kids — the parenting method nicknamed “the Middleton Model” — and the press around it has royal watchers convinced that Carole wants more credit.
William supposedly respects his in-laws so much that he’s happy to have them as active participants in the way he parents his children.
According to Marie Claire, royal author Russell Myers wrote in his new book, William and Catherine: The Monarchy’s New Era: The Inside Story, that Michael and Carole’s “constant presence” in the couple’s lives has really influenced their parenting decisions when it comes to raising George, Charlotte, and Louis.
“William appreciated their involvement beyond measure, enjoying their company and the normalcy of the environment, whatever the circumstance,” Russell writes.
“Michael and Carole enjoyed visiting the couple in Norfolk and would often stay for weekends, providing much-needed extra support for the young family,” he added, speaking of when the kids were younger.
It’s not every day that we hear of a parent who actually welcomes their in-laws’ parenting opinions, but obviously, it’s different from William. After all, if his upbringing was anything like the way Prince Harry described it in Spare, he’s probably thankful to have Kate’s family around.
Royal watchers seem to think Carole is pushing the Middleton Model behind the scenes.
With this particular quote about the Middletons’ parenting making the rounds online, royal watchers on Reddit are convinced that Carole is behind it.
In fact, one poster is particularly miffed by the idea that Kate and Carole could be pushing these narratives to the media: “Considering how much work the rats do over the weekend to cover the Sussexes, the dissonance that they’re espousing the ‘Middleton Model’ as some sort of aspirational goal for the next generation of parasites, does not compute with people’s work ethic who fund them.”
“I’ve been wondering honestly if something is going on behind the scenes— Carole likes to embiggen but this has been going into overdrive the past few weeks,” another commenter observed. “It’s not just a reaction to the Sussexes either. Kate may not be as secure in her post as we may think.”
This isn’t the first time the Middleton Model has been brought up in the media, though.
Back in 2023, a different royal expert, Duncan Larcombe, brought it up in an interview with OK! magazine.
“William has based his children’s upbringing on the Middleton model – three children, affluent, but hardworking parents and lots of love in the house,” Duncan said, via Woman and Home. “By the time Kate was in her early twenties, she counted her mother and father on the list of her best friends. That’s what William and Kate are aspiring to with their children, but they also have to drip-feed George, and to some extent Charlotte and Louis, into the public domain.”
Carole and Michael did raise the future queen of England. Maybe they’re onto something?
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