The Mail is reminding everyone that Carole Middleton is Prince William’s ‘second mum’

Our new Gossip With Celebitchy podcast comes out this weekend, and I was sort of confronted by the fact that I do not have one comprehensive conspiracy for what the hell is going on with Prince William and the Princess of Wales. All I know is that we’ve been lied to consistently for months and there’s a movement afoot to cover up and ignore the lies. But why have all of these lies happened? Why did it feel like Carole and Michael Middleton had gone silent for months on purpose? Why were sightings, photos and videos of Kate manipulated, staged or faked? It still doesn’t make any sense.

Something else which doesn’t make any sense: the new move to suddenly portray William and his mother-in-law as still extremely close. Don’t get me wrong – Carole was a huge part of why William married Kate. Carole took a huge role in “managing” William and Kate’s marriage for years. But at some point (circa 2021), suddenly Carole didn’t seem to have much control over William anymore. I still remember the bonkers tantrum coming from Middleton HQ over whether Kate and her family would attend the unveiling of the Diana statue. That was some kind of breaking point, in my opinion. Plus, now that Party Pieces collapsed, we see that the Middletons were grifters the whole time and that William got played. So what’s up with the “Carole and William went to a pub together” story? And why is the Mail running this “William and Carole are especially close” reminder?

She’s been his mother-in-law for 13 years – and over the decades, Carole Middleton has become not only family but a close friend the Prince of Wales can ‘confide’ in. Recently, the pair were reportedly spotted at a ‘low key’ pub outing in Norfolk, as the Princess of Wales was thought to have stayed at home. It is understood that Kate’s mother was staying with her and William, 41, in Norfolk over Easter – while her daughter is being treated for cancer.

It’s no wonder that William and ‘second mum’ Carole, 69, have over the years formed a bond. One expert in past has also remarked how she has taught her son-in-law ‘how a loving and supportive family works’. She has provided a ‘real sense of normality amid any chaos’ for the Prince since he married Kate in 2011, royal biographer Angela Levin told The Sun in 2021.

‘[Carole] made him feel secure, comfortable and protected and he didn’t have to worry about what he said or be responsible for her emotions,’ she claimed.

Carole has also been on hand as a supportive, and very involved grandmother to William and Kate’s children. Speaking to PEOPLE, one palace insider also said that Carole and her husband, who only need to take a short drive from Bucklebury, Berkshire to Windsor, are already ‘an enduring factor in the upbringing of their grandchildren’.

The Prince is also close with his wife’s parents because of their united commitment to Kate’s happiness and safety. As reported by Mirror, author Jennie Bond earlier this year told OK that ‘attacks’ from Omid Scobie’s Endgame left William feeling ‘guilty and angry because he promised Kate’s parents that he would protect and look after her’.

‘The attacks from Omid Scobie were vicious, so William will feel guilty because all she’s done is fall in love with someone who happened to be a future king,’ she said. ‘There’s obviously a lot of baggage that comes with this – it’s a unique and different life which you’ve got to have a very thick skin for.’

William also found a mother figure in Carole, with him and Kate relying on her support after his brother Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the UK, a source told The Sun in 2020. They said: ‘William’s in-laws have become like second parents and Carole is almost a Diana-Type mum.’

The insider added that William and Kate visited Berkshire ‘quite a few’ times following the Sussexes departure.

[From The Daily Mail]

There’s a theory that Carole and Michael Middleton have actually been mostly in charge of the Wales kids this year, and the pub visit – if it happened – was something like a custodial drop-off. That theory is interesting, and obviously, we don’t know. We’re just shooting in the dark. What I don’t get is why there was radio silence from Carole for months – all while Pippa and James Middleton were on separate luxury holidays while their sister had just been diagnosed with cancer – and this week, we’re getting a sighting and a regurgitated story about William and Carole’s closeness. WTF is going on behind the scenes?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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71 Responses to “The Mail is reminding everyone that Carole Middleton is Prince William’s ‘second mum’”

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  1. Don’t believe for a minute that they are close or he would have not let them twist in the wind over the failure of their business he would have paid it off. I believe the negotiations are what may have brought this on.

    • Flower says:

      I think Carole is desperate to signal all is well in the Earldom of Bucklebury.

      Jeez what a sh!t show this is turning into.

    • Shawna says:

      But there was the story that the royals aren’t embarrassed by their business failure, and the fact that Carole is at her PR again after dramatically going radio silent. She’s empowered to cluck around about cheese toasties again.

      Charles, Camilla, and William may have justified not bailing out Party Pieces to her as just an optics decision in an era of government austerity, laughing behind her back in the meantime. Not sure I believe that 100% but something I’m considering given all these weird signals.

    • Ginger says:

      I don’t either. They are apparently so close but there are no photos of them together. They both attended Kate’s Christmas concert and don’t interact at all but we must believe they are close because the tabloids say it’s true.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      @Susan Collins Exactly.

      This…

      “ and over the decades, Carole Middleton has become not only family but a close friend the Prince of Wales can ‘confide’ in”

      …is a message to William. It’s saying “if you divorce my daughter I’ll go straight to the tabloids and spill all of your secrets…unless you play ball and pay up to Kate and to me.”

      • Jais says:

        So while Carole might be threatening that, William has cultivated some deep invisible contracts. Couldn’t he just have her blackballed as a source? And wouldn’t he also have kompromat on the Middletons? Or does he not have any?

      • BlueNailsBetty says:

        @Jais I doubt William has much of anything to blackmail Carole. Other than her business issues the Midds seem to be a fairly normal, close family. There hasn’t even been a whiff of actual scandal attached to any of them. There have been minor issues that were made public but for the most part they don’t have much to be blackmailed with.

        Now if William has proof Carole and Mile and PP were selling personal data or were involved in the pot farm that could be blackmail worthy but it’s nothing compared to William’s secrets (especially if he has abused Kate).

    • Lily says:

      William isn’t obligated to bail out in-laws.

      In fact, it is foolish to become your family’s financial keeper. That goes for everyone. Loaning money or gifting a large amount of money changes a relationship because someone becomes obligated to you.

      Plus, how do we know that the Middleton are broke. Their company went broke. They could have millions in protected investments.

  2. Flower says:

    Chuck must really be very ill for this copy to be making it through the filters.

    Also how bloody insensitive is this erasure of Charles no matter how sh!t a parent he may have been at a time when he needs his son the most ?

    • Theseus says:

      My sympathy for everyone at the center, around and on the peripheral of all this. This article is embarrassing and not the read the writer may have intended.

      I shouldn’t ,as a person so far removed from the RF, know all this about the Prince of Wales and his in-laws. Why is this news? Why the need for “reassuring” the reader about this? Was there a fracture and now it has been mended and this is their way of letting the audience know? Just leave the PoW alone to navigate this season of his life, the experience may just be part of his destiny to let him emerge into a new chapter of his life. I am not a fan, I admit, it made me feel uncomfortable how the media was used against H&M , The FlybE stunt and the approved articles on attacking PH & DM mental state after the Southern African trip still left a bad taste and all the other media onslaughts but in the spirit of Christianity I am willing to extend grace as humans evolve and we have to give space for everyone to do so. Let his wife heal and him navigate and evolve from this moment.

      all these behind the scenes and “sources say” articles about the family aspects are sooooo icky. If the person is like a second Mom and therefore care , why would they want this particular tone of this article be out there about him? What is the purpose of sharing THIS information publicly ? Wouldn’t this be something that Prince William himself share and not the other way around.

      It’s interesting – I have never read that Ms Ragland is the mother Prince Harry never had. It is very obvious that they are close, it is very obvious he loves and respects her and we know this based on his own words – written in his book and voiced in the documentary Harry & Meghan. And it’s also obvious that his feelings towards Ms Ragland does not have to come at an expense of his feelings for his Mother and his Mother’s family.
      Why can’t whomever is behind these type of articles take this same approach about Prince William and his in laws. Let him tell us in his own way who is important to him and who he values. Let the man breathe , if you need the Daily Mail to get this out there then with all due respect it is giving “doth smarm too much”.

      • Isabella says:

        Doria isn’t the mother Harry never had. He had a mother. Her name was Diana.

        Doria is Harry’s mother-in-law, mother of his wife, and grandmother to his kids. It’s all appropriate and respectful and great to see.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Theseus, what I have concluded is that family members in the brf (and adjacent to) talk through the media. What people need to do is try to figure out who it’s from, who it’s to, and what the message is.

        I agree with Kaiser that this is Ma Mids and it’s a message to Billy Idle. He needs to cough up more money if he wants her silence.

  3. HeatherC says:

    I see Middleton PR has (rightly) decided that saying she was a better mom than Diana wasn’t the way to go so they’ve recentered as she’s “Diana-like” in her mothering of a grown man.

    I go back and forth on if there is a divorce in play but the latest antics of CarolE make me start thinking like some others, there’s been a bump or two in the settlement discussion.

    • aftershocks says:

      ^^ Sure @HeatherC. But notice that the following dig against Diana quoted from dotty Levin, was still inserted in this unbelievable garbage spew:

      “‘[Carole] made him feel secure, comfortable and protected and he didn’t have to worry about what he said or be responsible for her emotions…”

  4. Schrodinger's Kate says:

    Oh that remark that he doesn’t have to worry about what he said or feel responsible for her emotions is another of those nasty slaps at Diana; an attempt to perpetuate the smear campaign that Diana parentified William as she fell apart emotionally.

    Sadly, I have encountered too many people who have absorbed that nonsense into their bloodstream. I do worry that when my generation dies off nobody will be around to keep the truth going and these machinations will ultimately erase who Diana really was. She was no saint but she was a good woman and a strong and scrappy one who refused to go gently.

    It sickens me that there are so many people who still have a voice who are hellbent on erasing hers.

    • Tessa says:

      Diana was a strong person and had adult friend’s she confided in. Nobody is a saint. Diana was up against manipulators who she trusted at first. But had to learn to counter the spin from Charles camp. Diana never really fell apart she dealt with things including getting the bulimia under control. William was away at school and Diana worked and did not just sit home. If Diana had lived the middletons would have gotten nowhere near manipulating william

  5. Jks says:

    Is Carole blackmailing William?

    • Julianna says:

      That’s what I’m thinking @ JKS. Blackmail by Carol. Even demanding titles…

    • Proud Mary says:

      This is my take as well.

    • Cessily says:

      I saw a tweet/x that said Carol wanted the world to know she was handling the “kid” visitation exchange with the article. Whatever the reason it doesn’t make the article any less creepy and cringe worthy.

    • Christine says:

      Yep, I am with you.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      Yes, she most certainly is.

    • TigerMcQueen says:

      Yes, that’s my thought. And given the “they should have titles” thing in the story about the pub, she’s not just after the marriage to stay intact, she’s wants something outright for herself and feels emboldened to go for it.

      WTH has been going on over there?

      • Becks1 says:

        I have no clue what is going on at this point, but SOMETHING is afoot. Like we have said, these were the kinds of articles we expected to see back in January/February, but it was radio silence. now they’re popping up on a daily basis.

        one theory – whatever happened in December/January was bad – so bad that Carole actually kept her mouth shut because she was genuinely worried about her daughter.

        now Kate is on the mend and doing better and William is reviving divorce talks, and this is Carole publicly hitting back at those talkes.

      • BlueNailsBetty says:

        @Becks Hard agree on all of this.

  6. Alice B. Tokeless says:

    ‘[Carole] made him feel secure, comfortable and protected and he didn’t have to worry about what he said or be responsible for her emotions,’ she claimed.”

    Very thinly veiled dig at Diana ALLEGEDLY using Will as her emotional support when he was a child. They will never let that lie go.

    • Tessa says:

      Diana was responsible for her.own motions and saw a therapist to get her bulimia under control. Carole is nobody to talk what with her serving William normal food like cheese toast

    • @debbye says:

      I took that as a shot at Won’t. Him being verbally and probably emotionally abusive towards CarolE

  7. Mooney says:

    Why is she being shoved down our throats daily now?

    But you’ve got to give it to her, she infiltrated the RF via her daughter, bagged the future king and Diana’s firstborn, keeping the said prince happy while sucking up to him constantly and managing his household. All while being known as the commoners stock, she became a power player and a rival court of the RF.

    Never going to forget her part in the Meghan smear campaign though. Getting her comeuppance finally.

  8. Nubia says:

    Maybe it finally dawned on him that he got played and he snapped. Its quite an embarrassing story if you look at it as a mother and daughter duo moved mountains to land a Prince. I am sure there were other duos but none quite like Carole and Kate,he fell for scammers and resents them for it.

    • Flower says:

      I think often we talk about how Meghan and Harry made Kate realise that her marriage to William was a sham, but Kate and Carole got exactly what they ordered. They bagged the Prince and heir by manipulation so he never really ended up with Kate of his own volition, but rather because she was there…

      So it could also be argued that William now entering into his 40’s is beginning to feel that he was manipulated. The Rota are trash, but they have always stuck to the Carole manipulated William narrative steadfastly even when Carole herself started feeding them tidbits. So there is a strong possibility that William is now (as men do) rejecting everything that he feels is not ‘his choice’.

      At the end of the day both Kate and William approached this marriage as a business transaction with William being the prize/ trophy, so why are they surprised that is what they got ?

    • aftershocks says:

      ^^ Yep @Nubia, “a mother and daughter duo moved mountains to land a prince…” An apt description which reminds me of the George Villiers saga currently being dramatized in ‘Mary and George,’ on STARZ. It’s about ‘a mother and son duo who schemed to bag a king…’

      Wow, how the monarchy’s history repeats itself. 😳

  9. Sunday says:

    If I’m correct in my Cold War of the Windsors reading, Will and George at the game was Will’s response to the fake story about Will and Carole at the pub. Team Middleton is still desperately trying to appear important to the monarchy, but haven’t made much headway beyond US tabloids and Richard Eden. And I think the Daily Fail is just being messy and stirring the pot to provoke a reaction from Will (very easy work).

    • Nic919 says:

      William was probably always planning to go to the game, but he’s also showing that he’s with the kids, in particular George, future future king and Carole isn’t needed.

  10. Jais says:

    This article is almost as weird as the old Carole is a better mom than Diana mess that was published around the time of the statue unveiling, when William and the midds noticeably became less close. So this article saying they’re close seems like more of Opposite Day. They are not close. But someone wants us to think that they are. I do think they are close with the kids though. But not that Carole and William are close. This gives doth protest too much vibes. And finally they are united in Kate’s happiness and safety. Wtf? Her safety? What does that have to do with cancer? Someone is trying to hint at something. Omid did not attack
    Kate. Please. Was she upset that it was discovered that she was the royal racist? Why bring this up? Shouldn’t they be more concerned about her health? If I was William, I’d be wanting to shut this mixed messaging down. Why can’t he?

    • Dee(2) says:

      Ok glad to see I wasn’t the only one that read that line and thought WTF. It feels like this article is aimed that reminding someone that’s drifting away of all the good times you had, and all the promises you made so don’t you dare back out now.

  11. Alex Can says:

    I wonder if all this isn’t coming from the Middletons at all but if it’s the tabloids trying to provoke William.

  12. Harper says:

    Kate is such a nonentity in these stories that it must mirror what is going on behind the scenes. It feels like CarolE is desperately clinging to the good old days when she was in the royal fold making cheese toast for Willy and not an outcast bankrupt pariah. She doesn’t know how to cope with what is coming in the future with either divorce or an incapacitated daughter so she is flailing, romanticizing her former life. The sudden resurgence of CarolE leaking to the press about her relationship with Willy proves that is where pressure needs to be applied.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Carole has been living through Kate for years and years – all the way back to childhood. Kate was the golden child who paved the way for her siblings to then follow – they were expected not only support their sister but to do as well as her. Everything the Middleton siblings have done has been to please their mother – to achieve her dreams and ambitions. Thats why James flip flops around from failed businesses to failed careers for his BIL – he was never allowed to develop his own sense of self or dreams/ambitions.

      Kate is a non entity because she’s been made to be one – by her own mother no less.

  13. Molly says:

    Prior to her cancer announcement, the swell of speculation was leaning toward the what happened *to* her with the undercurrent of what did *he do*. So they announce the cancer and the mouthpieces jumped on the “you should be ashamed of yourselves for thinking what you were thinking…”

    But let’s say *both* things are true. Something bad did go down, Kate did do a runner with the kids, AND she had some sort of diagnosis. He wasn’t there for the cancer video. He’s still been AWOL. And now Ma Midd is back and seemingly feeling quite herself again… Coincidence or conspiracy?

  14. Lady Digby says:

    We have been getting Charles and Kate are tighter than 2 ticks and now Carole and Will are dueting together? Its all very intriguing? Who is zooming who I wonder?

  15. Lau says:

    I think this resurgence is just Camilla losing her hold on the british media for two days and Carole coming straight back to fill that gap.
    I can’t wait for the time when the Middletons will start saying that THEY raised the heir to the throne and his siblings. They don’t dare just yet.

  16. Teagirl says:

    Gotta love the line ‘…fall in love with someone who happened to be a future king..’
    Sure. She saw him, she loved him, and golly gosh, it’s just like a movie, it turns out he’s a prince! Never saw that coming ….

    • Flower says:

      Skips the part about her postponing her University course to follow William around the world on her ‘gap yar’

      I mean at this point a snarky courtier should suggest that the Midds are given the Bolyen’s old titles just for the sh!ts and giggles it would induce amongst the Royalists and Aristos ….

    • kelleybelle says:

      Kate was little more than a f**k buddy who wouldn’t go away. Fact.

    • Becks1 says:

      Right?!!? They’re trying to make it sound like a Netflix romcom and instead its closer to a thriller.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      It’s bizarre how the same tabloids who dubbed her Waity Katey are now acting like W and K had a fairytale romance.

    • Tessa says:

      The William chose well spin is a riot

  17. Julie says:

    Morally and (if she were anyone else), literally, bankrupt.

    Birds, feathers.

  18. kelleybelle says:

    One word: *barf*

  19. Amy Bee says:

    It is very curious.

  20. Blujfly says:

    James gifts Richard Eden some dog food, Eden makes a public spectacle of making it known he gifted it and that he has that connection, and a week or two later Eden writes an column about how much the Middletown (in contrast to the royals) do for William and Kate and the future of the monarchy and deserve titles. A title that can’t be passed to Pippa and would go to James.

  21. aquarius64 says:

    Carole is seeing that the Middletons’ status will go down the drain if Kate is out of the family either by divorce or death. The kids will be under control of the Windsors, especially George being the future future king. Hence the push for titles and monies via the media. This is a similar tactic by Bad Dad, Scammy and Jr. to use the press to blackmail William, only with more finesse. The Mids are dealing with a family that will have the wherewithall to bring onside the government, the church, and security forces to take them down; for the Middletonare a family of “commoners” with no power. Those factions have a vested interest to keep the Crown going and they are not going to let the descendants of coal miners think they can stay on their necks. In the end the press will side with the Crown.

  22. Mslove says:

    Since Carole is such a hands on mother & grandmother, there’s no need for Peg to WFH. I swear, these people are stupid & lazy.

    • Mary Pester says:

      Oh William what have you done you blabbed to Carol didn’t you, early on in your marriage you blabbed to Carol and she stored those receipts. Didn’t you realise that you didn’t marry Kate. You married her mothers version of Kate, because she is the one who told Kate how to dress, behave, flatter your HUGE ego, and they slowly reeled you in! Bit like a great white meeting nemo 👀👀. I always new you were and are a fool Billy, but I failed to realise just how stupid you really are. You have been told, you can have your mistress (as long as she’s willing to stay your mistress and, ONE the public don’t find out who she is, and TWO, she’s willing to keep her mouth shut), but Carol has told you if you try and divorce bone, the sht is going to hit the fan and your popularity is already down 12 %, guess your stuffed Billy 😂

  23. Izzy says:

    Yeah, well, his first mum is rolling in her grave at what he’s become. Also, pics or this never happened…

  24. Olivia says:

    Omg hahahaha! Kate agreed to cone out of hiding to do the cancer video in exchange for a bunch of things. Planting positive stories about Carole in the press is one of those terms.

    Hahaha, what else did she get! Keep your eyes peeled for any more sudden narratives changes.

  25. Saucy&Sassy says:

    I wonder how Harry leaving affected Billy Idle? Is it possible that he got a jolt, took a look around and realized that Bone Idle and Ma Mids had played him? Didn’t the zoom calls move to another location during 2020? I know some people think it has to do with Billy not knowing about Bone making Meghan cry, but I’ve never been able to buy into that. I think he had an epiphany–probably the only one of his life and never to be repeated.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      I think Harry and Meghan’s healthy and happy relationship really made William see what he had settled for and that made him angry. He wants what HM have but he’s trapped in a sham marriage to a gold digger and her scheming pimpmama.

      Instead of acknowledging that back when this started and acknowledging he had made a mistake, William lashed out at HM.

      Narcissists can’t admit mistakes so they lash out at the people who point out the mistake (or who accidentally reveal a mistake was made).

      Harry has the life William wants and will never have because William is unwilling to make serious changes, course correct, and get to moving forward.

      • Surly Gale says:

        And Pippa has the life Kate wants and will never have because Kate is unwilling to make serious changes, course correct, and get to moving forward.

        Oh what a web we weave, when first we practice to deceive

  26. Reign says:

    One could find a bit of a vague reminder coming from Team Middleton that they are in it together for Kate. Like an unholy alliance with agreed terms and conditions so don’t try to colour outside the lines.

  27. Unblinkered says:

    I’m a cynic, so looking at the latest ‘happenings’ – for me was last week’s, disgraceful, announcement that the Middletons didn’t have the money to pay their administrators. It’s possible this is their riposte to horrifying reminders of them going bust: “I’m still a somebody, the debts were all a long time ago, look how close I remain with W”. Time to get back out front and start brazening it out, which may extend to handholding when KM finally returns to public duties.
    But I can’t fathom why W is going along with it.

  28. QuiteContrary says:

    Omd Scobie didn’t attack Kate. That’s also ridiculous.

  29. Belinda says:

    I totally agree with the posters who said Carole knows Willys secrets and has receipts. And I think she got some of those receipts through creepy Uncle Gary. Maison de Bang Bang could have quite easily have had hidden cameras imo. And when Waity and Billy visited before they were married, who knows what went down? Hard drugs? Threesomes with hookers? It’s not like Kate wasn’t desperate to do anything that Billy wanted, she was a doormat and mattress. And Uncle Gary was documented cutting up coke, and offering to get prostitutes for the undercover reporters. And Uncle Gary was into tech, in a time when tech was more niche and specialised, and could easily have done an Epstein with secret recordings. And he informed Carole and she did a secret squirrel, didn’t say a word, but kept it all for a rainy day, and that rainy day is now here. Billy has been sucker punched recently as the gloves are off imo. Would explain the rage, weird vibes, odd pieces in the Daily Fail, and Billy realises that Carole has really really screwed him. I personally couldn’t give a damn if Willy and Waity did a line of coke whilst having a threesome or orgy, but Middle England would be clutching their pearls and having a coronary if this sort of thing got out. Carole has him by the goodies and he knows it, and she’s making sure he knows it. Imo of course

  30. Liz says:

    Diana would have loathed scheming Carole. And I think she’d have liked cool
    Doria.