Camilla Parker-Bowles and Kate Middleton share the unusual distinction of marrying into the royal family.
Now known as the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge, Camilla and Kate will one day be Queen consort’s of England alongside their respective spouses and future kings, Prince Charles and Prince William.
But according to a royal insider, Camilla was less than impressed with William’s choice of wife, leading to a long running royal rift between the Duchesses.
And if this video is anything to go by, the feud continues…
WATCH to see Camilla tell Kate off for talking out of turn!
Camilla – who finally tied the knot with the Queen’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, in 2005 after decades of scandal and the breakdown of his marriage to Princess Diana – was unsure about her step son-in-law’s decision to marry Catherine Middleton, his college sweetheart from his time at the University of St Andrews, because of her family pedigree.
Kate was born into an upper-middle class family with historic links to the British royal family through her father Michael’s side.
Her childhood was privileged, particularly after Michael and his wife Carole launched a party decorations supply company 1987 which is worth an estimated $54.5 million AUD.
But despite her well-heeled upbringing, Christopher Andersen – royal author of the 2016 book Game of Crowns – claims Camilla felt Kate was “too common” to be part of the royal family, Express.co.uk reports.
Mr Andersen researched Kate’s relationship with her step mother-in-law, as well as the Duchesses’ dynamic with Queen Elizabeth II, which led him to sensationally declare that Camilla attempted to instigate a split between William and Kate.
“Camilla is a bit of a snob,” Mr Andersen says.
“She’s an aristocrat – she has always been moving in royal circles,” presumably in reference to her first marriage to Brigadier Andrew Parker-Bowles and her adulterous affair with Prince Charles.
“She had always thought of herself as the heiress to Alice Keppel, her great-grandmother, who was the mistress of King Edward VII.”
The Duchess of Cornwall reportedly looked down on Kate, who she saw as a “working-class woman”.
“[Kate] is decided from coal miners and her mother was a flight attendant,” Mr Andersen notes.
“I was told at the time of Kate and William [short] breakup, and later on as well, that Camilla basically whispered in Charles’ ear that it was really time to make – to force – William to make a decision one way or the other.”
And it seems other members of the royal family were equally concerned about William and Kate’s relationship.
After the Cambridges temporary split in 2007, the Queen’s husband Prince Philip reportedly pulled his grandson aside to tell him he “cannot keeping stringing Kate along forever”, Express.co.uk reveals.
Queen Elizabeth agreed, telling Prince William a “five-year courtship is long enough”.
But William disregarded his reigning grandparents and held out until 2010, when he finally proposed to Kate whilst on holiday in Kenya.
Nearly 10 years later, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – future King and Queen consort of England – live between Kensington Palace and Norfolk’s Anmer Hall, with their three children Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 4 and one-year-old Prince Louis.
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