'Insistent' Prince William's demand for Carole Middleton at King's Coronation
There was one thing that Prince William was totally "insistent" on when it came to King Charles' Coronation, and it involved his mother-in-law Carole Middleton, a new royal book has claimed.
The book, Charles III: The Inside Story by Robert Hardman, states that William wouldn't budge on his demand over the attendance of Kate's family and how they would be included on the big day.
The Prince of Wales was reportedly so adamant that there was no choice but to grant his request And in Hardman's view, this decision shows just how much things have really changed within the Royal Family since the start of the late Queen Elizabeth's reign, which lasted 70 years.
The author wrote that Prince William made a "direct request" that the Middleton family be in attendance and seated in a pretty high-profile position. Hardman noted that this was in direct contrast to some of the old guard of the extended Royal Family, with the Queen Mother's family - the Bowes Lyons - having only two members there to represent them.
The journalist also pointed out in the book that the Mountbattens - Prince Philip's family - were only represented by Countess Mountbatten, with other relatives left off the guest list entirely. Even Lady Pamela Hicks, one of the former members of the Royal Household under the late Queen, got snubbed.
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However, Michael and Carole Middleton, as well as Kate's two siblings - James and Pippa - were invited to the big day that officially marked the start of the new reign.
This was a "direct request from the Prince of Wales himself," Hardman wrote, quoting an anonymous source saying: "'Having all of them there was very important to him... he was absolutely insistent that his wife's family be properly included.'"
Hardman says that this encapsulated just how much the Royal Family had changed since Queen Elizabeth's own Coronation in 1953 when it had been controversial that the Mountbattens played an influential role in the monarchy. "Such are the shifting sands," the book reads, "that, seventy years on, the Middletons outnumber the Mountbattens four to one."
It has long been reported that King Charles is keen to adopt a slimmed-down monarchy - in line with many of the other European royal houses. This would mean fewer working royals, who are funded by the taxpayer, to ensure that the House of Windsor is as inexpensive for the public as possible - and in line with the modern world.
The fresh claims come after the Middleton family was recently dramatised in the final series of Netflix's The Crown, in a depiction of Carole in particular which one member of their extended family decried as "evil".
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