Prince William keeps his family close — including wife Princess Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.
“[William] was given another family with Carole and Michael Middleton from a very early age,” royal expert Robert Jobson told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting his new book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, set to be released on Tuesday, August 6.
Despite some ups and downs during the early days in William and Kate’s relationship, her parents “still stayed very loyal to him,” the author added. “I think he counts on Carole and Michael very much as his second mom and dad, really.”
In his new book, Jobson, 60, writes about the importance of William and Kate’s 2022 move to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, just a stone’s throw away from Windsor Castle.
“Although their offices and staff remain at Kensington Palace, the move from London suits the lifestyle of their growing family,” Jobson writes, noting that William and Kate’s “low-key life” is working for them.
Discussing the move with Us, Jobson explained that living in Adelaide Cottage also allowed William and Kate, both 42, to be “closer” to King Charles III as well as Carole, 69, and Michael, 75.
“That helps an awful lot. I think that she’s very family orientated, always has been,” Jobson told Us, before referencing the late Princess Diana. “In that respect, I think [it] has helped William, who — like Prince Harry — struggled with the loss of his mother.”
Jobson went on to say that, from his perspective, William learned a lot about being a parent from his own family, but it was Carole and Michael who demonstrated “that whole idea of how important the family unit is and must stay at the core of everything they do.”
In Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Jobson writes that being married to Kate “has helped William to understand his father better” as she “can open William’s eyes to other points of view like no other.”
Like William with her parents, Kate has her own close relationship with the king as his daughter-in-law.
“He often refers to Catherine as his ‘beloved daughter-in-law’ in public and says she is the daughter he never had,” Jobson writes. “He always greets her with a loving kiss and her unique strength is not lost on him. They share a close bond and are often photographed together sharing a laugh and a joke.”
Jobson told Us that Kate has been “brilliant” with facilitating the relationship between Charles, William and their little family, which includes kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
“She’s great at being the hub, the conduit to good relations,” he said of Kate, adding that the Princess of Wales makes sure that Charles, 75, “gets to see his grandchildren as regularly as possible.”
He continued: “I think the king absolutely adores her. You can see his eyes light up when he sees her. … I think he really does adore her actually as the daughter he never had.”
Get more exclusive insight into Robert Jobson’s Catherine, the Princess of Wales in this week’s new issue of Us Weekly.
