Original subtitles

NARRATOR: She's the princess that captured the hearts of a nation.

It's almost like she was born to do this job.

Kate Middleton has risen from the girl next door

to become one of the most influential women in the world.

There's something quite romantic -

this commoner, you know, becoming a princess.

But who is the woman behind the royal veil?

With first-hand testimony from those who know her best...

The Princess of Wales, she's got inner steel,

and she's not going to be walked all over.

..this is a unique insight into the real Kate...

I think undoubtedly, her own experience as someone

who did suffer to a degree at the hands of bullies.

..and how she's reshaping the monarchy

through sheer grit and steel.

What we're witnessing is a "Middleton-isation"

of the royal family.

KATE: And so you're the volunteers for this evening?

WOMAN: Right. Are you ready?

She is changing the way the royal family raises children.

Facing great challenges.

This girl was being harassed in exactly the same way

that Princess Diana was.

Triumphing over adversity.

Concerns and conversations

about how dark his skin might be when he's born.

The alleged racist comments just blew open a huge race row,

and that was just so incredibly damaging.

Dealing with tragedy...

The death of Queen Elizabeth, particularly, changed everything

for Princess Kate.

Now she really is Queen-in-waiting.

..and her own personal battles.

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has been admitted to hospital.

I was convinced that something very seriously was wrong with her.

These were very dangerous times for the monarchy.

There was absolutely no sense of what was to come.

Tests after the operation found cancer had been present.

Kate has now become the one true princess of the people.

AMERICAN REPORTER: And here we are,

the appearance of Her Royal Highness.

I remember her coming into Centre Court

and sitting in the royal box, and the roar of the crowd.

CHEERING

I think there was a collective "phew" from the nation.

Kate has changed, potentially,

the face and future of the British monarchy.

She came from a regular middle class family.

She wasn't from these aristocratic circles.

..a fairy tale comes true.

It's destined for them to be together.

TOM BRADBY: Very soon, Kate Middleton could be

one of the most famous women in the world.

But it comes at a price.

There were hordes of media,

and you could see Catherine being pursued relentlessly.

After eight years, Kate becomes a princess.

This is the moment. She is the future queen.

And everything changes for the Duchess of Cambridge

with the arrival of Meghan.

It's such exciting news,

and it's really happy time for any couple,

and we wish them all the best.

That idea of this new Fab Four is incredibly appealing.

That's a snapshot of what the future is going to look like,

and doesn't it look bright?

It was the Kate and William Show,

and then suddenly, this force of nature takes over.

CROWD SHOUT: Merry Christmas!

Before Meghan arrived,

William, Catherine and Harry were working very closely together.

But then the fourth figure arrived.

At the beginning, when Meghan first came into the family,

it was the four of them.

They were very much established as the Fab Four.

They were billed as, you know, the next generation of the monarchy.

Everyone was very, very excited about it.

This was really a profound sign of the future of the royal family,

that there were young people who could link

themselves to a generation who had no interest in royal family.

At the Fab Four's first official engagement,

Meghan joins the charity foundation

previously led by Kate, William and Harry.

We all thought this was the start of the Fab Four,

and it just, clearly,

was the beginning of something very different.

REPORTER: It was the moment that three officially became four,

and it was inevitable that Meghan would be centre stage.

Because of that togetherness,

because you had so many different organisations under this umbrella,

and each of them shining this spotlight on it.

She put both William and Harry to shame

in the way she delivered her speech,

with the poise and professionalism of a trained actress.

Catherine got the hierarchical situation,

whereas Megan really didn't.

Four heads are better than one.

Well, and thank goodness we're such differing personalities,

and that everyone's very communicative,

because that's how you can really see bigger change.

She didn't seem to get the hierarchy.

William was obviously the main man, but then she took the role.

And I think that they all thought, "Well, hang on,

"we were here before you, and you're taking over."

Now, that may be wrong,

but there was definitely some friction there.

You could see it in the room.

And I have to ask you,

all the work you do together is great,

but working together as family,

do you ever have disagreements about things?

THEY LAUGH Oh, yes.

LAUGHTER

HARRY: Healthy... Healthy disagreements.

The last thing you disagreed on, how did you resolve it?

Er... I can't remember. They come so thick and fast.

LAUGHTER

But is it resolved? We don't know.

We don't know! Well, you're putting on a great show, if it's not.

No, but it's really... I think it's really good that we've got...

RICHARD KAY: One wondered what this meant

about the dynamic behind the scenes.

And what we now know is that William

had been cautioning his brother to slow down.

He was rushing headlong into marriage.

"Take a leaf out of my book, old boy. I took ten years."

Harry was very keen for Kate to sort of fall in love with Meghan.

I mean, he adored Kate

and really wanted her approval, but...

they are very, very different people.

Meghan Markle is born and bred

out of the entertainment scene in Hollywood.

She knows what it takes to deliver to the media.

CAMERAMAN: Give me that gorgeous smile.

There it is! PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOUT

In Los Angeles, it's all focused around Hollywood.

It's all focused around fame.

Everyone's very aggressive about that,

and I think that Meghan's experience

doing Suits and being an actress,

climbing up the ladder,

you've got to be quite pushy.

And of course, that doesn't really resonate with the Brits as much.

We don't do things in the same way,

particularly in the sphere of the royal family,

which is obviously so uniquely British.

The difference between Kate and Meghan is absolutely clear cut.

CROWD CHEERS

Kate comes from a British background,

grows up in the country,

has adopted a role as a member of the royal family,

whereas Meghan was a Hollywood actress.

The two women come from very different backgrounds

and were never expected to be friends.

CHRIS SHIP: Like it or not, it's getting very hard in Windsor

to avoid the preparations for the royal wedding,

be that the bunting on every street,

the red, white and blue in the shop fronts,

or the newly tarmacked roads.

There will be no potholes for Harry and Meghan's carriage.

NARRATOR: Whilst the wedding preparations

look picture-perfect on the outside,

things are not running so smoothly inside the palace.

The run-up to Harry and Meghan's wedding was very fraught.

Behind the scenes, it was all unravelling.

Catherine's just given birth,

and Meghan's about to get married to Prince Harry.

I mean, this is a very volatile situation.

Charlotte's a bridesmaid. George is a page.

There's a big hoo-ha over the length of the bridesmaids' dresses.

All the norm, I suppose, for the build-up to a royal wedding,

but not particularly helpful for Kate and Meghan,

who are, certainly for Harry,

trying to have some sort of a friendship.

JULIE ETCHINGHAM: The Duchess of Cambridge,

the mums helping the bridesmaids.

Simple bridesmaids' dresses.

The dresses didn't really fit the bridesmaids properly,

and both women brought this up to the designer.

But there was some disagreement that upset Meghan.

And Catherine, who had just given birth to Prince Louis

and was quite emotional,

went round to Meghan's

to apologise, with flowers.

CROWD CHEER

After the wedding, the story is leaked to a newspaper,

which reports that Kate had been left in tears.

It was embarrassing for her,

because it's her daughter, Charlotte,

suddenly becoming the centre of a story.

You know, private, personal, involving a child.

It's the sort of airing of dirty linen

that Kate would find very, very unsavoury.

CROWD CHEERS

Since their engagement, Meghan and Harry have been living

at Kensington Palace with Kate and William.

But behind the gates, divisions grow.

William was in charge of everybody at Kensington Palace,

so Harry and Meghan's staff reported to William.

Kate started to hear about

very early emails,

demands being made about this or that.

Some female member of staff had the temerity

to give Harry a Christmas present and was dressed down by Meghan.

Kate took it very personally, because these were staff

that her and William have had for years.

You know, they love them.

You could see things falling apart.

Everybody wanted this soap opera.

These four young people who are seen to represent all our futures

suddenly were no longer close,

were no longer even on speaking terms.

You were then seeing sides being taken

around who they liked and who they didn't.

And I'm afraid Megan fitted a role -

the wicked pantomime princess that was taking on Snow White.

This sort of power struggle seemed to emerge between the two camps.

Harry and Meghan felt that Kate and William's office

were briefing against them.

I cannot speak for other journalists,

but in my experience,

their office bent over backwards not to.

Kate's response to it was to make sure

that there was no active briefing against Meghan.

Her way has always been to rise above it,

to keep calm and carry on,

and she surrounds herself with a very select group

of loyal friends who never talk.

But Kate's silence isn't enough to prevent a shocking decision.

After spending the holidays in Canada,

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are back home in England,

and today, they shocked the world with a bombshell announcement.

Harry and Meghan are stepping back from royal life

and setting up a new home in North America.

Harry and Meghan choosing to leave the royal family

was essentially forcing William and Kate,

with three very young children, to step up,

in a way that they just weren't yet expecting.

More and more has fallen on her slim shoulders,

and the expectation has risen almost too much,

it seems to me.

How did Kate respond to that pressure?

How she responds to anything - she steps up,

she rises to the occasion,

and she just gets on with it.

As Meghan steps back, Kate steps forward,

ramping up her charity work.

But as things appear to be settling down,

Kate's life is suddenly thrown into turmoil once more

by an explosive interview.

OPRAH: Whoa!

50 million viewers worldwide tune in

to hear Prince Harry and Meghan

talk with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

More than a bump!

So, rumours about you being "Hurricane Meghan",

for the departure of several high-profile Palace staff members.

OK. And there was also a story,

did you hear this one, about you making Kate Middleton cry?

No, the reverse happened,

and I don't say that to be disparaging to anyone,

because it was a really hard week of the wedding,

and she was upset about something,

but she owned it, and she apologised,

and she brought me flowers and a note, apologising.

And there was a was a confrontation over the... the dresses.

It wasn't a confrontation. And I actually think it's...

I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that

because she apologised... OK.

..and I've forgiven her.

Oprah never questioned any of the claims that were made.

I thought it was one of the worst pieces of journalism I've ever seen.

As the interview continues,

Meghan makes a damaging allegation relating to her unborn son.

He won't be given security, he's not gonna be given a title.

And also concerns and conversations

about how dark his skin might be when he's born.

What?

There is a conversation... Hold up, hold up.

There are several conversations. There's a conversation with you...

With Harry.

..about how dark your baby is going to be?

Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.

Hoo.

And you're not gonna tell me who had the conversation?

I think that would be very damaging to them. OK.

It was all sorts of speculation as to who these people might be.

This is clearly a huge story.

The telephones would be going off the hook.

AMERICAN NEWSREADER: Meanwhile, the tabloids are also weighing in.

Some headlines say it is the worst crisis

the monarchy has faced in decades.

You're almost in a bunker, and you just want to draw up the drawbridge.

The alleged racist comments just blew open a huge race row,

not just here in Britain, but around the world.

That was just so incredibly damaging.

JOURNALIST: Is the royal family a racist family, sir?

WILLIAM:

The Queen is breaking her silence

in the wake of Oprah Winfrey's bombshell interview

with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the Queen,

saying... READS STATEMENT

"While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously

"and will be addressed by the family privately."

Buckingham Palace is forced to respond to the allegation of racism

made by Harry and Meghan in the Oprah interview,

breaking with the Queen's tradition of "never explain".

It was quite a significant pushback

against Harry and Meghan's narrative,,

and the phrase that was really seized on

as doing that job, was this phrase, "Recollections may vary."

It just sowed this seed of doubt in people's minds

about what Harry and Meghan had said.

You're pretty much calling someone a liar.

You're saying, "That's not true, that's not my perspective."

It was actually Kate who played a very key role

in coming up with this phrase.

The fact that she has such a prominent voice

for such a monumentous statement

is testament to the power that she had

and the trust she gained with the Queen.

It wasn't easy for Kate behind the scenes,

with everything that was going on.

They may be sort of public figures, but they're also a family.

They've got their own, sort of, personal problems as well.

Kate now finds herself juggling

the broken bond between William and Harry

and nurturing the relationship with William and his father.

The two men haven't always been close.

I think "tricky" would be the best way

to describe the relationship.

I mean, it is up and down.

The fact is, Charles was always closer to Harry

when his sons were growing up

and had a much more strained relationship

with his heir, William.

They've both got trigger tempers.

They can fly off the handle.

There have been times when things have been very difficult

between Charles and William.

MAN: A little closer. Pretend you know each other.

LAUGHTER

Kate and Charles get on well. There's no doubt about it.

You know, he calls her "my beloved daughter-in-law".

He doesn't use these epithets unless he really means them.

And I think there is a real special connection between the two of them.

She's got an interest in some of the things that he has.

William has no interest in many of Charles's foibles

and passions and fascinations.

The two of them have got a lot of things in common,

Charles and Kate -

art, music, gardening, theatre.

CHARLES: It's all gone sideways anyway, so... Argh!

Kate has proved to be a key intersection

between William and his father,

which has allowed the relationship to get back

a bit more on an even keel.

Seeing a yawning gap between the King and his son,

she knows that that is not good for the well-being of the monarchy.

A month has passed since the Oprah interview,

and as the royal family returned to an even keel,

they're struck by another blow.

You're watching BBC News.

We have just received a statement from Buckingham Palace

confirming that the Duke of Edinburgh has died.

The loss of the Duke of Edinburgh, who was just such a uniting figure,

changed the dynamic a lot for the royal family.

When Harry flies home for the funeral,

there are hopes of a reconciliation.

The brothers clearly had not been speaking.

After the bombshell Oprah interview,

the tensions were, you know, very, very high.

Kate takes on the role of peacemaker.

She was very keen to try and see William and Harry patch things up

and sort this fractured relationship out.

You see her power and her role.

She brings people together. She doesn't like conflict.

It's this complete, yeah, peacemaker role.

And you see her really orchestrating

that conversation between the two brothers.

This was the first time they'd come together,

and you actually saw her almost physically bring them together

so that they could have a conversation.

I don't think that was for the cameras, either.

I think that was so that the ice was broken.

Kate had had seized an opportunity

to allow her husband and her brother-in-law,

perhaps to try and find some common ground

and sort of pull back from the brink.

Despite Kate's best efforts, it isn't enough.

Rather than be reunited, the brothers quarrelled.

They quarrelled in front of their father.

Their father begged for peace.

He said he didn't want this terrible row

between the two of them.

He begged them to try and sort things out,

but that clearly wasn't going to happen.

There are two images from the funeral

that really just hit home with the public.

One of them was Catherine in the car.

The eyes are looking directly at you,

and it's just this sort of "wow" moment

of her coming into her power.

It's one of the most stunning images of Catherine.

Very solemn, too, but just the strength that's exuded from it.

And then we have, of course, the fragility of the late Queen,

alone, because of all the restrictions

that were in place at the time.

In the aftermath of the funeral, Kate realises

there is something she can do for the Queen

in her time of mourning.

For her annual Christmas carol concert,

she decides to perform the song For Those Who Can't Be Here

in Philip's memory.

She recruits the song's writer, Tom Walker,

and puts in a call to an old friend in Bucklebury.

I was giving a lesson in my music room,

and my wife took a call from somebody saying,

"Hello, my name's Catherine.

"I think you know my parents, who live near you."

And then after a few seconds,

Sandra realised who she was talking to

and said, "I think he'll come and talk to you. It's fine."

It was lovely that she chose me to do the arrangement for her.

She could have gone to Elton John,

but she came to me because it's a normal thing for her.

MUSIC: 'For Those Who Can't Be Here' by Tom Walker

# We put the lights up on the tree

# And all the presents underneath Light the fire... #

It was amazing. I think it was amazing that she did it.

That was the fantastic thing.

I mean, she was miles out of her comfort zone,

but the very fact that she was prepared to play the piano

in front of an audience,

which she knew would be worldwide millions,

I think was an amazing achievement.

# Banter flows Praying no-one rocks the boat

# But I know... #

And then she sat down and played the piano.

It was genuinely amazing.

I was so impressed. I didn't know she was that good.

And it was a really quite difficult piece of music.

# For those who can't be here... #

We have seen this evolution of her allowing us in,

just that little bit more.

And good on her. I was very impressed at her confidence,

and good on her for doing that.

# For those who can't be here. #

We have some very important news.

Buckingham Palace has just announced

that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died.

BELL TOLLS

The death of Queen Elizabeth II,

the longest-reigning monarch in British history,

heralds a period of mourning for the country.

The death of Queen Elizabeth

absolutely changed everything for the royal family.

We lost our matriarch.

We lost the grandmother of the nation.

We lost this beacon of stability that we had.

I think the death of the Queen was absolutely enormous.

I mean, this has been a woman, an icon,

who, for most of us,

she was the only monarch that we knew.

It was an extraordinary time.

The Queen's passing comes at a time of great turbulence

in the House of Windsor.

Obviously, the focus was on Queen Elizabeth

and paying tribute to her,

but there was also this other narrative that was going on as well

because of the fallout between William and Kate

and Harry and Meghan,

that had become by that time very, very high profile.

And seeing the four of them together

was, of course, something that we hadn't seen for a very long time,

and certainly not since we had known all about the difficulties

that had gone on behind the scenes.

WOMAN: Sorry for your loss. Thank you very much.

WOMAN: Sorry for your loss.

Thank you so much. Thanks for being here.

And so there was a huge amount of scrutiny and focus

around how the four of them interacted.

Thank you for coming down today to pay your respects.

MAN: God bless you. Thank you very much. Hello.

Lots of things were kind of read into

very small interactions that may or may not have had meaning,

but that was symptomatic of the huge spotlight that was on,

and continues to be on, the relationship between these four.

Amongst the family drama,

Kate maintains a dignified public face.

I think Catherine always represents this sort of...

absolute image of what a royal should look like.

It's forward-facing.

She has this same continuity that the Queen has, in a way,

that the royal family need to represent,

particularly in times of turmoil for them.

Well, she was the glue, really,

that kept the royal family together at that very difficult time.

But this steely resolve is about to be tested once again.

NETFLIX JINGLE

A documentary series is released by Harry and Meghan on Netflix.

The Netflix... expose, for want of a better word,

where Meghan and Harry poured out all their pain,

must have surprised the household.

It was visceral. It...

There was a sort of perverse bitterness at the centre of that.

Anybody looking at it from a family perspective

must have been pretty shocked at the... at the accusations.

No-one knows the full truth. Erm... We know the full truth.

The institution knows the full truth,

and the media know the full truth, cos they've been in on it.

When I think about those interviews

and that grenade that was literally thrown into the room,

I mean, it was like a bomb going off.

And it's unprecedented.

They would literally have been thinking,

"Now what do we do?"

Cos there's no plan for this. They've never had this happen.

And it's one of their own - it's a member of the royal family.

In the controversial series,

Harry goes further than he did in the Oprah interview,

this time seemingly taking aim at his sister-in-law.

I think for so many people in the family,

especially, obviously the men,

there can be a temptation or an urge

to marry someone who would fit the mould

as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.

The difference between making decisions with your head

or your heart.

When you're looking at a PR war,

people look for ordnance.

They look for ordnance that can be can be used

to be fired at the opposition.

The idea that Kate fits the mould,

of course it's going to be painful to hear.

It was a vindictive war

between a group of people who were described as the Fab Four.

Harry picked up on the point

that this was all about a marriage of convenience,

rather than a marriage of love.

I don't know who he was referring to.

This is not the 1600s and Henry VIII,

who had to marry because of wars and diplomatic relations.

This is a lovely middle-class lass

who fell in love with a prince.

I think a lot of people believed in the truth that, in fact,

William had actually found love at university

by someone who'd even thought about whether she would engage.

There was a hiatus.

And they moved through the gears.

MEGHAN: Even when Will and Kate came over

and I had met her for the first time...

They came over for dinner.

I remember I was in ripped jeans, and I was barefoot.

Like, I was a hugger.

I've always been a hugger.

I didn't realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.

I guess I'd started to understand very quickly

that the formality on the outside

carried through on the inside.

That there is a forward-facing way of being,

and then you close the door and you go, "Oh, great.

"OK, we can relax now."

But that formality carries over on both sides,

and that was surprising to me.

The comments about Kate being cold

was obviously used by Meghan because she wants to score points.

She wanted to win a PR war.

Certainly fitted the narrative

that there was a huge sort of battle going on between households.

I know that Kate and William were deeply hurt

over what Harry and Meghan said,

but...

..they remained dignified.

Stay classy. It's much better in the long term.

However hard it may be, however painful it may be.

The accusations in the Netflix documentary

are followed a month later

by further allegations from the House of Sussex.

Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, has finally hit the shelves.

Harry was given an enormous book-deal advance,

and the name of the game is to sell books.

So, clearly, the relationship had broken down.

The two brothers had fallen apart.

The two wives had fallen apart.

Here was his opportunity to actually drive home his narrative.

Alongside the launch of Spare,

Harry gives an insight into the content of his book

in an exclusive interview with ITV.

It's watched by 4.6 million people.

This book takes things to a whole new level,

because it's a complete account of your life.

I think I do have to start with a simple question,

which is why? Why have you written it?

Because it's my story to tell.

Spare was a publishing phenomenon and, you know, an absolute bombshell

in terms of the impact that it had.

After the Netflix docuseries, after the Oprah interview,

all of which sort of had us picking our jaws up off the floor,

we kind of wondered how bad Spare was going to be.

In the contentious book,

Harry continues where his Netflix documentary series left off,

accusing Kate of being hostile to his new wife.

Harry was not particularly complimentary about Kate.

TOM BRADBY: At one stage, Harry recounts a clear-the-air meeting

involving him, William, Kate and Meghan.

It seems to have gone so badly wrong

that he describes Kate as gripping the edges of the leather chairs

so tightly that her fingers were white.

Kate says she's owed an apology from Meghan,

who previously put a moment of Kate's forgetfulness

down to so-called "baby brain."

According to Harry, Kate tells Meghan

they're not close enough to talk that way,

and William says that's not what's done here in Britain.

That conversation, that excruciating conversation

where he accuses Kate of saying to Meghan,

"You don't know me well enough to talk about my ovaries." I mean...

It's the first time Kate was really pulled into the drama

that has identified Harry and Meghan.

It just put her in such an unkind light.

I mean, it was just hugely damaging -

hugely damaging.

NARRATOR: Kate and the royals are dealing with the fallout

from the publication of Harry's autobiography.

Its extraordinary allegations about her

are causing a worldwide media storm.

Prince Harry is a bit of a troublemaker.

The memoir is out today.

Prince Harry, this book is out now. It's called Spare.

Stop it! From Prince Harry's point of view, of course,

intimate details are emerging from his bombshell book, Spare.

In the book, Harry recalls a tense exchange between Meghan,

sister-in-law Kate Middleton, and brother Prince William.

Harry knew what he was doing. He knew that he had to make...

They knew he couldn't just write a bland book, he knew that,

otherwise they wouldn't be giving him

the multi-millions he's made out of it. He knows that.

And so he was quite prepared to sell them all down the river.

The book implicates Kate

in a hugely controversial moment in Harry's life,

when he and his now sister-in-law were in their 20s.

One of the more specific allegations

that were made in Prince Harry's memoir

was that it was Catherine who encouraged him

to choose the Nazi uniform in that now infamous incident.

If we go back to the Nazi uniform

bought, or hired,

from a Gloucestershire fancy dress department, it was...

It made all the news.

What was spun in the book

was the person who influenced that was Kate.

Which clearly was pretty damaging

because there was this sort of innocent young boy,

the sort of, to a certain extent, the plaything

of his brother and sister-in-law.

Harry, who just seems to need to blame someone for everything

that happens to him in his life.

So yeah, he really... Well, he sort of dragged her under the bus,

along with everyone else.

The accusations made against her

leave Kate, and those close to her, reeling.

I was staggered by Harry writing what he did in Spare.

He didn't have to include that in Spare.

He didn't have to do and say any of that.

I have no doubt Kate will find them hurtful and upsetting

and possibly felt that she'd been slightly betrayed.

But, on saying that,

because of the relationship she had with Harry,

I think she will still be the one that wants to see it fixed.

William is very, very protective of his wife,

very protective of his wife.

Don't ever do anything to cross her.

And I don't think he will ever speak to his brother again

because of what Harry said about Kate in Spare.

Despite the fallout and how damaging those allegations were,

it was still the strategy out of the Palace

that they should not dignify any of this with a comment,

to let it run its course.

As Meghan and Harry continue their media offensive,

Kate and William remain silent,

a strategy that pays off.

CROWD CHEER

She and, in fact, William

were really enjoying a lot of positive media,

aided and abetted by all the mistakes

Harry, and particularly Meghan, were making.

They stood back.

They said very little.

They just got on with the job.

I think that Kate understands what her role is.

She understands what's happening around her.

During this time,

with Harry and Meghan dominating the front pages,

Kate makes the decision to change her PR team.

But anybody who is battered by the media

and realise they're not in control,

you need tough people alongside you to help you.

CHEERING

BRASS BAND: 'God Save The King'

NEWSREADER: For a man who's made a career out of biding his time,

the moment had finally come.

The ascension of Charles to King marks a significant shift for Kate

as she moves one step closer to the Crown.

Kate looked incredible at the King's Coronation.

She wore the robes of the Royal Victorian Order,

which were red and blue,

so she was wearing the colours of the national flag.

She wore earrings that belonged to Princess Diana.

Obviously a subtle nod to William's mother.

And she wore a beautiful crystal headpiece.

It was a very powerful image, I think.

We hadn't really seen Kate in royal robes before,

and suddenly, everybody saw her in a new light.

I think everybody realised that they were looking at a future queen.

We see her kind of step into this space

that was left by THE matriarch,

and Catherine is the natural fit for that.

One of the things which underpins the royal family,

and has done for... really, for a century,

has been this idea that there's a dominant matriarchal figure.

And the person we'll now be thinking of in that role will be Kate.

She is also expected to inhabit her new title, The Princess of Wales.

With Catherine beside him,

our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know,

continue to inspire and lead our national conversations,

helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground

where vital help can be given.

Obviously, the last Princess of Wales

was this iconic global superstar.

I'm only trying to highlight a problem

that's going on all around the world.

And to fill those boots is enormous.

There has really only ever been one Princess of Wales

in recent, modern times, and that was Princess Diana.

And inevitably, it was going to mean

the contrast would start to come between her and Diana.

And I think Kate's been aware of this for many years.

When she first appeared on the scene,

she wasn't very keen on the idea of having that title.

And, you know, thankfully, it didn't happen immediately.

And by the time she became Princess of Wales,

she was probably ready for that role.

Looks delicious. Thank you so much. It's a real honour to be here.

Long before being bestowed with this iconic title,

through her charity work, Kate has already cemented herself

as a new 21st century people's princess.

Hi. Are you on duty today?

What Catherine really understands

is the convening power of the royal family,

and the power that she has to bring a focus

and the global spotlight to certain causes.

She is immensely on top of everything that she covers

because she's immensely passionate about it.

So that's what happens, really.

The passion leaks into the subject.

With her new role comes a new test for the unflappable princess.

This is the new bombshell book

that's been dominating the headlines.

Endgame is the controversial inside story of royal rivalries,

which dishes out fresh allegations,

and some familiar ones, too, about the royal family

and their relationships with the Sussexes.

And we're joined now by the book's author, Omid Scobie.

Good morning.

I knew this book would be controversial.

It obviously goes into areas

that I think that often royal correspondents shy away from,

whether it's conversations around race

or, of course, the relationship between the press and the Palace.

The revealing book deals a hammer blow

to Kate and the royals,

elaborating on allegations made by Meghan

during the explosive Oprah interview two years previously.

In those months when I was pregnant,

so we have in tandem the conversation of,

he won't be given security, he's not gonna be given a title.

And also concerns and conversations

about how dark his skin might be when he's born.

What?

There was a leaked excerpt from the Dutch edition,

which, the names of the royals who had allegedly made the comments

about the colour of then unborn Archie's skin,

revealed it to be the Princess of Wales and the King.

The Sussexes do not feed him information.

Omid is not a mouthpiece for them.

He is not part and parcel of their inner circle.

He does not brief the media on their behalf.

So how he, with authority, can say, allegedly,

who these two members of the royal family were?

I genuinely don't know.

Anybody who follows it, knows Omid Scobie...

where his allegiances lie.

On the BBC's Newsnight,

the author claims the naming of Kate and the King

is due to a translation error.

The English version of the book, the only one I know,

the version that I signed off on,

that is the book that is out there today.

That's the book that has no names in it.

And I make it very clear

because, ultimately, to write the names,

it's a show-and-tell situation.

There's no ability to show.

So there was never an attempt to name.

The damage is immediately felt by the Palace.

I think we sort of forget the impact it had

post Spare, post the Netflix docuseries.

Even if people didn't read the book, they certainly read the headlines,

because the headlines, we continue to talk about today.

So, for Catherine, the Princess of Wales,

the suggestion that she was, along with the King,

the royal who'd made the alleged comments

about Archie's skin colour,

is hugely damaging,

devastating for her.

NARRATOR: Kate and the monarchy are engulfed in negative headlines

following the release of the explosive book Endgame.

Nobody in the public arena

wants to have false information put out in the public about them.

Whether you're a princess or whether you're...

a person behind a checkout, it's horrible.

And your family read it, your friends read it.

And social media is the worst.

I think we've all been victims of blatantly untrue smearing,

you know, untruths on social media.

It's awful.

You see the chatter on social media,

you see the surge of conversation out of North America

who never understand the royal family.

Their view of the royal family

is through things like the Crown, rather than that.

Of course there's going to be negativity.

You know, I think the public

very protectively rallied around her, and the King,

knowing that neither of them are racist.

I've never seen a family...

..more pro other nationalities,

people of all colours, people of all backgrounds.

So, they are the least racist family I have ever worked for.

Of course it created a kerfuffle.

Of course it created negative headlines.

It didn't sustain

because it came from a person who had no credibility.

With the negative publicity lingering,

Kate seeks to reclaim the spotlight,

focusing on her patronages

and her annual charity carol concert.

She was hosting this carol concert again,

and it was very Kate, actually, very much standing in her own...

Using her position to really good effect.

Thank you.

December 2023 was just a completely normal working time

for Kate, for members of the royal family.

She was out and about. She was doing the things

that we have become used to seeing her do at this time of year,

attending her carol service at Westminster Abbey.

Everything sort of looked quite bright and promising.

2024 was going to be the year where Kate really got

the Early Years Foundation off the ground.

There were a lot of exciting new projects that were being planned,

and we were all looking forward to quite a busy year, actually.

Everything felt completely normal.

There was absolutely no sense of what was to come.

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has been admitted to hospital.

Kensington Palace released a statement,

and it reads as follows.

When the news breaks,

Kate has already been absent from public view for almost four weeks.

It was announced at the time, when she did go into hospital,

that she would hopefully return to work after Easter.

It is an unprecedented step

for, after all, a young,

vibrant member of the royal family to take.

We had seen her in the public eye, for instance, at Christmas.

Thank you so much.

That's very sweet of you to come and say hello to us.

Yeah, very happy Christmas.

And she looked the picture of health and wellbeing.

So the dramatic difference between those images

and the black hole, if you like, of her absence

was so great that I was convinced

that something very seriously was wrong with her.

Join us this hour for breaking news on the royal family from London.

King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer.

I think looking at January this year

and the surgery that both the King and the Princess of Wales had

was an absolute seismic shock

to the country, to the world.

Prince William has had to pull out of a church service

at the last minute because, he says, it's a personal matter.

Kensington Palace has not provided further detail

but has confirmed that Princess Kate is doing well.

Kate has now been away from the spotlight for nearly two months.

The number of working royals

is diminishing before the public's eyes.

Although it wasn't a major state occasion,

the timing of it, with the events surrounding it,

including the King's health,

exposed just how thin the royal family had become.

To address the growing concern,

a statement is issued by Kensington Palace

reminding the public they will only be providing significant updates.

It's what the royal family do, they issue statements,

and unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

The demands wanted more.

Then the rumour mill and the conspiracy mill started.

Where is Kate Middleton?

She had a stroke? I don't know. Kate is still nowhere to be seen.

People are questioning that she's missing.

They haven't seen her either,

almost since Christmas.

It's been nearly three months,

and there have been no updates about Kate's absence from public life.

Into that vacuum, all sorts of speculation erupted.

My guess is either King Charles is going to abdicate the throne...

And people began making all sorts of assumptions

about what might be wrong with her.

Second guess is Will and Kate are getting divorced,

or that Kate's dead

or something is really, really, really BLEEP wrong with her.

She's gone. She had a stroke.

They haven't seen her either.

Where is Kate Middleton?

Some absolutely awful stuff was said on social media,

that she was dead,

that she was the victim of domestic abuse,

that she'd had a bum lift, that she'd had cosmetic surgery.

Some ridiculous and awful things were said.

It became almost an obsession of social media,

which was fine

as long as it remained on social media.

But social media is now so all encompassing,

so powerful, so pervasive,

it crept into every other aspect of our lives.

And inevitably, the mainstream media began reporting

on what was going on, or what was NOT going on.

Where is Kate Middleton?

LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE

Where are you, Kate?!

The silence surrounding Kate's continued absence is deafening.

It's a mark of the central position

that Kate occupies in the royal family,

and in the public's affection,

that the fact that she suddenly disappeared from public view

caused a great deal of concern and consternation.

When you're in the royal family,

the line between private and public is much more blurred.

But when it affects the health and wellbeing

of figures at the very, very top

of the institutions that run us, if you like,

there is clearly an argument here

that we should be entitled to know what is going on.

When Queen Victoria lost her husband,

she went into a deep depression

and she withdrew almost completely from the public eye.

And it did enormous damage to the public image of the monarchy.

You know, that relationship

between the royal family and the public

is critical to the survival and success

of a constitutional monarchy.

Kensington Palace had been content to continue with their line that,

"We're saying nothing about what's wrong with her."

The speculation was reaching such a height,

it was very hard to know

what Kate and William were going to do to try and address this.

They clearly underestimated the power of the silence

and the uncomfortable situation it caused.

It would have put a lot of pressure on Kate and William to speak out,

and she was almost forced into a corner.

When you've got that sort of media conspiracy theory

going online and taking over,

"never explain, never complain" has to go out the window.

They had to do something.

And then there was a very significant announcement

that, of course, completely changed everything.

Nobody saw it coming. Nobody was expecting it.

NARRATOR: After a three-month absence,

fuelling damaging speculation,

Kate is forced to speak publicly about her health.

In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London,

and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous.

The surgery was successful.

However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.

My medical team therefore advised

that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy,

and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

But when you consider how she's relayed,

I think, you know, the most important messages of her life...

This hasn't been done

in a sort of, you know, stiff, anodyne Palace statement.

This has been done in the most intimate form of communication,

with Kate addressing the camera, speaking to us in our homes,

in our living rooms.

This, of course, came as a huge shock,

and William and I have been doing everything we can

to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

The royal family tried to create a line in the sand

by their statement in January.

But it felt 20th century.

The quick way that they moved the goalpost

was very much a 21st-century moment in terms of comms,

speed of change.

For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form,

please do not lose faith or hope.

You are not alone.

I remember, actually, when it was announced,

it just was, like, such a shock.

I would challenge anyone not to be incredibly moved by it.

I think what was so extraordinary about it

was how personal, absolutely personal,

but also it really made her relatable

in a way, maybe, that hasn't been made before.

I think it was a bit of a wake-up call, actually,

for a lot of people who are maybe very active on social media,

and for us to all kind of think about the social media discourse

and what that does to us as individuals and as a society.

And it speaks to this really interesting intersection

between the royal family, fame, gossip,

salacious news, conspiracy theories,

how things snowball without actual information.

So it was just extraordinary to witness that.

How many people must have felt bad? How many people must have thought,

"What have I said? What have I done?"

You know, to drive somebody to that point,

they've got to speak out and actually tell the world,

"I'm actually fighting for my life."

Three months after the Princess of Wales

revealed her cancer diagnosis,

an update on Kate's health is released to the world's media.

The Princess of Wales

says she's making good progress after her cancer diagnosis,

but she's not out of the woods yet.

Catherine has released a personal message

saying she'll be at Trooping the Colour on Saturday.

PARADE MUSIC PLAYS

I was at Trooping the Colour in the summer...

As a royal butler, just talk us through this balcony etiquette.

What are we expecting to see?

..doing some commentary with the news,

and I was there when the coach went past,

when everyone was speculating and hoping

that she was going to be there.

And when they caught a glimpse of her,

the roars of applause, excitement, cheer and jubilation,

was unbelievable.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I think there was a collective "phew" from the nation.

It was lovely seeing her at Trooping,

which is, obviously, one of the most significant royal events

in the calendar.

And you could just see the joy in everyone's eyes as she went past.

A month later, Kate makes another surprise public appearance.

Kate stepped out at Wimbledon, but she looked phenomenal.

She's president of the All England Lawn Tennis Association,

so it was quite right that she should do that

in her public capacity.

And here we are, the appearance of Her Royal Highness.

I remember her coming into Centre Court

and sitting in the Royal Box.

CHEERING

And the roar of the crowd.

CHEERING

Absolutely amazing.

And what a boost that must have been for her

to feel that, you know, people actually really, really do care.

I mean, mentally, a huge emotional boost for her.

CHEERING

I think it just highlighted

what a vital and important part of the monarchy she is.

Catherine was on the road to recovery,

not out of the woods yet, but she will be back.

We were hoping for some sort of an update in September,

just because that would have fitted with the time frame

when Kate finished treatment.

Like everybody else, I thought it was going to be a statement

and then to suddenly, you know, see this video.

KATE: 'As the summer comes to an end,

'I cannot tell you what a relief it is

'to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.

'The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family.

'Life as you know it can change in an instant.

'And we've had to find a way

'to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.'

The video that was released was very honest.

It was very emotional.

I think it was far more personal than anyone ever expected.

To get that sort of video accompanying that message

was very powerful.

KATE: 'The cancer journey is complex, scary,

'and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you.

'With humility, it also brings you face to face

'with your own vulnerabilities

'in a way you've never considered before.

'And with that, a new perspective on everything.'

A perfect video for the age.

Straight out of Instagram, straight out of Hollywood.

All the touches of a family video

that might have been taken by a shaky Super 8 camera

back in the '60s,

and telling her story.

And because every part of it had been thought through,

making up for the mistakes they've made,

it landed perfectly

and generated a huge amount of sympathy,

and gave people what they wanted.

Gooey pictures of a happy family.

KATE: 'Despite all that's gone before,

'I enter this new phase of recovery

'with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.'

The video showed that the family was very much together.

All these rumours swirling around were just knocked into touch.

She wanted to do something that felt intimate, that felt special,

and that reflected some of the journey that she's been through.

And with that came an honesty that, you know, she's felt frail,

she's felt vulnerable,

and that this has been a scary time.

That video, I found really very emotional.

I found that really difficult to watch.

'William and I are so grateful...'

To see how happy she is,

and how happy William is, and seeing her with the kids.

I mean, I watched it, and I was just crying my eyes out.

It was beautifully done.

Just really powerful.

There was a woman with three young children and a husband

who's got everything to live for,

and she's faced with her own mortality.

I think it really did tug on the heartstrings of a lot of people.

Despite everything she has faced, and the storms she's had to weather,

Kate has emerged

as a beloved and revered member of the royal family.

That relatability has been there from the very beginning,

and it's something that she's carried throughout.

Diana was, you know, the people's princess,

but I think Kate Middleton is of the people,

and that's something that I think everybody just wants to buy into.

Catherine Middleton started out as an ordinary middle-class girl.

At the beginning, there was the sense

of her having kind of won this fairy tale prize.

But actually, through the way that she's behaved over the years...

..she's generated this whole new level of interest

in the royal family.

I mean, the thing about Kate is she's come a long, long way.

Now, a globally lauded icon adored by millions...

..she has an unwavering commitment to service.

It's almost like she was born to do this job.

And it's been a privilege, actually, to watch her confidence evolve.

She has enabled us a little bit more of a public glimpse

behind the royal veil.

And that's been great to see.

With a will of steel and an unflinching sense of duty,

Kate is key to the future of the monarchy.

She's hugely important to a transitional monarchy

that is going to have to change

if it's going to survive into the next century.

CHEERING

It's an incredibly tricky act to pull off

because you have to be both relatable

and somehow special.

It's incredibly difficult to do.

She's forged a connection with people,

you know, people who will one day be her future subjects.

Kate has been a really important part

of helping to modernise the royal family.

A lot of how she dresses speaks to this,

this kind of balance between tradition and modernity,

but also bringing a bit of your own personality.

What Catherine really understands is the convening power

of the royal family and the power that she has.

Catherine Middleton has obviously, clearly, had a remarkable story

from where she started out to where she is now,

but I think the best chapter is yet to come.

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