What Kate Middleton could learn from Meghan Markle

Last weekend, it was strange to see Kate Middleton on the front page of Sunday UK newspapers.

Dressed in a bright blue Catherine Walker coat, with her hair tucked under a floral headdress, Kate was smiling and laughing with friends at the wedding of her friend Sophie Carter.

Kate was her two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who were flawlessly dressed as pageboys and bridesmaids respectively, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Norfolk, just down the road from the huge Kate and William country house on the Sandringham Estate.

His presence at the wedding was a private affair. But then, Kate is almost completely absent from public life since the birth of her third child, Prince Louis, a few weeks before Prince Harry's wedding in May.

His public engagements since the birth of Louis can be counted on the one hand; she participated in the Trooping of the Color in June, a celebration of the 100e Anniversary of the RAF and the men's and women's tennis finals at Wimbledon.

Maternity leave may seem at first sight a strange concept when it is applied to royal duties, but few people would like Kate to have the opportunity to spend a few months with her children without thinking about the hair, makeup, speeches and outfits.

Still fewer people would say that Kate should be doing long tours around the world, as Queen Elizabeth had done when Charles was a toddler.

Charles did not benefit from his mother's workaholism. In an authorized biography, he bitterly remembers a childhood in which the nursery staff, not his "emotionally reserved" parents, was the one who "taught him to play, attended his first steps, punished and rewarded , words. "

The tradition of the old school still reigns in the palace, including with regard to gender roles.

Like Robert Lacey, the author and historical consultant of the Netflix series The crown told The Daily Beast, "Kate's main job now is to raise her children. Few things could be more important with regard to the future of the monarchy. These are the crucial years of development for his children. "

That said, Kate's withdrawal from public life was so sudden and complete that it could hardly go unnoticed. In particular, her failure to appear in a major documentary on the Queen's entrusting the younger generations with a great deal of responsibility in the Commonwealth seemed rather disappointing and elicited comment.

A half hour with a film crew for a TV show on your mother-in-law seems like a no-unreasonable request to anyone, even to a new parent.

As one could expect, without Kate's presence, the documentary became a celebration of Meghan, who was too happy to allow her emotional reunion with her wedding dress to be filmed. week (just in time, some might say), visit a school in London.

Any photographer who works the royal beat will tell you that Kate is as useless as a subject like Meghan is useful. When Kate comes out of a car, she almost always chooses the non-photographer side, when she walks past the bank of photographers, she speeds up, scrolls her hair and looks on the other side.

It is perhaps understandable (or even counterproductive) that members of the royal family do not find it appropriate to stop and pose for photos. The queen does not do it, but she does not do it gracefully; The royal press kit never had the impression that his behavior was both insignificant and malicious with regard to Kate's (and William's, should be added) interpretation.

But Meghan works the press during her engagements as the movie star, she was well before she married Harry. She makes a sign of the car as she approaches. She's coming out on the right side. She comes to the press pen and, even if she does not pose, she pauses, flat even, which is great for snappers. And, miracle of miracles, she even encouraged her husband to cheer up.

She is also attentive to the small touches that connect her to a narrative of normality. This week, a small part of the Internet has sunk into a climax after Meghan closed the door of her car, citing it as proof that she is truly a new kind of fashionable royal.

The crazy reaction has also shown how William and Kate have become unsightly and disconnected.

When Kate disappeared from public view a few weeks before the birth of Prince Louis, there was no reason to suspect that another attitude would be necessary.

But returning to the fray five months later, Kate will find a very different landscape. Yes, the impending marriage of Harry and Meghan excited a lot of enthusiasm when she left the front line, but it was generally agreed that Meghan-mania would choke and things would return to normal soon.

This did not happen at all.

Meghan has transformed our expectations as to how a royal can behave.

Imagine taking a few months off and coming back to find your bosses hired a new person in a job very similar to yours, who was rather better than you and seemed to enjoy everything you hated – and they had also moved all office furniture around.

That's what Kate expects.

Most observers believe that Kate's reaction to the Meghan factor will be to double her rather boring image and position herself as "the most serious" in a future role of queen.

Penny Junor, a royal biographer who has spent all his life on the royal reporting platform and has written a multitude of books on the royal family, including biographies of Harry, William and a new volume on Camilla: and Kate to be beautiful and engaging and giving us all the great pictures, but William is modeled on the queen, and I suspect Kate is holding back slightly to make sure not to overshadow her husband.

"That's what turned out so badly for his parents – Hers is a supportive role, as the Duke of Edinburgh has been for all these years – these two will remain in the public eye for the rest of their lives. Do not behave like celebrities that are falling into disuse, but inevitably, the media will be more interested in Meghan, because they want people who engage.

"But they are all really true to themselves. Meghan is a star, an actress and she loves the limelight. Kate is more erased, private and shy. Harry can afford to be a bit of a clown, his role is very different from that of William.

For Junor, even if everything is good for the moment, it will be essential to adapt to the new dynamics in the long term, especially if the popularity of Harry and Meghan continues to far exceed that of the older couple: "The danger is that William and Kate are at risk of having their noses removed if they feel that their activities are being ignored."

This seems unlikely. There is still great interest in William and Kate, but they might be wise to learn Harry and Meghan.