According to author Tina Brown, the future of the British monarchy rests on Kate Middleton’s “thin shoulders”.
Brown, whose new book about the royals, The Palace Papers, is out today, believes the royal family would fall apart if it weren’t for the Duchess of Cambridge.
“If for some reason like Meghan she was like, ‘I’m out of here, I can do a lot better,’ that would be a disaster,” Brown said in an exclusive interview with The Post.
“Without her, I think it would crumble at the moment because she’s the only modern, beautiful woman who’s well educated and of substance who actually wants to devote herself to the rigors of this institution. Not many young women can do that.”
Brown said it took Kate “a lot of care and strategy to be married to William.”
“They were madly in love the whole time, but … making it from loving girlfriend to future queen is an obstacle course. And it’s like snakes and ladders. At any moment she could have stepped on the wrong square and had a snake.”
Kate’s relationship with Prince William has weathered “an obstacle course” of potential pitfalls, says Tina Brown. i-Images / Polaris
Brown says it took Kate “a lot of care and strategy to end up married to William.” Mirrorpix / MEGA
Brown believes Middleton’s mother, Carole, “was very critical in that regard. Her mother helped her dodge the snakes on the board.”
She also commends William for choosing Kate as his partner and says he was wise to wait 10 years before proposing.
“He was absolutely certain that she would handle it before they got married,” Brown said. “She was trained. No one has been as bedazzled as Meghan it seems.”
Unlike Kate, Meghan Markle appeared “blind” about the demands of marrying into the British monarchy, which husband Prince Harry wanted to flee before the two even met, Brown says. WireImage
Though Brown delves into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s “mutual addiction drama,” she notes that the former “Suits” star seems to have taken the lion’s share of the blame for the couple leaving the royal family.
“I think it’s called Megxit by mistake,” Brown noted. “He wanted out and she allowed him to do whatever he wanted. She was strong enough to say, “You know what? you want out I can make it happen.’”
After a happy wedding anniversary on May 19, 2018, Meghan and Prince Harry became targets for exiting royal life, which Brown says he “absolutely hates.” Getty Images
“He’s since shown that he absolutely hates this whole life, doesn’t like it,” she continued. “Without Meghan, he wouldn’t have found a way out because he was basically a man who had done everything for himself his whole life. He had never created a life for himself. Meghan was very much a self-starter, a self-made achiever. She knew who to call at Netflix. He wasn’t worldly like Meghan was worldly.
“They wanted to be global. If you’re going to be a global humanitarian superstar, you need cash, and that’s not going to be the kind of money you can comfortably live with in Norfolk.”
Brown sees Prince Charles as “very authentic” and predicts he will “be able to come into his own” as king. Andrew Milligan/PA Images/Alamy
Brown also believes that Charles will make a “good king” despite what people may think of him.
“I actually think he’ll flourish when he becomes king,” she prophesied, noting that his longstanding views on the environment and organic farming were once considered crazy but are now mainstream.
“He’s very authentic. He’s always had his eccentric passions, but he was also very forward-thinking, way ahead of his time. He’s no longer seen as cranky, he’s seen as correct.
Despite being screwed by the press, Charles’ “stoic” wife Camilla has retained her sense of humor, Brown says.
Max Mumby/Indigo
“He will become king when everyone’s belief in his ideas is complete,” she continued. “He’s going to be a very authentic voice and probably a very strong voice as a global leader on the issue of climate change.”
She’s also a fan of Charles’ wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
“I think she’s tough, she’s stoic, she has a sense of humor,” Brown explained. “I think she’s a really underrated character. And you know she never said a damn word about her relationship with Charles. She never complained.”
“She always said the family motto was ‘Don’t whine,’ and she never complained. Oh my God. Talk about bad press. [She’s been] named everything from “witch” to “horse face” to “witch”. She has said the most horrific things about herself, but she never complains. Again it is very English. She just takes it by the chin.”
Brown credits Camilla for letting pictures speak about her marriage to Charles, whom she married in 2005, despite criticism. “She never said a damn word,” Brown says. “It’s very English.” Getty Images
Interestingly, Brown believes that Harry’s decision to retire from the royal family brought William and Charles closer.
“Harry’s path has inevitably brought them closer, which is ironic because Charles was much closer to Harry. They had a very warm relationship,” she said. “Apparently it’s very upsetting for Charles. He was distraught over the fraying of the relationship. He was very, very sad. He was badly hurt by Harry.”
Harry’s departure hurt Prince Charles, who has since grown closer to William, Brown says.
With Harry out, Charles and William agree on how to proceed after Queen Elizabeth is gone.
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“There was tension between William and Charles because Charles feels competitive with William. William was okay with Camilla, but there was obviously a backlog from the past,” she said. “He’s a lot closer to Charles now because they’re essentially together now trying to figure out what happens after the Queen dies.”
Prince Andrew is clearly not Brown’s favorite. She dismisses him as a “dumpster”, an “idiot” with “limited intelligence” and, given his notorious friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, with “the most appalling taste in women”.
Dubbed an “idiot” by Brown, Prince Andrew also earns her contempt for flirting with Jeffrey Epstein. Getty Images
The author of The Diana Chronicles says the most important thing that struck her while researching her book was how harsh and debilitatingly boring royal life can be.
“When you really look at what it’s like to live this life… [the] Journaling day and night about things you don’t really want to do, it’s pretty scary to see what it actually really means,” she said.
“It’s a bit like the secular version of taking the veil. It’s an obligation. As Queen Mary memorably said, “We are the royal family. We never get tired and we love hospitals and that’s basically it.’”