Author claims Queen Camilla initially viewed Kate Middleton as 'too common' for royalty

Christopher Andersen, author of the new book "Kate!", claims that Queen Camilla spent years viewing Kate Middleton as fundamentally unsuited to marry a future king—not because of anything Kate had done, but because of who her parents were. Camilla, Andersen told Fox News Digital, saw Kate's working-class background as disqualifying. "She did not think she was up to snuff, as it were. She was below the salt. She had no aristocratic blood," Andersen said, describing Camilla's early skepticism.

The roots of this skepticism ran deep into Camilla's own sense of royal entitlement. Camilla is the granddaughter of a baron and a descendant of the Stuart bloodline that ruled England from 1603 to 1714. Her great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was King Edward VII's mistress—a connection to the royal family that Andersen writes Camilla had always taken immense pride in. By contrast, Kate grew up in a quiet village near Berkshire, the daughter of a commercial airline pilot and a former flight attendant who later built a party supplies business. She studied art history at the University of St. Andrews, where she met Prince William in 2001. After a decade-long on-and-off relationship, they married in 2011.

Andersen claims Camilla had long championed aristocratic women for the heir to the throne. She had, he writes, helped handpick Lady Diana Spencer as Charles' bride alongside another of Charles' mistresses, Baroness Tryon. The idea that a woman descended from coal miners—whose mother had once worked as a flight attendant—should become the wife of a future king struck Camilla as a breach of royal protocol. "Camilla always saw herself as the mistress of a king, not a queen," Andersen said. "And she picked Diana to be Charles' bride. So, she was very cognizant of the fact that a future king of England should have, she believed, a marriage to a royal personage, or at least a British aristocrat."

Kate endured what Andersen calls a "Waity Katie" period of roughly ten years, absorbing criticism from multiple directions. The palace itself was lukewarm. The press in England was harsh, portraying her family as social climbers. Camilla and others like her questioned whether Kate could handle palace life. Andersen notes that Camilla was also wary of Kate's mother, Carole, whom the press had painted as a "gauche opportunist." One former mistress of Charles told Andersen that for Camilla, the strategy was simple: "it's really all about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer."

The tension surfaced in a concrete way when Camilla and Charles raised concerns about royal monograms. Both had cyphers consisting of interlocking Cs beneath a crown, and they worried that a third C was excessive. Andersen writes that Camilla suggested Kate change the spelling of her name from Catherine to Katherine—a change that would also align with how the world knew her. Prince William, fiercely protective of his wife, was offended. He told his father the request was insulting not only to Kate but to her entire family. The suggestion was dropped.

Yet within a couple of years, Andersen claims, Camilla realized she had miscalculated. Kate became unexpectedly popular. She navigated royal life with what Andersen describes as never putting a foot wrong. Even after marrying William, Kate faced sniping from Camilla's camp, particularly criticism fed to the press that she wasn't working as hard as other royals. But Kate had made clear her priorities: her children came first, then William. This clarity, rather than damaging her standing, seemed to deepen public affection for her.

Andersen suggests that Camilla and Charles may have felt threatened by the younger couple's popularity. A St. James' Palace staffer told him: "Maybe she felt threatened by Kate, or perhaps more by William and Kate as a team." Royal reporter Richard Kay, a friend of Diana's, offered a broader observation: "Members of the royal family simply cannot stand being upstaged."

Then came 2024, when both King Charles and Kate were diagnosed with cancer. Andersen claims this shifted something fundamental in Camilla's feelings toward Kate. After Kate announced her remission in January 2025, Andersen reported that Camilla had experienced a change of heart. Charles and Kate had always been fond of each other, but their shared battle with cancer seemed to bind them closer. Andersen says Camilla now recognizes that Kate is the one who can make Charles laugh, and she appreciates it. They are, he writes, very close—always hugging, kissing, laughing and joking. Still, Andersen maintains that the competition between the royal camps has not entirely dissolved. It is, he suggests, the creative tension that keeps the monarchy functioning: different factions, different staffs, all competing for the spotlight. Camilla and Charles do not want to be upstaged by William and Kate. The show, as Andersen sees it, goes on.