After a whirlwind October that saw her travel to Pakistan in style with Prince William and still find time to hang out with Camilla Cabello, you would expect Kate Middleton to take it easy for a while.
And in some ways, she is—the *Mirror reported that she was shopping for Halloween costumes at mass-market retailer Sainsbury’s last week, and reports say the Cambridges will celebrate at Anmer Hall.
But royal drama is at high tide after last week’s documentary, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle opened up about the impact their battle with the press is having on their emotional states.
It’s leaving the tabloids speculating about what’s going on for Kate in particular. Can we figure out what Kate did after hearing about Meghan and Harry’s true feelings?
So far, the results are mixed, with some saying that Kate has reached out to Meghan specifically and others saying she is keeping her distance.
On Monday, a royal insider told In Touch that Kate is “keeping herself out of the situation,” adding that “Kate has enough on her plate looking after three kids and fulfilling royal duties.
She barely has a moment to herself and tries to avoid drama and conflict at all costs.” That being said, the source said she does sympathize with Meghan’s plight.
On Tuesday morning, the Daily Express quoted a royal reporter who claimed nearly the opposite.
Phil Daunier, who last was a part of the narrative when he slammed Harry and Meghan after the doc aired, said, “Behind the scenes I’m told Kate is doing her best to bring everyone together and help Meghan,” he said.
“None of them want to let the Queen down so Kate is trying to patch things up in private.” According to Daunier, Kate and Meghan had a conversation.
“I’m told she has reached out to Meghan and spoken to her on the phone. Kate feels sorry for her and knows that Meghan is struggling.”
There could be an innocent explanation for the discrepancy here: the truth is somewhere in the middle. It’s always hard to know what people are saying behind closed doors when they aren’t in the habit of saying it to each other.
In last week’s People cover story, writer Penny Junor discussed the royal family’s communication style. “It is a strange family and not one that has supported one another very well,” she said.
“They don’t praise one another and never call each other up just to say, ‘That was a great speech.’”
In their story, People quoted a source who claims Prince William reached out to Harry after watching the documentary.
(The Daily Mail said they did not know if he watched in advance of its official airing.) “Watching that, it would be hard not to have compassion and want to check in and see if they’re okay,” the anonymous insider told the magazine. “That’s a very human reaction.”
So far this mostly sounds like Kate and Meghan and William and Harry are behaving like what they are: old millennials.
It’s as though Meghan and Harry posted about having a tough time on Facebook, and to reassure them, Kate and William just slid into the DMs, rather than making a big deal about it.
Kate has also spoken about the stress she has felt as a mother, so it stands to reason that she might even have some advice to share.
Regardless of how Kate is feeling about the latest royal drama, the show must go on. The two couples are both planning on attending the traditional cathedral ceremony for Remembrance Sunday this weekend, and last year’s event was a source of plenty of smiling group photos, even as they announced plans to split their charities and households.
After their customary two minutes of silence, they’ll have plenty of time to address anything they didn’t already touch on in their group chat.
