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This is the first joint biography in a decade since Christopher Anderson’s 2011 William and Kate: A Royal Love Story, although there have recently been a plethora of self-published books as well as several individual lives such as Robert Jobson’s separate biographies of 2022 and 2024 and Robert Lacey’s 2020 Battle of Brothers.
However, much has changed, even in the past two years — enough to justify a new book. Russell Myers fluently tells a story familiar from the news cuttings but spiced up with some fresh insights from contacts nurtured during his eight years in the royal rota. He claims to have conducted 100 interviews though they are not immediately apparent in the text. There are only a few names in the acknowledgements, few direct quotations, no source notes, bibliography or index, so much of his material has to be taken on trust. The book has an authoritative feel but is in the tradition of “soft” royal biography — sympathetic and with few real revelations.
The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the Baftas this year (Jaimi Joy/PA)
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The outline will be familiar to readers — the heir to the throne who as a teenager tragically loses his mother; finds love at university but takes his time to commit; initially close to his younger brother but with whom he falls out after their marriages as they are on different paths; who suffers a renewed tragedy when both his father and his wife succumb to cancer within months; and now, in his mid-forties, is facing the possibility of succeeding to the throne while his three children remain minors.
Catherine’s growing confidence
In many ways, the more interesting trajectory is that of Catherine, the Home Counties all-rounder from a stable family who falls for/ensnares (depending on one’s point of view) the young prince, brings out many of his best qualities and grows in stature as she develops confidence in her new role.
After a brisk trot through their youth, school days, university courtship, first career steps, break-up then engagement, marriage in 2011, the birth of three children in quick succession and the couple’s growing assurance in their public roles, Myers quickly moves to the present day and a number of contemporary concerns.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have released a new photo for Valentine’s Day (Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman/PA)
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He addresses William’s disintegrating relationship with Prince Harry, the controversial 2022 tour of the Caribbean, the impact on the family of the cancer diagnoses, and William’s early recognition of the need for the royal family to distance itself from the former Prince Andrew. Myers reveals, for example, William was furious that the York couple had been invited to Sandringham for Christmas 2023 and has consistently pushed for a tougher line against his wayward uncle.
One of the most interesting elements of the book is how William sees his future role as monarch
One of the most interesting elements of the book — of which there could have been more — is how William sees his future role as monarch, how he advised from an early stage of the importance of distancing the family from Andrew and how both issues have often placed him at loggerheads with his father. An early example was his refusal to be crowned Prince of Wales, to learn Welsh or maintain a house in Wales, though he lived for a time in Anglesey.
William’s coronation, Myers says, will be 90 minutes long, as opposed to his father’s ceremony of three hours, and the heir is working towards a more slimmed-down monarchy with fewer patronages and a focus on particular interests such as early learning, homelessness and the environment.
Myers demolishes many of the myths which have grown up around the couple
Myers demolishes many of the myths which have grown up around the couple, notably that Catherine set her sights on William by switching from Edinburgh University to St Andrew’s University. Unfortunately, he shies away from anything critical, such as William’s alleged affairs. There may be no truth in the stories, supposedly subject to injunctions, but they should have been addressed. Likewise there is little on William’s stewardship of the Duchy of Cornwall.
It is perhaps no wonder that the Waleses are widely seen as the future of the royal family, managing to combine familiarity with formality and the dignity of their position with a relatability to the ordinary citizen. They rarely put a foot wrong and remain the most popular of the royals. What emerges from the book is a couple with a strong partnership, sense of public duty and vision of how they can carry the monarchy forward. That will be quite a task given the choppy waters ahead.
Andrew Lownie is a royal expert and biographer
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