Kate Middleton 'would bathe in tin baths' and collect logs on family holidays - the side of the future Queen we'll never see
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward believes that the Princess of Wales is more like her 'gentle' dad Michael than 'feisty' mum Carole
The Princess of Wales is one of the most photographed women in the world, is always meticulously dressed and lives in a historic royal property on the Windsor Estate. However, behind closed doors, Kate is comfortable with things being a lot more low-key and used to go on trips that involved far less glamorous routines.
According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the future Queen inherited her down-to-earth approach from her dad, Michael, who "frequently took the family on adventure holidays" to the Lake District. They owned a cottage there and the expert claims in Catherine & Diana that they "would bathe in tin baths and gather logs for fires".
It’s all very humble and these holidays couldn’t be more different to many of the luxurious trips her husband Prince William went on growing up - or even the visits to Mustique that the Middletons have also enjoyed in the past. It paints a picture of a side of Kate that fans will never really get to see and shows she’s never been afraid to get stuck in and get things done.
Her uncle Gary Goldsmith (Carole’s younger brother) has directly said his niece isn’t "precious", claiming to fashion writer Claudia Joseph that she "quietly gets on with the task at hand". Ingrid also believes that the Princess of Wales is "more like" Michael than "feisty" Carole, insisting that she’s "never sought" the spotlight even though she’s constantly under it because of her royal role.
It’s the small moments that matter most to her and the Princess is eager to encourage her own children to get outside and make memories.
During her appearance on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in 2021, Kate was asked to complete the sentence, "I’m happiest when…" and promptly responded, "I’m with my family outside in the countryside and we're all filthy dirty".
She spends so much of her working life being perfectly poised and professional, so it perhaps makes sense that she’s more understated in her personal life. We get to see her relaxed side in the anecdotes she tells at engagements, particularly if they’re about George, Charlotte and Louis, but Woman&Home’s Royal Correspondent Emily Andrews believes there’s definitely a difference between the Princess of Wales in public and in private.
Speaking on an episode of her and Reverend Richard Coles’ Catching Up With The Royals podcast earlier this year, she declared, "The public Catherine is quite reserved and quite formal and very warm with the kiddies…but she's not going to give you too much. The private Kate is quite different. Very warm, very friendly, and got a great sense of humour."
The royal expert also suggested that the Princess of Wales loves practical jokes too and played a rather surprising one during her and William’s official visit to Australia in 2014.
"Her and William had to stand in a specific place and it had been marked out on the floor with a plastic spider. So she crept round the back of the sofa to where one of her aides was sitting and she knew that he didn’t like spiders and she kind of drops it into her aide’s lap. I mean he nearly hit the roof! I mean everyone thought it was very funny - including, I should say, the aide," Emily claimed.
