Queen Elizabeth admired Kate Middleton's family for one heart-breaking reason - her own 'distressed her much more than she let on'
The late Queen recognised and appreciated the support and welcome her grandson received from the Middletons
She may have been the UK’s longest-serving monarch, but she was a grandmother first - and it was seeing how Prince William’s future in-laws treated her grandson that really enamoured the late Queen to the Middleton family.
Ailsa Anderson, a former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth, revealed how important it was for the Queen to see her "children and grandchildren happy" and she recognised how Michael and Carole Middleton "welcomed [William] with open arms into their family".
The late monarch was also reportedly comforted by another aspect of the Middleton family dynamic - how they "stuck together through thick and thin", giving William and Kate a role model when the Queen had been left "distressed" by three of her own children going through a divorce.
Speaking to HELLO!, Ailsa shared, "The Queen always wanted her children and grandchildren to be happy, and she recognised what a huge support Carole and Michael Middleton were to William and how they welcomed him with open arms into their family."
"She clearly saw all the qualities that the Middletons provided for Catherine and William. She had three out of her four children divorce, so I think she liked the fact that her grandson was marrying into a really close family who have stuck together through thick and thin."
She added, "Carole has never put a foot wrong - she’s been a steadfast presence as a loving, supportive mother and grandmother to those grandchildren."
Royal author Robert Hardman has also suggested the Queen was left "distressed" by her children’s divorces in the past, echoing the sentiment shared by Ailsa.
In his book, Queen of Our Times, Robert alleges, "It distressed her much more than she let on" and that a staffer told him for his book "one shouldn't underestimate the pain she's been through".
The source reportedly told the author that Her Majesty once even proclaimed, "'Three out of four!' in sheer sadness and exasperation".
Of the Queen’s four children, King Charles, Princess Anne and the former Prince Andrew have all been divorced. Charles, in what is now arguably one of the most famous separations of all time, and Princess Diana ended their marriage after 15 years.
Princess Anne divorced her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, after 18 years of marriage. And Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor divorced Sarah Ferguson after 10 years of marriage.
Now, with the late Queen gone, her trust in the Middletons seems well placed, with royal author Ingrid Seward describing how much of a support Carole has become to the future King and Queen.
She told HELLO!, "Carole is a really helpful, practical and unflappable mother and grandmother. Rather than ask what she can do, she just gets on with it; she's very proactive.
"When William went back to royal duties after Catherine’s diagnosis, she was doing the school run and probably doing things like filling the freezer with the kids' favourite foods.
"Looking after the three kids would have been absolutely no problem for her whatsoever, and Catherine would have been able to relax in the knowledge that her mother's hand was on the wheel."
