Being a royal can be complicated, even as they live a pretty privileged life. And one of the biggest complications has to do with knowing who to trust. Prince William used to be able to count on his brother, Prince Harry, with whom he was very close growing up. But with the relationship between the two strained, there’s a question of who William is confiding in these days.
The answer, it seems, is that he’s still keeping it in the family. During an episode of the podcast Dynasty: The Royal Family’s Most Challenging Year, via Daily Mail, royal expert Katie Nicholl revealed that Prince William has a “really wonderful” relationship with Kate Middleton’s father, Michael Middleton, and will often lean on him during difficult times.
Related: Did William really cheat on Kate?
“I know they have a close relationship, and that William will often turn to Michael for advice,” she said. “He has a great sense of humor, and I think he’s someone who is a cool head in a crisis.”
The Middleton family is known for being very tight-knit, and that has grown to include William. “They would always stick together. They were a very tight unit, and they’re still the same today,” Nicholl said, while her co-host, Erin Vanderhoof, explained that the Middletons have given William a sense of “normalcy.”
Nicholl also spoke about how the father-of-the-bride speech during Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding gave a glimpse at their relationship. “I always remember his father-of-the-bride speech on the wedding day and how he had everyone at the tables just in fits of laughter when he was recounting the story of William, who was training at the time as a helicopter pilot, buzzing in on the Middleton family home and sweeping in on his helicopter,” she said.
“Obviously, as a father, thinking, ‘What on earth is going on here?’ while simultaneously realizing this was the future king of England really courting his daughter in a pretty spectacular way.”
Reports of their close relationship come as Fox News Digital reported that William received a warning from Charles about married life. “[His father] said, ‘Look, William, there’s nothing more important than your family,’” Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “My Mother and I,” told the outlet.
“’Don’t make the mistakes that I made,’” Seward says Charles told William. “I just did duty, duty, duty. I neglected my marriage, and look what happened.’”
Recent reports about their relationship indicated there might be some friction between the two, as King Charles is reportedly ready to reconcile with his youngest son, Prince Harry, while Prince William isn’t too convinced this is a great idea. King Charles is also reportedly not happy over Prince William and Kate Middleton’s plans to relocate from Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Castle estate to Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park.
Rob Shuter’s #ShuterScoop recently claimed that the king is “fuming” over how much the move would cost, particularly considering Prince William and Kate Middleton only moved to Adelaide Cottage in 2022. Fort Belvedere will reportedly “take millions to renovate,” and “Charles sees it as an unnecessary extravagance.”
One thing is for sure: whether William and Charles’ relationship is doing well or not, William always has his father-in-law to lean on.