Children learn a lot from their parents, especially when it comes to forming and maintaining relationships, and dealing with conflict. Considering everything he went through growing up — his parents’ messy relationship, their eventual divorce, and his mother’s untimely death — the odds were seemingly stacked against Prince William. But it all worked out. “The House of Windsor has an abysmal track record of marital failure, but William has broken the cycle,” writes royal historian and author of “Battle of Brothers,” Robert Lacey, for People.
Lacey also thinks Kate Middleton, an “empathetic outsider from middle-class origins,” should get much credit for how their decade-long marriage has progressed. After all, the duchess’ parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, have been married for more than four decades. Unlike Charles, who has had numerous rifts and conflicts in his married life that eventually led to a highly publicized divorce, the Middletons seem to get along well, setting an excellent example for their daughter. With the family backgrounds they have inherited, Lacey notes that the Cambridges “have focused on … working to ensure that all three of their children … enjoy the peaceful childhood that eluded William and Harry.”
The Cambridges’ former private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, previously told People that Kate “brings this pragmatic awareness” of coming from a “decent, down-to-earth” family. “They have a solid bond through these last 10 years,” he explained. “If you had scoured the realm you couldn’t have got a better pair, frankly.”
