It can be safely assumed that Prince William and Kate Middleton know each other inside out. The couple have been together – excluding one minor breakup – ever since their university days at St Andrews. Today, they are next in line to become king and queen.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, but for Kate Middleton, giving birth to them was not a walk in the park.
There has been much speculation about William and Kate possibly wanting a fourth child. Although they haven’t spoken about it in any interviews, in 2023, the princess gave away one detail about what might come next. According to a new book by royal expert Tom Quinn, the Wales family may already have a fourth child.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have been pretty much inseparable since they met and began dating while studying at St Andrews University in Scotland. The couple have since welcomed three children, been on hundreds of royal engagements together, and experienced both happy and trying times. According to William, the last 12 months, with Kate’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, have marked the toughest year yet, and who would be prepared to argue?
Royal fans worldwide have shown their loving support for Kate over the last year, and she’s thankfully now cancer free. At the same time, her family has been more crucial than ever, with William taking on greater responsibilities at home and her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, helping to care for their grandchildren.
In the meantime, royal expert Hilary Fordwich has shed new light on William and Kate’s marriage. With Kate soon returning to royal duties, she explained how William will be at her side, supporting her all the way. According to the expert, their love is greater than ever. The Prince and Princess of Wales often show affection to one another in public, and it’s certainly not only for show.
“A picture tells a thousand words and there have been several times when their affection is reminiscent of two teenagers in love, which of course they initially were, well in their early 20s,” Fordwich told Fox.
“Their displays of public affection nowadays demonstrate they have no hesitation or reservation in letting the world know exactly how they feel about one another when they deem it appropriate to do so,” Fordwich shared.
“Their comfort with each other from those deep bonds formed at university has never waned, but rather have grown.”
Prince William & Kate Middleton
But while William and Kate might look like the perfect couple, that is not necessarily true. According to royal expert Tom Quinn, William and Kate have been known not to want to appear as “the perfect couple that everyone else should try and emulate” within the Royal Family.
However, in an interview with Fox, he explained that William and Kate are just like every other couple, and thus inevitably have days when they are “really, really cross with each other” and days when they don’t even talk to each other.
The Prince and Princess of Wales want to be seen as an ordinary couple, and they endure the same things any other parents does: working, the stress of having children, and plenty of other issues to boot.
Although they might seem to have everything in order, Tom Quinn argues that, like all healthy marriages, William and Kate have their differences. However, they know how to compromise and make everyday life work.
“From people I’ve spoken to, it’s not as placid. It’s not as perfect as it might seem,” Quinn told the Express. “But William adopts the manners and the way of behaving of his grandmother, and Kate is very good at not complaining and adopting.”
The royal expert continued: “Both of them have stuck to the thing that made the late Queen such a remarkable monarch. They very, very rarely complain. And when they do, it’s always in measured terms.”
“William is the one who’s a bit hotheaded”
Quinn went on to explain that William and Kate also fight. However, while some couples “throw heavy vases at each other,” the Prince and Princess of Wales “throw cushions,” as it is “always kept under control.”
In an interview with Fox in March 2023, Quinn spoke more about William and Kate’s marriage. While they have cute – and cheeky – nicknames for each other, it’s “not all sweetness.”
“Kate might seem to be a very calm person, and William also. But it’s not always true. Because the big stress for William and Kate is that they’re constantly surrounded by [palace aides]. It’s like a Jane Austen novel,” Quinn claimed.
“Kate is very much the calm one,” he added. “William is the one who’s a bit hotheaded. We see an example of that in Harry’s book… But Kate is very level-headed. She’s the one who will pour oil on troubled waters and go, ‘Let’s not stir things up.’”
Prince William and Kate Middleton have always been firm believers in giving their children an upbringing that isn’t necessarily “royal.” They want their kids to feel like ordinary children, and while their lives are far from ordinary, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are experiencing as normal a childhood as possible.
When seen with their parents in public, it’s clear that George, Charlotte, and Louis get along very well. Charlotte is viewed as a very important person to her older brother – and future king – George, with many believing her supporting role in the future will have a crucial impact on his reign.
Will Prince William & Kate Middleton have a fourth baby?
At the same time, claims have been made that William and Kate might encourage their youngest son, Louis, to pursue a career outside of the Royal Family. The last thing they want is for him to become what Prince Harry dubbed a “spare.”
The Waleses home of Adelaide Cottage is huge, and one can imagine there is a lot of space if Prince William and Kate Middleton want a fourth child. However, it seems as though the royal couple may have made their mind up on that front—at least based on what Kate said during a trip to the town of Maidenhead in 2023.
During a surprise visit to the Baby Bank in Maidenhead, Kate helped staff fold tiny baby clothes, remarking how she had forgotten how small infants could be.
The Princess was shown bags and boxes of toys, equipment, and clothes received by the Baby Bank, which were then distributed to families in need.
Kate has been a longtime supporter of Baby Bank. The initiative began eight years ago and today supports up to 22,000 people. During her visit, Kate asked CEOs Rebecca and Lauren Hall all kinds of questions. Yet one of her comments seemed to shed light on the prospect of her and Prince William welcoming another child to their beautiful family.
While helping volunteers sort through donated clothes, Rebecca joked: “I look at them and think I don’t want to go through that again.”
Kate agreed, laughing, and said: “I’ve been there and done that.”
Kate also revealed that her daughter, Princess Charlotte, has one particular Disney franchise she loves.
“My daughter is a huge fan of Toy Story,” the Princess of Wales revealed, adding that her son Louis had just turned five. “It only feels like yesterday that they were this tiny. They do grow so quickly.”
Kate Middleton was diagnosed with acute morning sickness during pregnancies
Kate was, of course, overjoyed when her children were born. However, her pregnancies were reportedly very challenging. In 2012, when she was pregnant with George, Kate was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which is acute morning sickness. She had to go to the hospital, an experience she recalled as “rotten.”
The princess had the same experience while pregnant with Charlotte and Louis, and in 2014, she had to cancel a royal tour because of her diagnosis. During a visit to the Orchards Centre in Kent, the Princess of Wales decided to open up about her experience with acute morning sickness.
As reported by Express, Kate spoke to a father whose wife went through the same thing and told him: “I went through that. I know what that feels like.” In 2020, Kate was a guest on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, speaking on her condition.
“[It was] utterly rotten. I was really sick,” she said. “I wasn’t eating the things I should be eating and yet the body was still able to take all the goodness from my body and to grow new life, which I think is fascinating.”
“William didn’t feel he could do much to help and it’s hard to see you’re suffering without actually being able to do anything about it.”
Kate added that she “quite liked” labor because she had felt bad during her pregnancy. “Because actually, it was an event that I knew there was going to be an ending to,” she explained. “But I know some people have really, really difficult times, so it’s not for everybody. No pregnancy is the same, no birth is the same.”
Kate Middleton treats William “as her fourth child,” royal expert claims
Moreover, the Princess of Wales found meditation and deep breathing to be very helpful tools.
“I saw the power of it really, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that, that they teach you in hypnobirthing, when I was really sick,” she said. “I got very bad morning sickness, so I’m not the happiest of pregnant people.”
The podcast host Giovanna Fletcher later asked: “Have you had it every time or just the first time?”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Kate responded. “Lots of people have it far, far worse, but it was definitely a challenge. Not just for me but also for your loved ones around you – and I think that’s the thing – being pregnant and having a newborn baby and things like that, impacts everybody in the family.”
Only time will tell whether William and Middleton will have a fourth child. However, according to the new book by royal expert Tom Quinn, they might already have one in their home (of a sort).
In the new book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, Quinn revealed how William has a very tight schedule and, therefore, his suits are pressed and laid out for him. He also takes a bath “at precisely the same time each day.” But the future king can throw tantrums if something goes wrong with the schedule.
“I don’t know where William would be without Kate — she hasn’t had everything done for her throughout her life, so she calms him down when he gets a bit fractious. She said he sometimes has to be treated as her fourth child,” Quinn wrote in the book, per The Times.
William & Kate taunt each other
Quinn reveals new things about Prince William and Kate’s relationship within the pages of his book. He claims that the princess “enjoys ribbing William about his family” and teases him about Queen Camilla being descended from Edward VII’s “favorite mistress.”
However, William doesn’t stand quiet and often taunts her back.
“Before Kate realized that as a senior royal you have to dress carefully, having taken advice, she once bought an outfit that William considered inappropriate. He told Kate she looked as if she’d just run through a charity shop covered in superglue. Everyone thought this was very funny, including, to her credit, Kate,” Quinn wrote.
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