Kate and William spent the confinement at their favorite Anmer Hall home in Norfolk with their three children. The couple have presented a perfect example of a down-to-earth family in recent years, prompting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to step on the Queen’s heels as YouGov’s most popular royalty members. However, a closer look at their approach to life in the public eye reveals that they may be taking advantage of the experience of William’s great-grandfather, King George VI, and her wife, Queen Eizabeth.
George inherited the throne suddenly, when his brother King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936.
Speaking to CNN in February, royal expert Sally Bedell Smith explained: “Before becoming king, George lived a relatively normal, free life under the radar.
Happily married and as a younger member of the Royal Family, he has some public duties and is happy with that life. “
Known as Bertie within the family, his whole life was turned upside down by his abdication: shy and afraid to speak in public due to his stuttering, he never wanted the throne.
Queen Elizabeth, King George VI, Kate Middleton, and Prince William (Image: Getty)
William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis at their Norfolk home during the running of the bulls (Image: Getty)
William also did not seem enthusiastic at one point to take his place as the future sovereign and was even called the “reluctant royalty”.
While his brother Prince Harry is considered the exuberant ‘prince of the party’, William has often been more discreet with the public, another trait he shares with his great-grandfather, King George VI.
However, Bertie completely changed it, dedicating himself entirely to his role.
In a 2012 article, History Extra explained: “He also understood the limitations of his role and influence as a constitutional monarch.”
William has also been careful to stay away from politics, like the Queen, following a line that some believe Prince Charles has crossed on occasion.
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The coronation of King George VI with Queen Elizabeth (L), Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret (Image: Getty)
The Duke of Cambridge said in a 2016 BBC interview: “I take a unique position, a privileged position, to see how my grandmother has a more passive role in how she thinks her role should be. She is above everything, and watches over him.
“At the Queen, I have an extraordinary example of someone who has done a great deal of good and she is the best role model I could have before me.”
Kate’s presence alongside William has also increased her popularity, just as Queen Elizabeth did for George.
Like Kate and William, the couple initially hesitated to make their relationship official through marriage.
Kate and William separated in 2007, as the second in line was not yet ready to settle down.
George had to propose to Elizabeth twice before she accepted.
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George was known to be incredibly close to his two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. (Image: Getty)
George and his daughter Elizabeth, now the queen (Image: Getty)
Lady Airlie, who was close to the future Queen, once wrote: “She was frankly dubious, unsure of her feelings and was afraid of the public life that awaited her.”
History Extra explained: “But his suitor humbly persisted, and the resulting wedding in 1923 provided Prince Albert with a deeply supportive wife who was at ease with a worshiping public.”
According to Vanity Fair in November, Kate is also “unflappable.”
A source told the store, “Her mantra is very much like the Queen staying calm and continuing her focus on life and it has the added benefit of making the Royal Family appear almost normal and in touch.”
Kate’s biographer Claudia Joseph also said: “She is the girl next door, from how she dresses to how she behaves and interacts with people at engagements.
“She is friendly and easy to relate to, and that has made her very popular.”
Kate, of non-aristocratic origin, still wears High Street articles and has been outspoken about her own problems as a first-time mother to the public.
The Cambridges have become a tight family unit in recent years. (Image: Getty)
Similarly, Elizabeth refused to move her two children out of London during World War II, and when Buckingham Palace was bombed, she said: “I am glad that we were bombarded. Now we can look the East End in the eye. “
The couple has also won hearts through their close family unit, which echoes that of George and Elizabeth.
History Extra explained how the stability offered by the couple and their two children, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, was “irresistible” to the public.
He said: “The temptation to identify with what seemed, at first glance, to be just another comfortable, happy, and unassuming suburban nuclear family was irresistible.”
William had a similar approach to raising his children, making sure they were happy and in a safe environment despite their privileged position.
Kate holds Louis for her christening, while William holds George and Charlotte’s hands (Image: Getty)
He told the BBC in 2016 that, as far as he was concerned, they were “a normal family unit.”
Extra History continued: “The king’s qualities of the ordinary, hard work, and modesty were to help him and his family.”
He concluded that “the standards he set in both his public and private life were staggeringly high,” and provided an “invaluable template” for the current Queen and her successors.
William and Kate, in particular, have taken this approach to royalty.
As BBC interviewer Tina Daheley suggested earlier this year on the Coronavirus Newscast, William and Kate have won over the public through their ability to stay grounded.
After talking to the couple, she said, “I felt like I was just talking to people.”
