Kate Middleton Felt Isolated Due to Comments Made About Her Mom

britains prince william l is pictured with his girlfriend kate middleton after his graduation ceremony at raf cranwell air base in lincolnshire, on april 11, 2008 britains prince william graduated as a royal air force raf pilot on friday after successfully completing an intensive flying coursethe prince, 25, received his wings from his father prince charles in a graduation ceremony at the raf cranwell air base in lincolnshire, east central england afp photopaul ellispool photo credit should read paul ellisafp via getty images

(Image credit: PAUL ELLIS)

published 29 July 2021

These days, it's hard to imagine the royal family without Kate Middleton (opens in new tab), but back when she and Prince William were dating, at least some royal insiders reportedly didn't think she was a "suitable" match.
When Will and Kate split briefly in 2007, reports suggested that comments Will's friends and courtiers had made about her mother, Carole Middleton, contributed to their breakup.
"William's upper-crust friends would ridicule Carole's former career [as a flight attendant] by sneeringly whispering 'doors to manual' when Kate was out of earshot," the Mirror (opens in new tab) reported (opens in new tab) at the time. "And courtiers claimed the brunette was unsuitable for William as her mum did not speak in a posh enough way."

Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) is pretty much the epitome of a royal, but during the early days of her relationship with Prince William (opens in new tab), not everyone thought she was royal material, apparently.

According to the Mirror (opens in new tab), Kate felt "isolated" at the time because of "snobby jibes" that Palace officials and friends of William were making about her mom, Carole Middleton (opens in new tab). In fact, back in 2007, the Mirror (opens in new tab) even reported that these comments had "helped sink her relationship" with Will when the couple briefly split.

Apparently, the "jibes" were often about Carole's former career as a flight attendant, of all things.

"William's upper-crust friends would ridicule Carole's former career by sneeringly whispering 'doors to manual' when Kate was out of earshot," the Mirror (opens in new tab) reported (opens in new tab) at the time. "And courtiers claimed the brunette was unsuitable for William as her mum did not speak in a posh enough way."

"Put bluntly, the Queen seems to like Kate's father, Michael, but the courtiers sense that there are big question marks over the mother," a royal source told the Daily Mail (opens in new tab) in 2007. "She is pushy, rather twee and incredibly middle-class. She uses words such as 'Pleased to meet you,' 'toilet' and 'pardon.'"

In the words of Cher Horowitz: Way harsh, Tai.

Even in the midst of the couple's breakup, however, royal sources made it clear that William had always gotten along with his future mother-in-law—even if people in his inner circle weren't fans.

"William got on well with Carole. He liked flopping down on the sofas in their Berkshire home, enjoying the normality of that," a second source told the Mail. "The Queen was fond of Kate and liked her father, but let's just say there was a feeling that Mrs. Middleton was not right or acceptable."