Prince William and Kate Middleton Are Reportedly 'Focusing on Work’ to Avoid Drama

While the reported rifts between Prince Harry and Prince William and Meghan Markle and Duchess Kate have dominated headlines in 2021, one royal expert says to expect the tone to change in 2022—at least where Will and Kate are concerned.

Speaking to Us Magazine, royal expert Nick Bullen speculated that the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year—which will mark her 70th year as monarch—is the primary concern for Will and Kate at the moment, and they’ll be trying their best to avoid any drama. Bullen told the outlet:

“I think [over] the next 12 months, the Cambridges will be very much about supporting the queen...They’re going to support her, you know, the headlines shouldn’t be about them. The headlines next year should be about the queen in her 70th year [of ruling]. So I think you will see Kate and William really stepping up to support the queen over the next 12 months.”

In part, this may be because the infighting between the royal brothers is painful for all members of the family, so William and Kate may choose to dive into work rather than focus on such a private matter in a public way. “I think the depths of the sadness and split between the two brothers is incredibly deep and incredibly raw, and I think it’s going to take a lot to get the two of them back together,” Bullen said.

And while Prince William and Duchess Kate have plenty of charitable initiatives to devote their time to next year, doing so will mean that royal watchers will have far fewer headlines to pore over in 2022. Like the last few months, in which the royals have stayed relatively mum—as Bullen put it, “busy for them but quiet for us”—we may see more of the Queen, but less of the younger royals as 2022 comes around.

So expect the couple to dodge the spotlight and make it all about the Queen next year.