Exclusive: An Unexpected Thing "Adds to the Burdens" Princess Kate Experiences as a Woman in the Royal Family, According to One Biographer

Author Catherine Mayer speaks to 'Marie Claire' about the challenges Kate faces as a senior royal.

Princess Kate Middleton has long brown wavy hair with blonde highlights and looks to the sky while wearing a dark green coat
(Image credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

As wife to the future King, Princess Kate is carving out an important career within the Royal Family. However, being a royal woman is no easy task, with press scrutiny and public opinion weighing heavily on the princess.

Author Catherine Mayer recently released her latest book, Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles, which explores the ways in which Princess Kate, Meghan Markle, Queen Camilla, Princess Diana, and Queen Elizabeth have been treated by the general public and the press.

Discussing how the Princess of Wales navigates her prominent royal role, Mayer exclusively tells Marie Claire in a new interview, "She is human and the projection on to her of perfection adds to the burdens she already carries as one of the most famous women in the world."

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Mayer continues, "And that scrutiny is worse for royal women because it is their job to be seen."

Princess Kate wearing a green suit

"That scrutiny is worse for royal women because it is their job to be seen."

(Image credit: Getty Images)

By necessity, for the British Royal Family to survive, new people need to join it, despite the obvious downsides to taking on such a role.

As Mayer tells Marie Claire, "Not only that, but the only way the monarchy continues to exist or recruits new members is through marriage and reproduction. That appears to legitimize a closer interest in their love lives and bodies than other famous women endure. And such scrutiny is always worse for famous women than famous men."

Kate Middleton wearing a long brown skirt and green jacket walking past a concrete building and grass

"She is human and the projection on to her of perfection adds to the burdens she already carries."

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In spite of the obvious difficulties associated with being a female member of the Royal Family, Princess Kate appears to be embracing the role, while firmly focusing on the future.

Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles by Catherine Mayer is available now.

Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.