The Daily Mail, David Cameron and most of the British public it seems have been in an uproar the last few days over what Cameron described as “hurtful” comments made about Kate Middleton by two times Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel. The writer described the princess as “plastic”, “bland” and “a breeding machine”. David Cameron waded into the dubbed bitch-fight arguing that the comments were “hurtful” and defended Kate saying she was an “intelligent” woman with a “desire to learn” and was a “fantastic ambassador for Britain”.
There’s no denying that Kate Middleton is the new “people’s princess”. The turnout for the Royal wedding was phenomenal and did much to boost public opinion of the royal family. She’s been hailed as a fashion icon across the world, followed for years by the press and there’s even been films made about her and William’s romance. However, there is perhaps a grain of truth in Hilary Mantels comments which should be understood as not necessarily being a personal attack on Kate Middleton herself.
The fact of the matter is that Kate Middleton is in many ways a plastic princess; she has perfect hair, flawless makeup and never looks undone. Her outfit choices are always appropriate, with never a hem line too short or a top too low. Like the rest of the royal family her political views, whatever their nature, are private and you can’t imagine her expressing an opinion on anything vaguely controversial. She is tabloid-friendly-thin, fitting the media ideal of the perfect female figure. She is appropriately modest without being prudish and you could never imagine photos leaking of her doing anything vaguely scandalous (sunbathing topless at your private French get-away doesn’t count!). As much as these things might make her seem like an inhuman, perfected, living doll, they are the things the British public and the royal family demand from her. We would never accept her if she was snapped wearing joggers to the supermarket, or caught having a sneaky fag. The press would annihilate her if she expressed an opinion on a political issue, particularly if it was even slightly controversial. If she was any bigger than a UK size 8 the tabloids would be overrun with unflattering pictures and headlines faking concern over whether she was losing control.
For all the talk of Kate Middleton being a “commoner” or a middle class social climber, she has lived a life that few others would choose. She has never had a career, working for a while at Whistles and then for her parent’s party company, deciding instead to do what in many people’s eyes, was wait for William to propose. But rather than that reflecting badly on Kate, perhaps it reflects more harshly on us, the British public. It raises the question of whether we’d have ever accepted a truly “common” princess, or a career woman, or one who was politically opinionated. It’s unlikely we would have accepted anything less than a plastic-perfect image of a woman. Would you have?