Kate TAKES ON MEGHAN

The 'steely'princess is clearly becoming the strategic power behind the throne, writes royal biographer Emily Andrews

- Emily Andrews

At the height of the Harry and Meghan drama, one of the biggest challenges facing Buckingham Palace was the Sussexes' interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In the damaging aftermath, with accusations of mistreatment and racism, how should they respond, how tough or conciliatory should they be? According to a recent book, it was the Princess of Wales who pressed for the Queen to declare 'recollections may vary' in her now famous response to Harry and Meghan.

Behind the scenes, Kate was apparently even 'steelier' than Prince William in helping to devise the robust Palace response to the Sussexes' racism allegations made in the Oprah Winfrey interview.

Kate and William were said to have agreed that a 'toughened up' statement needed to be released following Harry and Meghan's televised bombshell.

That Kate would want to take on Harry and Meghan may come as a surprise. The then Duchess of Cambridge may come across as charming, demure and somewhat inscrutable but behind the scenes is much steelier than she appears.

In fact, courtiers liken her to a 'steel marshmallow' or an 'iron fist in a velvet glove' in much the same way as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was once described.

As one Palace official is quoted as saying by Valentine Low in the updated version of his royal book Courtiers, ‘She does not get as much credit as she should, because she is so subtle about it. She is playing the long game. She has always got her eye on, “This is my life and my historic path and I am going to be Queen one day.”’