When the Princess of Wales married into the royal family in 2011, a veteran royal shared some invaluable advice with her about the global attention was about to receive

The Princess of Wales (Image: Visionhaus, Visionhaus via Getty Images)

When Kate Middleton married Prince William in 2011, she became part of the world ’s most famous family, and would later become a fan favourite member of the Firm.

After coming from humbler beginnings, Kate understandably needed advice on how to cope with the international attention she would receive after becoming a princess. And the perfect person to give her that direction was Prince Philip, who gave up his Greek royal title to become the longest serving consort in British history.

Philip spent decades in the service of the royal family and the monarch, becoming known as the Queen’s loyal partner who always put the needs of the Firm first as he served as patron, president or a member of more than 780 organisations. It comes after reports of William and Kate Middleton’s fears over move with kids after Royal Family ‘bad blood’.

Prince Philip gave Kate invaluable advice when she married into the Firm(Image: kensingtonroyal/Instagram)

This lifetime of dedication made him the perfect person to give Kate advice on how to cope with a life in the spotlight. When Kate entered the Firm at 29 years old, Philip was reportedly “relieved” that his grandson, Prince William, had found “such a level-headed girl”.

According to royal author Gyles Brandreth, who became friends with Prince Philip through his work for the National Playing Fields Association, Philip imparted some invaluable lessons to Kate, which he had once also tried to teach the late Princess Diana.

Brandreth wrote in his biography Philip The Final Portrait: “One of the things that saddened – and worried – the Queen and Prince Philip about Diana, Princess of Wales, was not that she was popular, but that she allowed her popularity to go to her head.

“Once upon a time Philip and Elizabeth were seen as characters from a fairy tale. The difference between them and Princess Diana, I think, is that they did not take it personally.”

The late Prince told Kate to not take media attention personally to avoid “ending up in trouble”(Image: Getty Images)

He wrote that Philip said: “If you believe the attention is for you personally, you’re going to end up in trouble. The attention is for your role, what you do, what you’re supporting. It isn’t for you as an individual. You are not a celebrity. You are representing the Royal Family. That’s all.

“Don’t look at the camera. The Queen never looks at the camera. Never. Look at who you are talking to. Look at who you’ve come to see. Diana looked at the camera.”

Brandreth added from his own experiences that Kate has long heeded the advice of Prince Philip, as he said: “I have been on walkabout with the Duchess of Cambridge. She never looks at the camera.”

The advice Philip gave Kate led to the pair forming an “unexpected” friendship , as the pair often sat together at royal events and even shared a similar sense of humour.

Prince William reflected on Kate and Philip’s relationship in his moving tribute to the Duke when he passed away in 2021, writing: “I will always be grateful that my wife had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her.”