King Charles is Reportedly “Very Jealous” that Prince William and Princess Catherine Are “Stealing His Limelight,” Royal Author Says

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 8 October 2023

Imagine, after nearly 74 years of living out perhaps the longest apprenticeship in modern history, you ascend to the throne—only to be continually overshadowed by the one who will do your job after you’ve left the earth. Though by more or less all accounts King Charles (and Queen Camilla, for that matter) has been largely well-received since ascending to the throne on September 8, 2022 (after—if we’re honest—many were unsure if that would be the case), he is, like it or not, sandwiched between his strongly revered, record-breaking mother Queen Elizabeth (who served 70 years as monarch) and his popular son, Prince William, and William’s potentially even more popular wife, Princess Catherine.

Prince William and Kate Middleton at a royal engagement

And, according to The Daily Express, Charles notices his son and daughter-in-law’s popularity, and is “very jealous” of what royal author and The Daily Beast columnist Clive Irving calls “stealing his limelight.” But the royal expert said, all parties have reached a compromise, though the uncomfortable reality remains that, as The Daily Express puts it, “the king-in-waiting is stealing some of the incumbent’s thunder.”

“They worked out a kind of accommodation of how much limelight each is going to be allowed, because Charles is always very jealous of the other people stealing his limelight,” Irving said. “He’s worked out a deal now, whereby Wiliam and Kate can have an allotted percentage of the limelight.” While the exact percentage remains unclear, Irving estimated “maybe 40 percent [for William and Catherine] and he keeps 60 percent. That seems to be the working arrangement.”

Prince William and King Charles together

But, The Daily Express reports, polling suggests that William and Catherine should be given as much limelight as they can muster—a recent poll conducted by YouGov found that 74 percent of Britons view the Prince and Princess of Wales favorably, which is the highest of any royals. Interestingly, Catherine is now trailing William in popularity. William arrived in first place, and Catherine in third—with Princess Anne taking second place.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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