I hope everyone has been enjoying Keen Birthday Buttons Week over here. The week-long celebration was unexpected but not entirely unwanted. Throughout the week, we’ve been gifted with so many special stories about the Duchess of Cambridge and her historic laziness and inability to do anything but mumble, flap her jazz hands and be a Mean Girl. We’ve also heard that her mother deserves all of the credit for those meager accomplishments. But hey, at least she’s not Prince Andrew, I guess. That’s what Katie Nicholl said in a new interview – the Queen appreciates Kate because she’s boring and she stayed in the UK.

The Queen will rely on the Duchess of Cambridge ‘more than ever’ as she braces for a ‘difficult’ year with Prince Andrew’s legal woes and Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir, a royal expert has claimed. The Queen, 95, already ‘hugely values’ Kate’s work for the Royal Family, which has become increasingly high profile in recent years. The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, has ‘stepped up’ and taken on more responsibility in the wake of Megxit and will play an even more important role in 2022, it is claimed.

Speaking to Closer, royal author Katie Nicholl said: ‘In recent years, we’ve seen her leadership in the wake of Megxit, throughout which she’s kept calm and carried on. I think this year she’ll come into her own even more, especially as it’ll be a tough year for the royals. Harry and Meghan’s interviews this year have caused chaos for the royals, and Harry’s new memoir – due out next year – will likely reveal even more intimate details about the royal family, and cause further issues.

‘And Andrew’s court case will too. Kate will step up and I know the Queen hugely values her support, and will rely on her more than ever.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I go back and forth on what I think about the Queen’s relationships with both Prince William and Kate. The Queen clearly knows that the Keens were largely responsible for exiling the Sussexes, just as she knows that the Keens were a huge part of the smear campaign against Meghan. While I don’t believe QEII was on board for the “let’s exile the popular royals” train, I also think that she was probably unsettled (and perhaps even jealous) of Harry and Meghan’s popularity and charisma, just as she was unsettled by Diana’s popularity and charisma. So, again, Kate IS what the royal establishment wants: boring, stable, mean, lazy. Congrats to Kate.