‘It’s not a perfect marriage’: Prince William’s ‘tantrums’ often cause ‘rows’ with Kate Middleton as she treats him like a child

Royals author Tom Quinn will be launching his new book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants on Feb. 18, apparently carrying within it some groundbreaking royal revelations. Among them is claim the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton sometimes bears more of a resemblance to a parent-child relationship than a romance.

As The Times revealed in a printed excerpt from the book, royal family protocol involves several relatively high-maintenance requisites, including but not limited to a “bath that must be run at precisely the same time each day.”

Apparently, William — the eldest son of King Charles III and next in line for the British throne — takes after his father in the form of tantrums if the bath is behind schedule or the shoes aren’t polished correctly. As a result, Kate often finds herself stepping in and treating William like a fourth child to calm him down.

The source added, ‘I don’t know where William would be without Kate – she hasn’t had everything done for her throughout her life, so she calms him down when he gets a bit fractious. She said he sometimes has to be treated as her fourth child.

My heart goes out to everyone involved here. Imagine growing up the way Prince William did, so pampered to the point of such peculiar emotional stunting that he apparently can’t keep his anger in check in the absence of a pressed suit, shiny shoes, or specific bath time. And Kate, seemingly feeling obliged to manage William’s emotions as though he’s not a fully grown adult who should be more than capable of having mature responses to such lowly inconveniences. Additionally, it’s probably no ideal situation for George, Charlotte, and Louis to grow up watching their parents adopt even an occasional parent-child dynamic.

But hey, man, their family drama is their business. Even if our instinct is to shame these two for allowing such a dynamic to enter their marriage — especially as two public figures who are expected to model good behavior — it’s only really a problem if we observers allow it to be. If Kate’s not okay with it, she can tell him to smarten up, or she can divorce him. And if she decides to keep dealing with his tantrums this way, the world will keep on turning, even with that added layer of dejected complacency that Kate may or may not be harboring.

Whatever the case, the curtain into the private lives of Kate and William will remain open. This has always been a consequence of royal life, and it has only intensified with the advent of social media, as Princess Anne — the daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II whose 30s and 40s were spared from such an online age — has noted in the past.

Still, gossip like this can only really make its way into the headlines the old-fashioned way — with a typewriter, a pack of palace insiders ready to spill the tea, and a publisher with dollar signs in their eyes. Indeed, much like Prince William’s bath time, some things never change.