[ Crowd cheering ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Crowd cheering ] ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversation, camera shutter clicking ] ♪♪ -Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," has finally hit the shelves.

-Harry was given an enormous book deal advance, and the name of the game is to sell books.

-But Harry knew what he was doing.

He was quite prepared to sell them all down the river.

-Well, he sort of dragged Kate under the bus, along with everyone else.

-The publication of "Spare" was so explosive in so many different ways.

There were revelations from -- coming from all sides.

♪♪ -In the book, Harry recalls a tense exchange between Meghan; sister-in-law, Kate Middleton; and brother, Prince William.

-It's the first time Kate was really pulled into the drama that has identified Harry and Meghan.

It just put her in such an unkind light.

-I don't think William will ever speak to his brother again because of what Harry said about Kate.

-I mean, it was just hugely damaging.

Hugely damaging.

But she wasn't just going to sit and take this lying down.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -It was "The Kate and William Show."

And then, suddenly, this force of nature takes over.

-Everything changes for the Duchess of Cambridge with the arrival of Meghan.

-There was definitely some friction there.

You could see it.

-Do you ever have disagreements about things?

[ Laughter ] -Oh, yes.

-This is a very volatile situation.

-And Kate is left reeling after the explosive Oprah interview.

-There's a conversation with you... -With Harry.

-...about how dark your baby is going to be?

-This is clearly a huge story.

You know, you're almost in a bunker and you just want to draw up the drawbridge.

♪♪ ♪♪ -We have some very important news.

Buckingham Palace has just announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died.

♪♪ [ Bell tolling ] ♪♪ -The death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, heralds a period of mourning for the country.

[ Guard shouting indistinctly ] -The death of Queen Elizabeth absolutely changed everything for the royal family.

♪♪ We lost our matriarch.

We lost the grandmother of the nation.

And we lost this beacon of stability that we had.

-The death of the Queen was absolutely enormous.

I mean, this had been a woman, an icon, who, for most of us, she was the only monarch that we knew.

It was an extraordinary time.

-The Queen's passing comes at a time of great turbulence in the House of Windsor.

-Obviously, the focus was on Queen Elizabeth and paying tribute to her, but there was also this other narrative that was going on, as well, because of the fallout between William and Kate and Harry and Meghan that had become by that time very, very high-profile.

And seeing the four of them together was, of course, something that we hadn't seen for a very long time, and certainly not since we had known all about the difficulties that had gone on behind the scenes.

-I'm sorry for your loss.

-Thank you very much.

-Sorry for your loss.

-Harry.

-Thanks for being here.

-And so there was a huge amount of scrutiny and focus around how the four of them interacted.

-Of course.

-Thank you for coming down today to pay your respects.

-God bless you.

-Thank you very much.

Hello.

-Hello.

-Lots of things were kind of read into very small interactions that may or may not have had meaning, but that was symptomatic of the huge spotlight that was on and continues to be on the relationship between these four.

-Amongst the family drama, Kate maintains a dignified public face.

-I think Catherine always represents this sort of absolute image of what a royal should look like.

It's forward-facing.

She has this same continuity that the Queen has in a way, that the royal family need to represent, particularly in times of turmoil for them.

-Well, she was the glue, really, that kept the royal family together at that very difficult time.

-But this steely resolve is about to be tested once again.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Mouse clicking ] A documentary series is released by Harry and Meghan on Netflix.

-The Netflix exposé, for want of a better word, where Meghan and Harry poured out all their pain, must have surprised the household.

It was visceral.

It... There was a sort of perverse bitterness at the center of that.

Anybody looking at it from a family perspective must have been pretty shocked at the accusations.

-No one knows the full truth.

Um, we know the full truth.

The institution knows the full truth, and the media know the full truth, 'cause they've been in on it.

-When I think about those interviews and that grenade that was literally thrown into the room, I mean, like a bomb going off, and it's unprecedented.

They would literally have been thinking, "Now what do we do?"

'Cause there's no plan for this.

They've never had this happen.

And it's one of their own.

It's a member of the royal family.

-In the controversial series, Harry goes further than he did in the Oprah interview, this time seemingly taking aim at his sister-in-law.

♪♪ -I think for so many people in the family, especially, obviously, the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mold, as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.

The difference between making decisions with your head or your heart.

-When you're looking at a PR war, people look for ordnance.

They look for ordnance that can be used to be fired at the opposition.

The idea that Kate fits the mold -- Of course it's gonna be painful to hear.

It was a vindictive war between a group of people who were described as the Fab Four.

♪♪ Harry picked up on the point that this was all about a marriage of convenience, rather than a marriage of love.

-I don't know who he was referring to.

This is not the 1600s and Henry VIII, who had to marry because of wars and diplomatic relations.

You know, this is a lovely middle-class lass who fell in love with a prince.

-I think a lot of people believed in the truth that, in fact, William had actually found love at university by someone who'd even thought about whether she would engage.

There was a hiatus.

And they moved through the gears.

[ Applause ] -Even when Will and Kate came over and I had met her for the first time -- they came over for dinner -- I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot.

Like, I was a hugger.

I've always been a hugger.

I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.

I guess I'd started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward-facing way of being.

And then you close the door and you go, "Oh!

Great.

Okay, we can relax now."

But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.

-The comments about sort of Kate being cold was obviously used by Meghan because she wanted to score points.

She wanted to win a PR war.

It certainly fitted the narrative that there was a huge sort of battle going on between households.

-I know that Kate and William were deeply hurt over what Harry and Meghan said, but they remained dignified.

Stay classy.

It's much better in the long term... however hard it may be, however painful it may be.

-The accusations in the Netflix documentary are followed a month later by further allegations from the House of Sussex.

-Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," has finally hit the shelves.

-Harry was given an enormous book deal advance, and the name of the game is to sell books.

So clearly the relationship had broken down.

The two -- two brothers had fallen apart.

The two wives had fallen apart.

Here was his opportunity to actually drive home his narrative.

-Alongside the launch of "Spare," Harry gives an insight into the content of his book in an exclusive interview with ITV.

It's watched by 4.6 million people.

-This book is -- takes things to a whole new level because it's a complete account of your life.

However, I think I do have to start with a simple question, which is, "Why?"

Why have you written it?

-'Cause it's my story to tell.

-"Spare" was a publishing phenomenon and, you know, an absolute bombshell in terms of the impact that it had.

After the Netflix docuseries, after the Oprah interview, all of which sort of had us picking our jaws up off the floor, we kind of wondered how bad "Spare" was going to be.

-In the contentious book, Harry continues where his Netflix documentary series left off, accusing Kate of being hostile to his new wife.

-Harry was not particularly complimentary about Kate.

-At one stage, Harry recounts a clear-the-air meeting involving him, William, Kate, and Meghan.

It seems to have gone so badly wrong that he describes Kate as gripping the edges of the leather chairs so tightly that her fingers were white.

Kate says she's owed an apology from Meghan, who'd previously put a moment of Kate's forgetfulness down to so-called "baby brain."

According to Harry, Kate tells Meghan they're not close enough to talk that way and William says, "That's not what's done here in Britain."

-That conversation, that excruciating conversation where he accuses Kate of saying to Meghan, "You don't know me well enough to talk about my ovaries" -- I mean, like [Sighs] -It's the first time Kate was really pulled into the drama that has identified Harry and Meghan.

It just put her in such an unkind light.

I mean, it was just hugely damaging.

Hugely damaging.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Kate and the royals are dealing with the fallout from the publication of Harry's autobiography.

Its extraordinary allegations about her are causing a worldwide media storm.

-Prince Harry's a bit of a troublemaker.

-Hey.

-The memoir is out today.

Prince Harry -- This book is out now.

It's called "Spare."

-[ Laughs ] Stop it.

From Prince Harry's point of view, of course.

intimate details are emerging from his bombshell book, "Spare."

-In the book, Harry recalls a tense exchange between Meghan; sister-in-law, Kate Middleton; and brother, Prince William.

-Harry knew what he was doing.

He knew that he had to make -- They knew he couldn't just write a bland book.

He knew that.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be giving him the multi-millions he's made out of it.

He knows that.

And so he was quite prepared to sell them all down the river.

-The book implicates Kate in a hugely controversial moment in Harry's life, when he and his now sister-in-law were in their 20s.

-One of the more specific allegations that were made in Prince Harry's memoir was that it was Catherine who encouraged him to choose the Nazi uniform in that now-infamous incident.

♪♪ -If we go back to the Nazi uniform bought or hired from a Gloucestershire fancy dress department, it was -- It made all the news.

What was spun in the book was the person who influenced that was Kate, which clearly was pretty damaging because there was this sort of innocent young boy, the sort of -- the sort of thing -- the plaything of his brother and sister-in-law.

[ Laughter ] -Harry, he just seems to need to blame someone for everything that happens to him in his life.

So yeah, he really -- Well, he sort of dragged her under the bus, along with everyone else.

[ Camera shutters clicking ] -The accusations made against her leave Kate and those close to her reeling.

-I was staggered by Harry writing what he did in "Spare."

He didn't have to include that in "Spare."

He didn't have to do and say any of that.

-I have no doubt Kate will find them hurtful and upsetting and possibly feel that she's been slightly betrayed.

But on saying that, because of the relationship she had with Harry, I think she will -- She will still be the one that wants to see it fixed.

-William is very, very protective of his wife.

Very protective of his wife.

Don't ever do anything to cross her.

And I don't think he will ever speak to his brother again because of what Harry said about Kate in "Spare."

♪♪ -Despite the fallout and how damaging those allegations were, it was still the strategy out of the palace that they should not dignify any of this with a comment, to let it run its course.

-As Meghan and Harry continue their media offensive, Kate and William remain silent -- a strategy that pays off.

[ Crowd cheering ] -She and, in fact, William were really enjoying a lot of positive media, aided and abetted by all the mistakes Harry and particularly Meghan were making.

[ Indistinct conversations ] They stood back.

They said very little.

They just got on with the job.

-Kate!

Kate!

Kate!

Kate!

[ Camera shutter clicking ] -Nice to meet you.

-I think that Kate understands what her role is.

She understands what's happening around her.

-During this time, with Harry and Meghan dominating the front pages, Kate makes the decision to change her PR team.

♪♪ -But anybody who is battered by the media and realize they're not in control, you need tough people alongside you to help you.

[ Crowd cheering ] [ "God Save the King" plays ] -For a man who's made a career out of biding his time, the moment had finally come.

-The ascension of Charles to king marks a significant shift for Kate as she moves one step closer to the crown.

♪♪ -Kate looked incredible at the King's coronation.

She wore the robes of the Royal Victorian Order, which were red and blue, so she was wearing the colors of the national flag.

She wore earrings that belonged to Princess Diana -- obviously a subtle nod to William's mother.

And she wore a beautiful crystal headpiece.

It was a very powerful image.

I think.

We hadn't really seen Kate in royal robes before and suddenly everybody saw her in a new light.

[ Cheers and applause ] I think everybody realized that they were looking at a future queen.

[ Cheers and applause ] -We see her kind of step into this space that was left by the matriarch, and Catherine is the natural fit for that.

-One of the things which sort of underpins the royal family and has done for -- really for a century, has been this idea that there's a dominant matriarchal figure and the person we'll now be thinking of in that role will be Kate.

-She is also expected to inhabit her new title, the Princess of Wales.

-With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground, where vital help can be given.

-Obviously the last Princess of Wales was this iconic global superstar.

[ Camera shutter clicking ] -I'm only trying to highlight a problem that's going on all around the world.

-And to fill those boots is enormous.

-There has really only ever been one Princess of Wales in recent modern times, and that was Princess Diana.

And inevitably it was going to mean the contrast would -- would start to come between her and Diana.

And I think Kate's been aware of this for many years.

When she first appeared on the scene, you know, she wasn't very keen on the idea of having that title.

And, you know, thankfully, uh, it didn't happen immediately.

And by the time she became Princess of Wales, she was probably ready for that role.

-Looks delicious.

Thank you so much.

It's a real honor to be here.

-Thank you.

-Long before being bestowed with this iconic title, through her charity work, Kate has already cemented herself as a new 21st-century people's princess.

-Hi.

Are you on duty today?

-What Catherine really understands is the convening power of the royal family, and the power that she has to bring a focus and the global spotlight to certain causes.

She is immensely on top of everything that she covers because she's immensely passionate about it.

So that's what happens, really -- The passion leaks into the subject.

-Right.

-With her new role comes a new test for the unflappable princess.

-This is the new bombshell book that's been dominating the headlines.

"Endgame" is the controversial inside story of royal rivalries, which dishes out fresh allegations and some familiar ones, too, about the royal family and their relationships with the Sussexes.

And we're joined now by the book's author, Omid Scobie.

Good morning.

-I knew this book would be controversial.

It obviously goes into areas that I think that often royal correspondents shy away from, whether it's conversations around race or, of course, the relationship between the press and the palace.

-The revealing book deals a hammer blow to Kate and the royals, elaborating on allegations made by Meghan during the explosive Oprah interview two years previously.

-In those months when I was pregnant, so we have in tandem the conversation of, he won't be given security, he's not gonna be given a title... ...and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born.

-What?

There was a leaked excerpt from the Dutch edition which the names of the royals who'd allegedly made the comments about the color of then-unborn Archie's skin, revealed it to be the Princess of Wales and the King.

-The Sussexes do not feed him information.

Omid is not a mouthpiece for them.

He is not part and parcel of their inner circle.

He does not brief the media on their behalf.

So how he with authority can say, allegedly, who these two members of the royal family were, I genuinely don't know.

-Anybody who follows it knows Omid Scobie, where his allegiances lie.

-On the BBC's "Newsnight," the author claims the naming of Kate and the King is due to a translation error.

-The English version of the book, the only one I know, the version that I signed off on, that is the book that is out there today.

That's the book that has no names in it.

And I make it very clear because ultimately to write the names, it's a show-and-tell situation.

There's no ability to show, so there was never an attempt to name.

-The damage is immediately felt by the palace.

-I think we sort of forget the impact it had post "Spare," post the Netflix docuseries.

Even if people didn't read the book, they certainly read the headlines because the headlines we continue to talk about today.

So for Catherine, the Princess of Wales, the suggestion that she was, along with the King, the royal who'd made the alleged comments about Archie's skin color is hugely damaging.

Devastating for her.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Kate and the monarchy are engulfed in negative headlines following the release of the explosive book "Endgame."

-Nobody in the public arena wants to have false information put out in the public about them, whether you're a princess or whether you're a person behind a checkout.

It's horrible.

And your family read it, your friends read it.

And social media is the worst.

I think we've all been victims of blatantly untrue smearing, you know, untruths on social media.

It's awful.

-You see the chatter on social media.

You see the surge of conversation out of North America, who never understand the royal family.

Their view of the royal family is through things like "The Crown," rather than that.

Of course there's gonna be negativity.

-You know, I think the public very protectively rallied around her and the King, um, knowing that neither of them are racist.

-I've never seen a family more pro other nationalities, people of all colors, people of all backgrounds.

So they are the least racist family I have ever worked for.

-Of course it created a kerfuffle.

Of course it created negative headlines.

It didn't sustain because it came from a person who had no credibility.

♪♪ -With the negative publicity lingering, Kate seeks to reclaim the spotlight, focusing on her patronages and her annual charity carol concert.

-She was hosting this carol concert again, and it was very Kate, actually, very much standing in her own, using her position to really good effect.

-Yes.

Thank you.

-December 2023 was just a completely normal working time for Kate, for members of the royal family.

She was out and about.

She was doing the things that we have become used to seeing her do at this time of year -- attending her carol service at Westminster Abbey.

-Everything sort of looked quite bright and promising.

2024 was going to be the year where Kate really got the early years foundation off the ground.

There were a lot of exciting new projects that were being planned, and we were all looking forward to quite a busy year, actually.

-Everything felt completely normal.

There was absolutely no sense of what was to come.

♪♪ -Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has been admitted to hospital.

Kensington Palace released a statement and it reads as follows -- "Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was admitted to the London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery."

-When the news breaks, Kate has already been absent from public view for almost four weeks.

-It was announced at the time when she did go into hospital that she would hopefully return to work after Easter.

-It is an unprecedented step for, after all, a young, vibrant member of the royal family to take.

We had seen her in the public eye, for instance, at Christmas.

-Thank you so much.

That's very sweet of you to come and say hello to us.

-Thank you.

-Yeah.

Very happy Christmas.

-And she looked the picture of health and well-being.

So the dramatic difference between those images and the black hole, if you like, of her absence, was so great that I was convinced that something very seriously was wrong with her.

-Join us this hour for breaking news on the royal family from London.

King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer.

-I think looking at January this year and the surgery that both the King and the Princess of Wales had was an absolute seismic shock to the country, to the world.

-Prince William has had to pull out of a church service at the last minute because, he says, it's a "personal matter."

Kensington Palace has not provided further detail but has confirmed that Princess Kate is doing well.

-Kate has now been away from the spotlight for nearly two months.

The number of working royals is diminishing before the public's eyes.

-Although it wasn't a major state occasion, the timing of it, the events surrounding it, including the King's health, um, exposed just how thin the royal family had become.

-To address the growing concern, a statement is issued by Kensington Palace reminding the public they will only be providing significant updates.

-It's what the royal family do.

They issue statements and unfortunately it wasn't enough.

The demands wanted more.

Then the rumor mill and the conspiracy mill started.

-Where is Kate Middleton?

-She had a stroke.

I don't know.

-Kate is still nowhere to be seen.

-People are questioning that she's "missing."

-They haven't seen her either almost since Christmas.

-It's been nearly three months, and there have been no updates about Kate's absence from public life.

-Into that vacuum, all sorts of speculation erupted.

-My guess is either King Charles is gonna abdicate the throne.

-And people began making all sorts of assumptions about what might be wrong with her.

-Second guess is Will and Kate are getting divorced.

Or that Kate's dead or that something is really, really, really, really [bleep] wrong with her.

-She's gone.

-She had a stroke.

-They haven't seen her either.

-Some absolutely awful stuff was said on social media -- that she was dead, that she was the victim of domestic abuse, that she'd had a bum lift, that she had cosmetic surgery.

Some ridiculous and awful things were said.

-It became almost an obsession of -- of social media, um, which was fine as long as it remained on social media.

But social media is now so all encompassing, so, so powerful, so pervasive.

It crept into every other aspect of our lives.

And inevitably, the mainstream media began reporting on what was going on or what was not going on.

-Where is Kate Middleton?

Where are you, Kate?

-The silence surrounding Kate's continued absence is deafening.

-It's a mark of the central position that Kate occupies in the royal family, and in the public's affection, that the fact that she's suddenly disappeared from public view caused a great deal of concern and consternation.

[ Camera shutters clicking ] -When you're in the royal family, the line between private and public is much more blurred that when it affects the health and well-being of figures at the very, very top of the institutions that run us, if you like.

You know, there is clearly an argument here that we should be entitled to know what is going on.

-When Queen Victoria lost her husband, she went into a deep depression and she withdrew almost completely from the public eye, and it did enormous damage to the public image of the monarchy.

You know, that relationship between the royal family and the public is critical to the survival and success of a constitutional monarchy.

-Kensington Palace had been content to continue with their line that we're saying nothing about what's wrong with her.

The speculation was reaching such a height it was very hard to know what Kate and William were going to do to try and address this.

-They clearly underestimated the power of the silence and the uncomfortable situation it caused.

-It would have put a lot of pressure on Kate and William to speak out, and she was almost forced into a corner.

-When you've got that sort of media conspiracy theory going online and taking over, "never explain, never complain" has to go out the window.

They had to do something.

-And then there was a very significant announcement that, of course, completely changed everything.

Nobody saw it coming.

Nobody was expecting it.

♪♪ -After a 3-month absence fueling damaging speculation, Kate is forced to speak publicly about her health.

-In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London, and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous.

The surgery was successful.

However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.

My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I'm now in the early stages of that treatment.

-But when you consider how she's relayed, I think, you know, the most important messages of her life, this hasn't been done in a sort of, you know, stiff, um, anodyne palace statement.

This has been done in the most intimate form of communication, with Kate addressing the camera, speaking to us in our homes, in our living room.

-This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

-The royal family tried to create a line in the sand by a statement in January, but it felt 20th century.

The quick way that they moved the goalpost was very much a 21st-century moment in terms of comms, speed of change.

-For everyone facing this disease in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope.

You are not alone.

-I remember actually when it was announced, it just was, like, such a shock.

-I would challenge anyone not to be incredibly moved by it.

I think what was so extraordinary about it was how personal, absolutely personal, but also it really made her relatable in a way maybe that hasn't been made before.

-I think it was a bit of a wake-up call, actually, for a lot of people who were maybe very active on social media, and for us to all kind of think about the social media discourse and what that does to us as individuals and as a society.

-And it speaks to this really interesting intersection between the royal family, fame, gossip, salacious news, conspiracy theories, how things snowball without actual information.

So it was just extraordinary to witness that.

-How many people must have felt bad?

How many people must have thought, "What have I said?

What have I done?"

Because that was, you know, to drive somebody to that point, they've got to speak out and actually tell the world, "I'm actually fighting for my life."

-Three months after the Princess of Wales revealed her cancer diagnosis, an update on Kate's health is released to the world's media.

-The Princess of Wales says she's making good progress after her cancer diagnosis, but she's not out of the woods yet.

Catherine has released a personal message saying she'll be at Trooping the Colour on Saturday.

♪♪ -I was at Trooping the Colour in the summer... -As a royal butler, just talk us through this balcony etiquette.

What are we expecting to see?

-...doing some commentary with the news.

And I was there when the coach went past, when everyone was speculating and hoping that she was going to be there.

And when they got -- When they caught a glimpse of her, the roars of applause, excitement, cheering, jubilation was unbelievable.

[ Cheers and applause ] -I think there was a collective "phew" from the nation.

It was lovely seeing her at Trooping, which is obviously one of the most significant role events in the calendar.

♪♪ -And you could just see the joy in everyone's eyes as she went past.

[ Cheers and applause ] -A month later, Kate makes another surprise public appearance.

-Kate stepped out at Wimbledon.

Um, but she looked phenomenal.

-She's president of the All England Lawn Tennis Association.

So it was quite right that she should do that in her public capacity.

-And here we are.

The appearance of Her Royal Highness.

-I remember her coming into center court or sitting in the royal box.

[ Cheers and applause ] And the roar of the crowd... [ Cheers and applause ] ...absolutely amazing.

And what a boost that must have been for her.

[ Cheers and applause continue ] To feel that, you know, people actually really, really do care.

I mean, mentally a huge emotional boost for her.

-I think it just highlighted what a vital and important part of the monarchy she is.

♪♪ [ Birds chirping ] -As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.

The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family.

Life as you know it can change in an instant, and we've had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.

-The video that was released in September 2024, it was very honest.

It was very emotional.

I think it was far more personal than anyone ever expected.

I mean, we weren't even expecting a video message.

We were hoping for some sort of an update in September, but to get that sort of video accompanying that message was very powerful.

-The cancer journey is complex, scary, and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you.

With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you've never considered before.

And with that, a new perspective on everything.

-A perfect video for the age.

Straight out of Instagram, straight out of Hollywood.

All the touches of a -- of a family video that might have been taken by a shaky super 8 camera back in the '60s telling her story, and because every part of it had been thought through, making up for the mistakes I've made, it landed perfectly and generated a huge amount of sympathy and gave people what they wanted -- gooey pictures of a happy family.

-Despite all that's gone before, I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.

-The video showed that the family was very much together.

All these rumors swirling around were just knocked into touch.

-She wanted to do something that felt intimate, that felt special, and that reflected some of the journey that she's been through.

And with that came an honesty that, you know, she's felt frail, she's felt vulnerable and that this has been a scary time.

♪♪ -Despite everything she has faced and the storms she's had to weather, Kate has emerged as a beloved and revered member of the royal family.

-That relatability has been there from the very beginning, and it's something that she's carried throughout.

Diana was, you know, the people's princess, but I think Kate Middleton is of the people.

Um, and that's something that I think everybody just wants to buy into.

-Catherine Middleton started out as an ordinary middle-class girl.

-At the beginning, there was this sense of her having kind of won this fairy-tale prize.

But actually, through the way that she's behaved over the years, she's generated this whole new level of interest in the royal family.

-I mean, the thing about Kate is she's come a long, long way.

[ Cheers and applause ] -Now a globally lauded icon adored by millions... [ Cheers and applause ] ...she has an unwavering commitment to service.

-Almost like she was born to do this job.

-And it's been a privilege, actually, to watch her confidence evolve.

She has enabled us a little bit more of a public glimpse behind the kind of -- behind the royal veil.

And that's been great to see.

-With a will of steel and an unflinching sense of duty, Kate is key to the future of the monarchy.

-She's hugely important to a transitional monarchy that is going to have to change if it's going to survive into the next century.

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Camera shutters clicking ] -It's an incredibly tricky act to pull off because you have to be both relatable and somehow special.

It's incredibly difficult to do.

-She's forged a connection with people, you know, people who will one day be her future subjects.

-Kate has been a really important part of helping to modernize the royal family.

A lot of how she dresses speaks to this.

This kind of balance between tradition and modernity, but also bringing a bit of your own personality.

-What Catherine really understands is the convening power of the royal family and the power that she has.

-Catherine Middleton has obviously clearly had a remarkable story from where she started out to where she is now, but I think the best chapter is yet to come.

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