Victory for Kate Middleton as society bible Tatler caves

Tatler has cut huge swathes from its online profile of the Duchess of Cambridge after the society bible was accused of publishing a ‘string of lies’.

The magazine has caved in and removed almost a quarter of the piece – in particular ‘cruel’ and ‘snobby’ barbs aimed at Kate’s mother Carole Middleton and sister Pippa.

It comes after Kensington Palace instructed its lawyers to demand the ‘inaccuracies and false representations’ be removed.

July/August’s edition of Tatler, which was published in May under the cover story ‘Catherine the Great’, detailed claims, now deleted, that Kate, 38, felt ‘exhausted and trapped’ following Harry and Meghan’s decision to step back from royal life, was ‘perilously thin’ like Princess Diana and had even consulted psychics with William.

But The Mail on Sunday understands it was the criticism of the Middleton family that caused the greatest upset.

Initially, Tatler refused to remove anything from the internet, despite Palace fury, with editor Richard Dennen insisting he stood ‘behind the reporting of Anna Pasternak and her sources’. However, the Cambridges’ lawyers pointed out that Kensington Palace had not been given the opportunity to comment on the specific content of Ms Pasternak’s feature, much of which was disputed.

Eventually both sides agreed that chunks would be cut from the online profile, which was done this week – four months after its publication.

The erased paragraphs include claims that William was obsessed with his mother-in-law, that Carole, 65, is ‘a terrible snob’ and that Pippa, 37, is ‘too regal and try-hard’.

The only reference Tatler has made to the climbdown is a sentence at the end of the piece, saying it has been edited.

One of the claims that most angered the Cambridges was the comparison of ‘perilously thin’ Kate to Princess Diana, who famously struggled with eating disorders throughout her life.

At the time, a Royal source said: ‘That is such an extremely cruel and wounding barb. It’s disgusting. It’s sexist and woman-shaming at its very worst.

‘The piece is full of lies. There is no truth to their claim that the Duchess feels overwhelmed with work, nor that the Duke is obsessed with Carole Middleton. It’s preposterous.

‘The whole thing is class snobbery. Tatler may think it’s immune from action as it’s read by the Royals and on every coffee table in every smart home. But it makes no difference. It’s ironic that the Royals’ favourite magazine is now being trashed by them.

‘The Duchess is a naturally shy woman who is doing her best.’

A source close to the magazine’s publisher Condé Nast said: ‘Tatler has a long-standing relationship with the Royal Family and wanted to end this amicably.’ A spokesman for Kensington Palace declined to comment.

Paragraphs – and entire sections – deleted by Tatler

WHAT IT SAID: Yet, privately, said another friend, ‘Kate is furious about the larger workload [caused by Harry and Meghan quitting]. Of course she’s smiling and dressing appropriately but she doesn’t want this. She feels exhausted and trapped. She’s working as hard as a top CEO, who has to be wheeled out all the time, without the benefits of boundaries and plenty of holidays.

NOW: Paragraph erased

WHAT IT SAID: It’s been a rapid ascent for a girl born into an upper-middle-class family in Reading. She and her siblings attended Marlborough, thanks to her parents’ thriving mail-order business, and while there she had a poster of Prince William on her wall.

NOW: Reference to the Prince William poster, which Kate has previously denied, has been erased

WHAT IT SAID: Another country grandee says: ‘I’ve heard that Prince William is obsessed with Carole. She’s the mummy he always wanted.’ Yet it’s Carole, with what some call her Hyacinth Bucket aspirations of grandeur, who, rumour has it, puts people’s backs up in a way Kate does not. Some people have apparently found her exacting. A skilled craftsman who worked on Anmer Hall, William and Kate’s country home, and is used to a roster of prestigious and potentially tricky customers, said that he found Carole ‘the most difficult client’ he had ever worked with: ‘She was exceedingly demanding, fussy and questioned everything.’ Carole has put her stamp on Anmer décor-wise. Far from being a typical aristo abode, with threadbare rugs and dog hair everywhere, like, say, Windsor and Balmoral, it is, according to a visitor, ‘like a gleaming five-star hotel, with cushions plumped and candles lit’. Another adds: ‘It’s very Buckinghamshire.’

NOW: Entire section erased

WHAT IT SAID: While Kate has praised her close family and happy childhood, there’s no denying that Carole is a formidable matriarch. ‘Carole is a terrible snob,’ alleges a friend of Donna Air, ex-girlfriend of Kate’s brother, James. ‘Donna is really a lovely girl, but Carole got quite grand.’ She adds: ‘Carole is the masterminding force between those girls.’

NOW: Paragraph erased

WHAT IT SAID: Kate and her sister, Pippa, remain the closest of confidantes, presumably because it feels safe. ‘Pippa now speaks like the Queen, too, and is absolutely paranoid about the paparazzi,’ says one of her circle. ‘She refers to her sister as Catherine or ‘the duchess’ in public, which feels too regal and try-hard. Pippa is a bit lost now and is struggling to find her place. She’s always in the shadow as someone’s sister or someone’s wife. But they are all utterly loyal to each other. The Middleton family will always close ranks. None of them can quite believe that they have hit the jackpot, so between Kate, Pippa and Carole there is an unspoken bond. A sort of ‘We have to bring it to fruition at all costs’.’

NOW: Paragraph erased

WHAT IT SAID: Then there’s her ‘Turnip Toff’ crowd, the Norfolk Sloanes, including Sophie Carter and Robert Snuggs, who live near Anmer Hall. And the Cambridges’ glamorous Houghton Hall neighbours, Rose Hanbury and her husband, the Marquess of Cholmondeley.

NOW: Paragraph erased

WHAT IT SAID: Outwardly, it seems that with years of scrutinising public pressure Kate has become perilously thin, just like some point out – Princess Diana. One could argue that Kate is naturally slim and indeed, like Pippa, a vigorous exerciser. Or perhaps her size is down to the stress of being a multitasking mother of three – one countenancing the additional worries of defending a Royal Family seemingly under siege. ‘William is absolutely incandescent about Megxit,’ a courtier confides. ‘Every time the Sussexes issue a statement, it hits everyone like a fresh bombshell. The Cambridges are left reeling like everyone else. Everyone is terribly worried about how this is affecting the Queen.’

NOW: Paragraph erased

WHAT IT SAID: [Kate] is a royal ballast, William’s most trusted adviser, and someone who puts duty above all else. Endearingly, following the spirit of Diana, both William and Kate consult psychics. A medium who went to Kensington Palace to ‘channel’ for them found William to be ‘open-hearted and lovely’. Kate, while scrupulously polite, was more ‘shut-down’. Maybe she was merely going through the motions to appease her husband?

NOW: [Kate] is a royal ballast, William’s most trusted adviser, and someone who puts duty above all else. Whatever the truth, as the woman behind the man who will reign from what William Churchill called ‘the greatest throne in history’, Kate has emerged as the ultimate power player.