Update on June 1: In response to reports that the royals are taking legal action against the magazine, Tatler spokesperson Emily Hallie said, “We can confirm we have received correspondence from lawyers acting for the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge and believe it has no merit.”
Kensington Palace issued a rare statement to shoot down a report about Duchess Kate’s state of mind after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit from the British royal family.
“This story contains a swathe of inaccuracies and false misrepresentations which were not put to Kensington Palace prior to publication,” a palace spokesperson said in a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday, May 27, in response to Tatler’s July/August 2020 cover story on the Duchess of Cambridge.
The British magazine, however, insisted that its team had given the royals a heads-up about its article.
“Tatler’s editor in chief, Richard Dennen, stands behind the reporting of Anna Pasternak and her sources,” the publication’s spokesperson said in a statement to Us. “Kensington Palace knew we were running the ‘Catherine the Great’ cover months ago and we asked them to work together on it. The fact they are denying they ever knew is categorically false.”
While much of the cover story is positive, calling Kate a “kingmaker” and “one of the most influential women in the world,” it also includes several unfounded claims regarding her personal life. The article alleges that Kate, 38, is “furious” about having a “larger workload” without Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, around to help, and also claims that the duchess “feels exhausted and trapped.”
Kate and her husband, Prince William, have been busy in recent months while homeschooling their children, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2, amid the COVID-19 pandemic on top of carrying out royal duties. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, meanwhile, have largely stayed out of the public eye since moving to Los Angeles in March with their 12-month-old son, Archie, after stepping back from their senior roles within the family.
Although Kate’s schedule may seem busier than ever as of late, her responsibilities will only help her transition into her future role as queen consort. A source told Us exclusively in April 2019 that Queen Elizabeth II has “really taken Kate under her wing” in recent years, adding, “The two of them will often spend hours discussing royal life and the future of the monarchy.”
