Carole Middleton is the glue holding the Wales family together amid Princess Kate's cancer battle, a family friend has revealed.
Carole is known to have a very close bond with her eldest daughter - and was 'desperately upset' upon learning of her diagnosis. However, she has found inner strength to support Kate and William at this very difficult time.
The 69-year-old has been a key player behind the scenes - particularly when it comes to her three young royal grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and little Prince Louis. A family friend told the Independent: "Carole has been the driving force keeping the family together with minimum fuss and maximum modesty.
"She's ferried and fetched George, Louis and Charlotte, taken them to school sports matches and given them endless support. She's been a real Mary Poppins-like figure." Carole is certainly a hands-on grandmother. She has seven grandchildren in total - including William and Kate's trio, who fondly call her "Granny Middleton".
Her middle daughter Pippa also has three children - Arthur, five, Grace, four, and one-year-old Rose, while son James welcomed his little boy Inigo with his wife, Alizée Thevenet, in October last year.
Meghan Markle 'to unleash her own memoirs' as Prince Harry's drops next weekCarole spoke about her hands-on approach with her grandchildren in an interview with , in which she said she likes to "run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground". "As long as I am able to, that's what I'll be doing," she revealed. "I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides."
As well as Kate and their children, Carole will be a great source of support for her son-in-law Prince William at this time. Royal biographer Angela Levin previously told The Sun: "William adored Diana and was drawn to her magnetic charm, but she was relentlessly demanding on him as a young child, describing him as her 'closest confidant' and talking about her lovers, when it's a mother's duty to care for her son, not the other way round.
"[Carole] made him feel secure, comfortable and protected and he didn't have to worry about what he said or be responsible for her emotions."
The expert also noted that the Prince learnt through Kate's household how a "loving and supportive family works".
Meanwhile, royal author Phil Dampier further noted that Carole and her husband Michael Middleton have "provided a middle class down-to-earth haven" for William ever since the start of his relationship with Kate at university, and "help to keep him grounded" amid the pressures of his role as the future King.