Kate Pulled William 'Back From the Edge,' Author Says

Christopher Andersen, the author of best-selling books about the late Princess Diana, has a new volume out called 'William and Kate: A Royal Love Story.' In it, Andersen chronicles the couple's long and sometimes rocky relationship and sorts through juicy details about William's other romantic conquests, how they kept their affair secret and what makes this soon-to-be-wed couple sparkle. The author tells PopEater that without Kate, William could very well have become an embarrassment to the family, and he makes his case that Prince Harry was fathered by a different man.

Firstly, I was shocked at how much William and Harry drink.
They do drink a lot. That's where Kate comes in; one of the great jobs she's been able to perform is pulling William back from the edge a bit. You always see them coming out of those bars, and he always look completely smashed, and she's in good shape. She never over imbibes, she's always in control, and before she leaves the club she goes and makes herself up in the ladies room so that not a hair is out of place. She's always been a pillar of strength for him.

I know it's worked out for her in the end, but she sure waited a long time.
Well if you're going to wait around and be patient for somebody it might as well be him. This raises the question of whether she always had her sights set out for him, and to some extent, I think she did. But you know, why not?

You write that her mother, Carole, really encouraged Kate to pursue William.
Oh yeah, even though she was criticized for chewing gum and using the word toilet around the queen, the fact of the matter is I think she's a very savvy woman, and if you're going to encourage your daughter to have a relationship with anyone, it might as well be the future king.

What do you think of their relationship?
Even though William has been "Windsorized," he really is emotionally Diana's son, and I think when she told him how oddly enough she admired the relationship between Charles and Camilla and said that when you find your soul mate, that love, hold onto it, protect it, I think William took that to heart. By the same token he wanted to make sure that this was the one. It's taken a lot of time, and she has never put a foot wrong. She's done everything you could possibly ask and more. She's allergic to horses, yet she shows up to all the polo matches. She never fired a gun before, but there she is shooting at Sandringham with Prince Philip or talking to Charles about environmental issues. She's done everything right, and she's never embarrassed the Royal Family and that's the most important thing.

She does have an embarrassing uncle.
Her uncle Gary. He's been on his best behavior in recent months. He hosted William and Kate at his estate in Ibiza. It was later revealed in a sting operation he was offering people cocaine and prostitutes and bragging about being the uncle of the future king. Even though it ended up on the front pages of the tabloids, somehow it didn't rub off on Kate. She's sort of a Teflon princess in that regard. Also her brother James has been photographed wearing Kate's dresses.

You sort of imply he's gay.
I wouldn't necessarily say that, I would just say he has a fondness obviously for wearing dresses and French maid outfits and posing in odd situations on the Internet.

Hmm.
It's very unusual. It's sort of a British upper-class thing. Those pictures were yanked off the Internet, but again, none of it really tarnished Kate.

Everyone is always trying to point out the similarities between Kate and Diana.
There are huge differences. Diana was a 19-year-old girl when she entered this world, and everyone assumed because she was an aristocrat that she knew the ropes and what to do. But she was kind of left to her own devices. She knew from the beginning that her husband was in love with somebody else. It was a problem from the beginning. Charles did not love her. In this case not only is Kate 29 years old, not only has she spent nine years with this guy, but they are very deeply committed to each other. They do share the fact that Kate is a fashion icon already and has the potential to become a great celebrity.

Do you think Harry is an idiot?
No, I think he's na�ve in a way. I feel sorry for him occasionally. I'm one of those people who look at the photos of James Hewitt and say you've got to be kidding.

You think he's Harry's Dad?
I definitely do. If you look at the circumstances which were revealed more recently, the fact is Diana began her affair with Hewitt much earlier than people thought. If you look at the facts of where they were when the marriage really went south, which was with the arrival of Harry, redheaded Harry, it seems rather obvious to me.

What are Kate and William like?
When I talk to people who know both of them, they use the same words to describe both William and Kate and that is that they are kind, sensitive, down to earth, all of these qualities that you normally don't associate with members of the royal family. In William's case that's because of his mother's influence and in Kate's case, Diana said she wanted to be the people's princess but she was anything but common. She was a true aristocrat. Here, in Kate, we have the real thing. She's going to be the closest thing to a normal person because of her parents' happy 30-year marriage, the things she's experienced in school and the real world. It's going to make her a queen that we've never seen before.

Was the turning point in their relationship when she walked down the runway in lingerie?
Absolutely. It does seem superficial, but they'd been friends for a year, but it was then when she kind of came out of her shell, marches down the catwalk in this nearly transparent negligee and all the guys were amazed. That was the moment that apparently William really took notice.

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