A new book reveals how the Princess of Wales helped steady her husband behind the scenes

(Left) Prince William and Kate Middleton in Marlow, England on Oct. 12, 2024; (Right) Prince Harry in London on March 30, 2023.Credit : Samir Hussein/WireImage, Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

Kate Middleton instinctively knew how to steady Prince William as tensions exploded around Prince Harry’s step back from royal life.

In the new book William and Catherine: The Monarchy’s New Era: The Inside Story, out March 10, author Russell Myers charts the Prince and Princess of Wales’ journey from college classmates in Scotland to a modern royal marriage — one tested by Harry’s shock departure in 2020 and the fallout that followed as William and Kate began imagining their own next chapter.

The pressures on the couple only deepened in the years that followed. The death of Elizabeth in 2022 brought fresh strain to the House of Windsor, while the ongoing rift with Harry and Meghan Markle became a lasting fault line. Yet through it all, Myers tells PEOPLE, the foundation of William and Kate’s relationship has remained remarkably consistent.

“They are great communicators,” he tells PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story. “They talk about their emotions, they support one another, and that resilience — often unseen — is central to who they are.”

PEOPLE Magazine, March 2, 2026.

That strain intensified as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex laid bare their grievances in the couple’s 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, followed by Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare, which included blistering claims about his relationship with his brother and life inside the royal family.

In PEOPLE’s exclusive excerpt below, Myers reveals how the Princess of Wales helped calm her husband at the height of his frustration.

Pegasus Books

As William and Kate’s family grew in the decade following their 2011 wedding, tensions with Harry and Meghan hardened.

While Catherine had demonstrated a steely resolve few had seen before, either publicly or in private, William was, according to several sources, absolutely seething. He felt betrayed by Harry to the extent that he vowed never to speak to him again. Such was his anger that he told one of his most trusted aides that he had “absolutely no time to entertain either of them [Harry and Meghan].”

A source close to William said: “At first he [William] was incredibly angry. The situation had spiralled out of control but the book reinforced his view that [Harry] was not to be trusted. [William] was incredibly let down and immensely sad, but in a way it made him more determined to rally around his own family and his father and I think what you’ve seen since then is a complete dedication to concentrate on the things you can have an effect on, or what you view as important, and engaging [with Harry] did not come under that.” 

Another source gave a fascinating insight into how Catherine dealt with the criticism: “Her attitude was consistently ‘this will pass.’ Whenever William would get riled up about it, she would calm the situation down and bring him back to what matters most to them. That is their family and what they are doing.”

Princess Charlotte, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Prince Louis and Prince William at Trooping the Colour 2025.The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram

Steadiness has been the defining trait of Prince William and Princess Kate’s relationship — a bond tested by uncertainty, shaken by separation and defined by resilience. Now, nearly 15 years after they walked down the aisle at Westminster Abbey, Myers’ new book lifts the veil on one of the world’s most scrutinized marriages.

“Family is everything to them,” the author tells PEOPLE of the couple, who share children Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7. “They believe that having a strong, stable environment at home gives them the best chance of succeeding in what can be an incredibly challenging institution.”