Kate Middleton’s ‘unassuming’ nature behind closed doors

Jill Biden, the former First Lady of the United States, is releasing her memoir, View from the East Wing, on 2 June, and in an excerpt shared with People, she addressed her friendship with the Princess of Wales.

The pair met back in 2021 when Jill joined her husband, Joe Biden, the then President of the United States, to the UK for a meeting of G7 leaders.

During a joint outing, the two women visited a primary school in Hayle, Cornwall, with the pair sharing a joint interest in early years education. Speaking about the royal in her memoir, Jill wrote: ” At every event we’d been at together, Kate and William were friendly.

“When Princess Kate and I cooed over rabbits at a primary school in West Cornwall, I found her instantly likable, very unassuming. She made me feel at ease. She seemed so grounded.

Jill also revealed the key piece of advice that she gave the mother-of-three, explaining: “I encouraged her to keep a journal about her experiences. She said she liked to draw and paint, but I said you can never have too many ways to privately express your feelings.”

Following their joint outing, the pair teamed up to write an article emphasising the importance of early years education. “We both believe that part of this vision for [a stronger] future must include a fundamental shift in how our countries approach the earliest years of life,” they said in the CNN piece.

“If we care about how children perform at school, how they succeed in their careers when they are older, and about their lifelong mental and physical health, then we have to care about how we are nurturing their brains, their experiences and relationships in the early years before school.”

They added: “The two of us believe that early childhood care and education should be seen as among the defining, strategic issues of our time.

“What would happen if we really followed the science of early childhood and started focusing on the things that would make the biggest difference for children and those who guide them? We could transform the prospects of an entire generation.”

Royal connections

The Princess of Wales isn’t the only royal that Jill is close with, as she also shares a strong bond with Prince Harry, the royal’s estranged brother-in-law.

© Getty

In the same year that she met Kate, Jill and Harry teamed up for The Department of Defense Warrior Games, an annual event that celebrates the resiliency and dedication of wounded, ill, and injured active duty and veteran U.S. military Service members.

Jill first met Harry during his tour of the US in 2013, during which he attended a reception for British and US wounded warriors in Washington. At that time, Joe and Jill were Vice President and second lady under President Obama’s administration.