Carole Middleton has long been a source of strength for the Prince and Princess of Wales, but her support became particularly important during Princess Catherine's cancer treatment in 2024.
As the family navigated the shock of her diagnosis, it was doting Carole who stepped forward to give them strength and help them to keep life as normal as possible for Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight.
"She took over helping with the children and the school and the cooking and making food for William and looking after him, too," royal author Ingrid Seward told HELLO!. "I think she's a very strong and determined person.
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Rather than waiting to be asked for help, Carole's hands-on approach meant she could step in wherever she was needed, allowing William and Catherine to focus on their family.
"Carole is a really helpful, practical and unflappable mother and grandmother. Rather than ask what she can do, she just gets on with it; she's very proactive.
"When William went back to royal duties after Catherine's diagnosis, she was doing the school run and probably doing things like filling the freezer with the kids' favourite foods.
"Looking after the three kids would have been absolutely no problem for her whatsoever, and Catherine would have been able to relax in the knowledge that her mother's hand was on the wheel."
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Carole, 71, herself has previously spoken about how her children and grandchildren have always been her priority, making it clear that family comes before everything else.
"My family are paramount. They come first and that will always be the case, even when I have more 'me time'," she has said.
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The doting grandmother has also shared an insight into her hands-on approach to spending time with her grandchildren, revealing that she loves nothing more than joining in with their everyday adventures.
"I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground," she said in 2021. "As long as I'm able to, that's what I'll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides."