Double Booker Prize winner, Hilary Mantel whose latest books are set in the Tudor court, has described Kate Middleton as a ‘machine-made’ princess, ‘designed by committee’
She said the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge had gone from being a ‘jointed doll on which certain rags are hung’ to a woman whose ‘only point and purpose’ was to give birth.
Mantel said Kate ‘appeared to have been designed by a committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and gloss-varnished’.
She said Kate had gone from being a ‘jointed doll on which certain rags are hung’ to a woman whose ‘only point and purpose’ was to give birth.
Mantel said Kate ‘appeared to have been designed by a committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and gloss-varnished’.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Mantel’s comments were ‘misguided’
Now David Cameron, while on a trip to India, has reportedly waded into the row to support the pregnant Duchess.
He said that Hilary Martel is ‘a great writer’ but described her comments on Kate as ‘a hurtful thing to say’, according to reports.
He described the comments about the Duchess of Cambridge as ‘completely misguided and completely wrong’.
The Prime Minister told the BBC: ‘What I’ve seen of Princess Kate at public events, at the Olympics and elsewhere is this is someone who’s bright, who’s engaging, who’s a fantastic ambassador for Britain.
‘We should be proud of that, rather than make these rather misguided remarks.’
The head of a charity supported by the Duchess of Cambridge has hit back at Hilary Mantel’s extraordinary attack on her, saying she is an ‘intelligent’ woman who is proving to be a huge asset to the causes she backs.
Nick Barton, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said the Booker prize-winning author was entirely wrong to characterise the Duchess as a clothes horse whose only purpose was to give birth.
Speaking ahead of a visit by the Duchess to Hope House, an addiction recovery centre for women in Clapham, south London, Mr Barton said: ‘I can only speak of what I know, and having met the Duchess several times I find her to be engaging, natural and genuinely interested in the subject.
‘You can tell a lot about someone from the questions they ask and she asks really good questions, the questions of someone who wants to learn. She is also an intelligent woman.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Mantel’s comments were ‘misguided’
Now David Cameron, while on a trip to India, has reportedly waded into the row to support the pregnant Duchess.
Additional report from Mail of London
He said that Hilary Martel is ‘a great writer’ but described her comments on Kate as ‘a hurtful thing to say’, according to reports.
He described the comments about the Duchess of Cambridge as ‘completely misguided and completely wrong’.
The Prime Minister told the BBC: ‘What I’ve seen of Princess Kate at public events, at the Olympics and elsewhere is this is someone who’s bright, who’s engaging, who’s a fantastic ambassador for Britain.
‘We should be proud of that, rather than make these rather misguided remarks.’
The head of a charity supported by the Duchess of Cambridge has hit back at Hilary Mantel’s extraordinary attack on her, saying she is an ‘intelligent’ woman who is proving to be a huge asset to the causes she backs.
Nick Barton, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said the Booker prize-winning author was entirely wrong to characterise the Duchess as a clothes horse whose only purpose was to give birth.
Speaking ahead of a visit by the Duchess to Hope House, an addiction recovery centre for women in Clapham, south London, Mr Barton said: ‘I can only speak of what I know, and having met the Duchess several times I find her to be engaging, natural and genuinely interested in the subject.
‘You can tell a lot about someone from the questions they ask and she asks really good questions, the questions of someone who wants to learn. She is also an intelligent woman.