British PM Defends Pregnant Kate Middleton After Author Hilary Mantel Calls the Duchess "Machine Made"

David Cameron says the author's comments were "completely misguided"

By Alyssa Toomey Feb 19, 2013 5:16 PMTags
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Kate Middleton has a solid fan in her own royal camp: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron.

After author Hilary Mantel said the Duchess of Cambridge is "gloss varnished" and "machine-made" with a "plastic smile" Feb. 4 at a London Review of Books Lecture, the British PM is jumping to the royal's defense, claiming Mantel's comments were "completely misguided."

"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," he told BBC News. "We should be proud of that, rather than make these rather misguided remarks." 

Check out Kate's baby bump during her charity visit

Due to tabloid reports, comments in Mantel's lengthy speech (listen to the entire lecture here) were taken slightly out of context. Her lecture, titled "Undressing Anne Boleyn," referenced royal women and analyzed the meaning behind the monarchy.  

Still, it's easy to see how Mantel's opinion could be easily misconstrued, as she doesn't paint a glowing picture of the duchess we all adore. 

"Kate seems to have been selected for her role of princess because she was irreproachable: as painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character," Mantel said. "She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture."

But Mantel wasn't just criticizing the mama-to-be, she also critiqued the monarchy and the media:

"We are happy to allow monarchy to be an entertainment, in the same way that we license strip joints and lap-dancing clubs," she concluded. "Adulation can swing to persecution, within hours, within the same press report: this is what happened to Prince Harry recently…I'm asking us to back off and not be brutes."

Do you think Mantel went too far? Hit the comments with your thoughts.