article_snippet: In the early days of the Prince of Wales son William's courtship of Kate, the waspish Duchess of Cornwall would jokily refer to Middleton family as 'meet the Fockers', a reference to the Hollywood comedy about unconventional in-laws.
article_snippet: For there is a 'definite feeling' among friends of the Duchess of
article_snippet: For his part, the Prince has always recognised that the pull on Kate by Kate mother would be strong.
article_snippet: All Carole Middleton has ever wanted was to give as much guidance and help to Kate and George as any other grandmother,' says a family friend. '
article_snippet: a family friend'll be horrified to learn that William's father is apparently upset because William's father is not seeing enough of George.
article_snippet: When Kate was first pregnant, All Carole would have been all too aware of the demands that were bound to be made on the Prince of Wales by Buckingham Palace and, it's clear, a family friend fully accepted the demands that were bound to be made on the baby prince by the palace.
article_snippet: But a family friend would also have known that William would defend the Middletons' right to be involved
article_snippet: William'd repeatedly insisted this should be the case.
article_snippet: William's role was always going to be crucial because, until now, in-laws have traditionally found themselves frozen out in the Royal Family.
article_snippet: What All Carole didn't anticipate, though, was that William would not only make sure Carole Middleton had a 'say' in the early years of Carole Middleton first grandchild, but William would, indeed, be the driving force behind Prince George spending many days under the informal, unroyal influence of William self-made, middle-class in-laws — people whose outlook is so different from the stiffly royal approach of William father.
article_snippet: Of course, this was more in line with an experience and understanding of life outside palace walls to which William mother Diana had pointedly introduced William and William brother Harry at an early age.
article_snippet: Part of William is a rebel who just doesn't want to be another version of his father, or have a stuffy, traditional royal role,' says a family friend. '
article_snippet: William message is that William's part of their family — a family that gave William a proper home life.'