FROM the moment that Prince William began dating Kate Middleton two decades ago, he made it clear that his relationship with his in-laws was non-negotiable.

Since then, the close-knit Middleton family has been integrated into the fold of the Royal family and invited to key events such as Royal Ascot, the late Queen’s Diamond and Platinum Jubilees and the King’s Coronation.

Now Kate’s mother Carole has become ‘the driving force’ as the family helps care for the Prince and Princess of Wales in the wake of Catherine’s cancer diagnosis –  stepping into the breach to help look after George, ten, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, six.

Proud mother Carole Middleton with her daughter, Kate, at  Royal Ascot in 2017
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Proud mother Carole Middleton with her daughter, Kate, at  Royal Ascot in 2017

A still image from Kate's moving video message, in which she disclosed that she was undergoing chemotherapy
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A still image from Kate’s moving video message, in which she disclosed that she was undergoing chemotherapy

Carole, right, watching over her grandson, Prince George, at the King's Cup Regatta in Cowes in 2019
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Carole, right, watching over her grandson, Prince George, at the King’s Cup Regatta in Cowes in 2019

Carole is always in the background, quietly helping her daughter bring up her family. Here, they are pictured at Cowes in 2019
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Carole is always in the background, quietly helping her daughter bring up her family. Here, they are pictured at Cowes in 2019

Carole, right, smiles at Prince George as they attend the Christening of Princess Charlotte in 2015
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Carole, right, smiles at Prince George as they attend the Christening of Princess Charlotte in 2015

Carole, 69, lives with husband Michael, in a £4.7 million manor house in the village of Bucklebury, which is 32 miles from Adelaide Cottage, the Wales’ home in Windsor Home Park.

After Kate released her moving video message, disclosing that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy, a family friend has revealed that Carole provides Kate, 42, and William, 41, with the ‘three Rs’.

Kate Middleton with Carole and Michael Middleton sitting in the front row at Prince William's passing-out parade at Sandhurst in 2007
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Kate Middleton with Carole and Michael Middleton sitting in the front row at Prince William’s passing-out parade at Sandhurst in 2007

Carole and Kate are pictured together at London's Olympia exhibition centre
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Carole and Kate are pictured together at London’s Olympia exhibition centre

But William did not just send his girlfriend an invitation. He also invited her parents Michael and Carole, who sat with her in the front row of the public stand.

Since then, the couple have been invited to a host of historic occasions, but it is behind-the-scenes that they have come into their own.

It is no surprise that  spending just one night at Kensington Palace with new-born son George, they decamped to the Middletons’ family home, where they posted a family photograph taken by Michael Middleton.