The Balcony Plus 365

I always cherished those textbooks at school which, having droned on for reams and reams, conveniently offered a “Key Points” summary at the close of each chapter; keeping pace with and seeing links between so many fresh and engrossing points would otherwise have been impossible. Gladly, ITV’s “William and Kate: the First Year” shot at a similar role, and I can’t help but applaud the way it squeezed the mother of all weddings, jobs, tours, homes and high street brands into a measly hour slot. Just consider what a mammoth ask that is. Unlike my old school textbooks, the programme’s makers weren’t just dealing with one area of expertise. Since April 29^th last year biology, business, English, history, geography and art have all been at play in the private and public lives of everyone’s favourite new Duke and Duchess (sorry, Camilla, but it can't come as too much of a surprise). And thankfully, whether inadvertently or not, by providing such a concise run-through of Kate and Wills’ first year as man and wife the show offered up food for thought that would have otherwise have been wasted.

Iconic: The couple's first matrimonial locking of lips

Of course, the program could only have started with the wedding. Note the “the”. Watching footage of that April morning last year again was sort of surreal. Did our country really come to that much of a standstill? Did Kate and Wills fever reach such an intense pitch? Any glimpse of that date, which chucked dignitaries, celebrities, a crop of Sloane Square’s finest and a smattering of royals into the mix couldn’t fail to be a stunning start to any show. Conspicuously absent from this play back was the newly crowned “Her Royal Hotness” Pippa Middleton: and thank God. From the off the program makers made a point that this was an hour for nobody but our future King and Queen to shine. No invisible VPLs, no gun waving, and no frankly treasonous overshadowing of older sisters. I’ve found it acutely aggravating that the younger Middleton has even glanced longingly at Kate’s thunder over the past year, and credit to this documentary for omitting what has become such an irksome but prominent by-product of the love-match. Instead, the wedding segment was dedicated to getting the inside-scoop on what went on behind closed gilded doors at the Palace. Hugo Bernand, the man behind Kate and Wills’ wedding portrait, spoke at some length about how he bribed the bridesmaids and pages into grinning for the camera by promising them jelly beans. Admittedly not the most titillating revelation for the show to fill its time with, but at least it kept Pippa-talk at bay. Any misgivings I had about the show’s focus were unceremoniously quelled when it turned hastily away from Hugo and onto that balcony moment. Kate’s “Wow!” as she stepped out, the crowds sweeping to watch the couple smooch and the smacker itself; it was all there. It was joined by some superfluous body language expert explaining that, in her professional opinion, the kiss of the newlyweds was them unwittingly revealing that they loved each other- thanks for that one, doctor- but I’m opting to gloss over it.

Bagging Bargains: Kate refuses to live the sheltered life of a princess

I mentioned that squeezing a hugely content-juicy year into just 60 minutes granted viewers the opportunity to spot links between different stages of Kate and Wills’ short marriage, and the abrupt switch of the program from Westminster to Anglesey provides a case in point. After the enchanting ceremony and Disney-film worthy balcony scene, the documentary turned its attention to the relative “normality” of Kate and Wills’ home life. It was, far and away, stuff we’ve heard before: they have no team of staff, Wills works, Kate hearts Waitrose etc., but coming after a blast of Royal Wedding mania it acquired a new ability to startle. Often I’ve been sceptical of just how “normal” the Wales’ can be at their home on an island just off of Wales; is it actually  “normal” by Royal standards but still preposterous for anyone without Charles’ nose to get to grips with? This part of the programme totally answered my qualms. With a story that put Hugo Bernard’s jellybean memoir firmly in the shade, Gwyn Jones, a regular at an Anglesey pub, amusingly recounted how he once encountered Wills doing a pub quiz amongst the locals. It gave the show’s attention to the duality of Kate and Wills’ lives some credibility, and provided that smidge of warm humaneness that they are internationally loved for.

The third stint of Kate and Wills’ first year together that warranted a sizeable chunk of the documentary was their North American tour, beginning last June. I’ve already used the textbook analogy, so I’ll stick with it. This was the page that all those distinct topics we’d read about came together, that “Aha!” moment: the fairytale romance, the humaneness, the quaint British seaside life and, of course, Kate's wardrobe. When they landed in Canada all those individual episodes and stories that had fueled our country’s adoration of Kate and Wills returned in unison as America fell head over heels with them before our eyes. This was, as the documentary showed, the first time hysteria for the couple had been openly displayed irrespective of the wedding and its monarchical significance. People were turning out not only to see the future King and Queen, but also to see the people Kate and Wills are today, and it was somewhat of a turning point. I hadn’t realised it before watching them both side-by-side last night, but in some ways this was a bigger moment for Kate and Wills than the wedding itself. Though without constitutional significance, it was the first time Kate couldn’t hide herself behind a huge dress and the shadows of the more accomplished royals (not to mention Beatrice’s hat). She had to meet, greet and be adored on her own merit. The documentary makers did a stand-up job here to recapture the high-spiritedness of the trip and I felt myself wanting to join the lines of well wishers shown bidding the couple a big American goodbye at the end of it.

However much I’ve droned on about the documentary’s success as a whirlwind synopsis of everything Kate and Wills related since April 29^th last year, it did manage to dig out some snippets that couldn’t be garnered by combing over old footage and clippings. One of the most noteworthy parts of the show was its showcasing of Wills’ immoveable self-awareness and reluctance to become dictated to because of his bloodline. To further remedy the damage they did by unleashing Hugo Bernand’s anecdote upon their viewers, the show’s producers interviewed Kate and Wills’ minder during their Canadian excursion previously mentioned. He recounted how William, when reminded that they were following a tight schedule and told to move hastily past those who had turned out to see him and his new bride, stood his ground and answered that he would take his own time. During the “normality”-driven Anglesey segment, again, William’s determination to forge out a career independent of his future monarchical role and resolve to be treated like other RAF pilots was striking. So too was his answering for Kate during a clip of their first engagement interview. Granted, this last one we could have seen without the documentary’s help, but by giving us his minder’s account the documentary makers drew attention to elements of William that had gone previously unobserved. I always had a sense that Kate and Wills were groomed, prepped and instructed on how to be polished poster-people for the Royal Family but this show thankfully undermined the idea that they are merely mouthpieces. Make no mistake: it includes concessions from Lady Elizabeth Anson, the Queen’s cousin, that those closest to the Royals scrutinise Kate's ability as a public figure, but it bins the common perception that she and Wills are puppets. Clearly there are people to keep them on track, but right now they’re steaming along just fine on their own.

The Royal Scoop: Lady Elizabeth Anson spoke candidly during the documentary

For me “William and Kate: the First Year” was informative, entertaining and illuminating. Naturally, with such notoriously private people there is a limit to how deep documentary makers can delve. It would be daft to expect some “Keeping up with the Windsors” tell-all in which Kate bemoans Wills’ bad habits and he criticises her cooking. So too would it be foolish to even think we’d get any behind the scenes shots of them going about their so-called “normal” lives. But what can be learnt from this hour is that such “normality” does exist for the couple, and that they are taking shape as the future King and Queen spectacularly. Forget Diamond Jubilees. This year is all about the Paper Anniversary.

One Line Wonder

Stephen Gallant (the captain of Kate's dragon boat when she and Wills raced one another on tour): I didn't know if I could touch, what I could touch- I ended up playing Twister with her.