When the Princess of Wales has been criticised over the years, it has usually been for lacking character or seeming too 'bland'. Mocked as 'Waity Katy' for the time she spent waiting for Prince William to propose, Catherine was later described by historical author Hilary Mantel as a 'shop-window mannequin with no personality of her own'. Now, however, she is being criticised for the complete opposite: for being too radical.
Last week, Catherine called for 'empathy' for those hooked on gambling, alcohol and drugs in a message for Addiction Awareness Week. As patron of the Forward Trust, a charity devoted to helping addicts, she made the controversial statement: 'Addiction is not a choice or a personal failing.' She added: 'Even now in 2025, people's experience of addiction is shaped by fear, shame and judgment. This needs to change.'
Her intervention unleashed a torrent of criticism. Theodore Dalrymple, a former prison doctor and psychiatrist, wrote in The Daily Telegraph: 'I am sure that HRH meant well... but unfortunately, her view is simple, unsophisticated, dehumanising and empirically false.' He added that it is 'implicitly degrading, demeaning and far from compassionate'.
Daily Mail columnist Peter Hitchens was even more scathing. 'Whatever happened to royal neutrality?' he asked. He claimed that Catherine, along with William and King Charles, had 'keenly joined the side of the liberal Left, starting with the global warming frenzy and now moving on to the disastrous appeasement of the drugs lobby'. He described her view as 'fashionable bilge' that 'has smashed our moral system'.
Such criticism illustrates just how brave it is of Catherine to make public interventions on subjects she feels strongly about. Unlike previous royals who were figureheads for hundreds of charities, Catherine wants to become deeply involved in organisations such as the Forward Trust. The charity works in prisons and other neglected areas to help users leave their addictions behind, saving taxpayers millions.
As a friend of Catherine's told me: 'The Forward Trust has changed the lives of thousands of people blighted by addiction. What Her Royal Highness is trying to do is get rid of the stigma of addiction.'
