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Hilary Mantel: Duchess of Cambridge has 'plastic smile' Cameron defends Kate over Mantel comments
(35 minutes later)
Multi award-winning author Hilary Mantel has compared the Duchess of Cambridge to a "shop-window mannequin" with "no personality of her own". Prime Minister David Cameron has defended the Duchess of Cambridge, saying author Hilary Mantel was "completely wrong" to compare her with a "shop-window mannequin".
In an address to the London Review of Books Lecture at the British Museum, Mantel described the duchess as "gloss varnished" with a "plastic smile". Mantel said at the London Review of Books Lecture the duchess was "gloss varnished" with a "plastic smile".
In the speech, titled href="http://http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies" > Undressing Anne Boleyn, Mantel referenced royal women, including Diana, Princess of Wales. Mr Cameron added Mantel "writes great books" but "what she's said about Kate Middleton is completely misguided".
In contrast to Diana, she said the Duchess appeared "machine-made". Her speech was titled href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies" >Undressing Anne Boleyn, referencing royal women.
Mantel said that in contrast to Diana, Princess of Wales, the duchess appeared "machine-made".
"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," she said."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," she said.
"She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture. Diana was capable of transforming herself from galumphing schoolgirl to ice queen, from wraith to Amazon.""She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture. Diana was capable of transforming herself from galumphing schoolgirl to ice queen, from wraith to Amazon."
Mantel, whose Booker prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - which chart the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, a powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII - said she saw Kate becoming a "jointed doll on which certain rags are hung".Mantel, whose Booker prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - which chart the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, a powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII - said she saw Kate becoming a "jointed doll on which certain rags are hung".
"These days, she is a mother-to-be, and draped in another set of threadbare attributions."These days, she is a mother-to-be, and draped in another set of threadbare attributions.
"Once she gets over being sick, the press will find that she is radiant. They will find that this young woman's life until now was nothing, her only point and purpose being to give birth."Once she gets over being sick, the press will find that she is radiant. They will find that this young woman's life until now was nothing, her only point and purpose being to give birth.
"Presumably Kate was designed to breed in some manners," she added."Presumably Kate was designed to breed in some manners," she added.
The lecture has sparked backlash from the British press, with the Daily Mail calling it "an astonishing and venomous attack" on the Duchess. The lecture has sparked some backlash from the British press, with the Daily Mail calling it "an astonishing and venomous attack" on the Duchess.
The Telegraph's Jake Wallis Simons described the comments as "creepy" from an author who "should know better", while the Guardian called it a "damning" take on the Catherine.The Telegraph's Jake Wallis Simons described the comments as "creepy" from an author who "should know better", while the Guardian called it a "damning" take on the Catherine.
Nick Barton, who heads Action on Addiction, which the Duchess supports as patron, defended her, describing her as an "intelligent" woman. Nick Barton, who heads Action on Addiction, which the duchess supports as patron, defended her, describing her as an "intelligent" woman.
He made his comments as the duchess arrived at an addiction treatment centre in London.
"I don't think it's for me to comment on that kind of stuff. I speak of what I know - somebody who wants to help, is helpful and genuinely interested and is intelligent," he said."I don't think it's for me to comment on that kind of stuff. I speak of what I know - somebody who wants to help, is helpful and genuinely interested and is intelligent," he said.
Last week, St James's Palace criticised Italian gossip magazine Chi after it published photographs of the pregnant duchess in a bikini, taken while she was on holiday with Prince William on the Caribbean island of Mustique.
But its editor, Alfonso Signorini, defended the use of the photos, saying they were "photos of a young couple in love" and were not an invasion of privacy.
Mantel, who has declined to comment on her speech, gave the lecture to the London Review of Books on 4 February at the British Museum.Mantel, who has declined to comment on her speech, gave the lecture to the London Review of Books on 4 February at the British Museum.
St James' Palace has also declined to comment on behalf of the Duchess of Cornwall. St James' Palace has also declined to comment on behalf of the Duchess of Cambridge.