Duchess Kate criticized by author Hilary Mantel, David Cameron comes to Kate’s defense

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge made her first public appearance today following her Caribbean vacation, visiting a center for women dealing with addiction. However, what is really grabbing the media’s attention across the pond are the comments by acclaimed author Hilary Mantel, which many see as critical towards the Duchess.

Mantel, who has won two prestigious Booker prizes for her historical novels, made a speech titled “Undressing Anne Boleyn,” commenting on women in the royal family. According to The BBC, Mantel compared Kate to Princess Diana, calling Kate “machine-made.”

Mantel 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 predicted that Kate will become a “jointed doll on which certain rags are hung,” adding, “These days, she is a mother-to-be, and draped in another set of threadbare attributions.”

Later, the author states, “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.”

The comments were quickly attacked in the press and Prime Minister David Cameron defended Kate, notes The Telegraph. He called Mantel’s words “misguided and completely wrong.”

“What I've seen of Princess Kate at public events, at the Olympics and elsewhere is this is someone who's bright, who's engaging, who's a fantastic ambassador for Britain. We should be proud of that, rather than make these rather misguided remarks,” Cameron said.

According to The Huffington Post UK, Kate visited the Action on Addiction center in South London. She was seen wearing a MaxMara dress and is expected to give birth in July. This was her first public appearance since the paparazzi published bikini photos of her from her Caribbean vacation.