The venomous attack on the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge by author Hilary Mantel calling her bland and "machine made" is a cheap publicity stunt.

Her remarks saying her impression of our future queen is that of a "jointed doll on which certain rags are hung," with a "plastic smile" and "only purpose being to give birth," is mean spirited in the extreme.

Where does the double Man Booker Prize winner get this impression? Has she ever seen Kate up close or seen her interact with people at home and abroad?

I doubt it very much. If she had she would not have been so rude and inaccurate.

The darling of the literary establishment I fear is playing publicity seeking games; raising her profile on the back of one of the most famous women on the planet right now.

I respect Hilary Mantel as a writer. I like her books too. But she clearly knows very little about modern princesses -- or duchesses even.

Perhaps all that time writing about Tudor princesses has led her to lose her head -- like so many Tudor heroines.

Mantel has never met the duchess. She has never seen her at work. I have, and I have been impressed by the speed and ease with which she has taken to the job of being a front line royal.

People who meet Kate warm to her. She has a winning smile and easy charm. Yes, she has a long way to go, and is not the new Princess Diana as many in the media are hoping for.

But I think she is slowly but surely carving out a role for herself.