Blow for Kate as her ‘right-hand woman’ resigns
The Duchess of Cambridge’s gatekeeper is quitting after just two years – but the pair are said to be parting on the ‘best of terms’.
Royal right-hand woman Catherine Quinn has been Kate’s private secretary since October 2017, a role similar to a chief of staff.
She is responsible for everything from organising Kate’s diary to accompanying her on engagements.
But she has also been instrumental in helping the potential future queen – who opened a children’s hospice in Norfolk dressed in bright purple yesterday – develop her ‘early years’ project. It works with organisations to better support children in order to avoid addiction, social exclusion or crime in later life.
The high-flying Oxford- educated
‘Parting on the best of terms’
mother of one’s appointment was seen as a sign of the duchess’s determination to ‘ beef up’ her office and public profile. Miss Quinn had been working as a chief operating officer at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, and was previously head of grant-giving at global charitable healthcare foundation the Wellcome Trust. She also had positions on the boards of The Charity Commission for england and Wales, The Met Office, The Royal British Legion and The National Memorial Arboretum.
her six-figure salary was met by Prince Charles, through his private income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
But now Lancashire-born Miss Quinn has decided to quit the role in search of new challenges. She will be leaving just after Christmas.
her decision to go after just two years is unusual. The job is considered a plum one and private secretaries can often stay in the role for a decade or more. But a source insisted the parting was amicable, explaining that ‘ she simply wants to take a step back and focus again on her charity work’, adding: ‘They are parting on the best of terms.’
Kate, who is due to make announcements on her work with young children early next year, now has to look for a new right-hand woman at a crucial time. She and her husband William are redefining their working lives after their very public split from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who moved their offices from Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace.
While Kate opened The Nook hospice in Framingham earl, she hugged a grieving mother who had lost her young daughter.
The Duchess was reunited with Leigh Smith, 38, who moved her to tears when they first met in 2014, just months after she had lost her threemonth-old daughter Beatrice to a rare heart condition.
Miss Smith said after their meeting yesterday: ‘She told me, “I don’t know how you did that, how you got through it”. It was really lovely to see her again and she gave me a big hug.’
Kate re-wore a favourite £2,736 purple Oscar de la Renta suit with £520 black suede Gianvito Rossi heels.