Now Kate’s aide finds her own Prince Charming
WITH more than five years of marriage and two young children, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are the model of domestic contentment — but their household is a hotbed of passion.
I hear that Kate’s highly influential personal assistant Natasha Archer has become engaged to royal snapper Chris Jackson, who has been on private photoshoots with her and Prince William.
Confirming the engagement, Chris says: ‘I’m definitely punching above my weight.’ He has been courting pulchritudinous Tash since last year and adds of his proposal: ‘Apparently, it was a long time coming.’
The happy pair posed for a picture in which Natasha, 28, shows off her sparkler (above right).
Describing Tash as just Kate’s PA, however, seriously underestimates her importance in the Royal Household. For not only does she deal with the Duchess’s diary, she also acts as her unofficial dresser and stylist.
Privately educated Natasha was first identified as one of Kate’s team of image-makers when, following Prince George’s birth, she was seen carrying a suitcase and baby car seat into the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, alongside the Duchess’s hairdresser, Amanda Cook Tucker.
Tash is rumoured to have encouraged Kate to show more leg and ditch her beloved wedges in favour of high heels, as well as wear more High Street outfits. News of the engagement has lifted staff at Kensington Palace, where in July a love triangle ended with the departure of one of Kate’s most senior aides. It was announced that month that Nick Loughran, media adviser to Kate as well as to Princes William and Harry, was to leave his position to take up a new job in public relations.
The news came three months after I disclosed that Loughran had dumped Kate’s private secretary, Rebecca Deacon, and begun courting Clara Madden, a blonde bombshell who works as Prince Harry’s assistant.
Clara previously worked for William and Kate, who made a point of meeting her parents when they visited her native New Zealand in 2014. Her mother Robyn revealed: ‘William said to me Clara is the star of the office.’
At the time, a pal of Loughran insisted his departure was not connected to his love life.