Mystery of Kate’s wedding no-show

EVERYTHING was in place for the perfect wedding: the sun was shining on the picturepostcard seaside village, the bride looked beautiful and the future king was there to join the celebrations. There was, however, one guest conspicuous by her absence.

I can disclose that the Duchess of Cambridge failed to turn up for the wedding of estate agent Bear Maclean and socialite Daisy Dickson at All Saints Church in Thurlestone, South Devon, at the weekend.

The hosts appeared to have been informed so late that Kate’s name was still on the seating plan at the reception in a marquee overlooking the village green.

‘The names William and Catherine Wales were written on the plan, which appeared on an antique- l ooking mirror,’ a source claims.

‘ They were due to sit at the top table. Kate had been expected to attend.’

On Saturday, however, Prince William, who is an old friend of the groom, turned up with his sister-in-law, Pippa Middleton.

‘No one knows why,’ says the source. ‘ Everyone was talking about it over breakfast the next morning. They stayed on the next day and night, too, attendi ng l unch in t he marquee

together. The plan was for everyone to go and do a river estuary swim afterwards.’

It is just the latest in a long line of social events since they had children that Kate has declined to attend with her husband, who s ai d recently he had to run decisions ‘by the missus’. Princess Charlotte was born in May and Prince George t urned t wo in July. The couple attended dozens of weddings in the run-up to their own nuptials in 2011, but Kate went to none in the two years after- wards. William has been to at least five weddings on his own.

When the Prince was an usher at the wedding of his close friend Tom van Straubenzee in 2013, Kate was seen on a shopping trip. In her absence, William is reported to have knocked part of his tooth out at the reception.

The Duchess has also missed other important social events, such as the christening of Zara Phillips’s daughter, Mia, last December. Her absence was particularly surprising as Zara had been named godmother to Prince George.

The most recent wedding William and Kate are believed to have attended together was that of their friends Tom Eaves and Libby Keir last year.

A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment.