‘One of the Royal Family’s most formidable assets, Kate never shows haughtiness or a sense of entitlement’
That famous charity fashion show – when Kate hitched up a see-thru skirt and wore it as a strapless dress over a bikini – took place in March 2002.
The first picture of Kate and William as a couple was of them skiing in Klosters in 2005.
In 2006 they both attended the wedding of the Duchess of Cornwall’s daughter Laura Parkerbowles to Harry Lopes.the first of so many photographs, over so many years, and I don’t remember ever seeing a bad one of Kate. If only we could all say that.
By 2007 Kate was working as an accessories buyer with highstreet store Jigsaw and in April it was said that the couple had parted amicably. But by August they were off to the Seychelles travelling under the names of Martin and Rosemary. It was expected their engagement would be announced any minute. But no.
As time went by Kate was cruelly dubbed “Waity Katy”, as though she was a wan Victorian heroine whose reputation would be ruined if she didn’t get a ring on her finger.
She hated the nickname, which is perfectly understandable.
However, in November 2010 Kate and William finally announced their engagement, with Kate wearing Princess Diana’s sapphire ring.
At the wedding in April 2011,
Kate’s Alexander Mcqueen dress (amazingly) pleased everyone.
Kate has grown on the public by stealth. I admit that in the early years of her marriage I thought her a little dull, a smiling Sloane.
There were reports that Her Majesty had told her to lengthen her hemlines.was wearing a short skirt going to be the most interesting thing Kate would ever do?
In an article in 2013 about royal women, the Wolf Hall novelist Hilary Mantel wrote: “Kate seems to have been selected for the role of princess because she was irreproachable: as painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without the risk of the emergence of character.
“She appears precision-made, machine-made: so different from Diana, whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture.”
ALMOST a decade on this verdict seems even meaner than it did at the time. For one thing it’s horribly unfair to find yourself criticised for failing to be as majestically unhappy as your late mother-in-law. Yet little by little Kate has worn us down with her sheer cheerfulness which seems entirely unforced.
William was worried that she would become a victim in the way Diana was.
But Kate has managed to ride this out with the most wonderful grace and aplomb.
She appears to be one of those “glass-halffull” people who will always do their best and look on the bright side. Nobody knows what goes on inside a marriage but she and William seem genuinely happy in each other’s company.
She likes taking photographs, she helped design a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show.
She clearly loves family life and her three children.
Last year she launched The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. Her chosen causes may not have the same impact as Diana’s landmine or Aids campaigning, but that’s Kate’s way. She keeps it simple.
She doesn’t lecture anyone about how they should live. She’s sincere without being a showoff. After the murder of Sarah Everard last year she made a rare and low-key personal appearance at the vigil on Clapham Common.
Some thought this a stunt – but stunts just aren’t Kate.
We all gossip about the Royal Family as if they’re our own family.
I remember someone saying to me: “I began to appreciate Kate a whole lot more when Meghan joined the awkward squad.” When Meghan first came on the scene with her actressy, American chutzpah, it seemed as though Kate would be in her shadow. Far from it.
If there’s no love lost between the sisters-in-law (who knows who made who cry prior to Meghan and Harry’s nuptials?) it is Kate who has shone in comparison. It’s Kate