Kate Middleton confesses why she finds big royal events 'really hard' and reveals what she's 'always' told

The Royal Family meet thousands of people every year at engagements and huge occasions and whilst they might have got pretty used to it, there's an aspect which the Princess of Wales still finds "really hard". She and Prince William made their first public appearance since Easter on 21st April at a Buckingham Palace reception.

Held to mark the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's birth, the event included representatives from her former charities and patronages. There were also centenarians celebrating their 100th birthdays and Kate is said to have revealed that the volume of these events can be tricky for her.

"I find these environments are really hard. I've also got a very soft voice, so I always get told 'Speak up a bit louder!'" she apparently admitted to a small group of women.

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Making yourself heard in a room filled with so many people sounds like quite a challenge and it’s understandable that Kate might be asked to talk louder. If you’re naturally soft-spoken it could be hard to remember to automatically raise your voice, even though the Princess is clearly very aware that this might be asked of her.

Royal life is a learning experience and when she’s meeting people in smaller groups, Kate has another issue to worry about! In the Our Queen at Ninety documentary in 2016 she discussed how she was often "teased" for how long she’d take talking to people on royal walkabouts.

"I think there is a real art to walkabouts, everyone teases me in the family that I spend far too long chatting," the Princess explained.

On Christmas Day in 2024 we saw this sweet habit in action once again as Kate stopped to chat to fans on the walk to church, only to realise that Prince William, George, Charlotte and Louis had moved on down the path. Taking it in her stride, she remarked, "I think I’ve lost my family."

The Princess of Wales’s warmth and charisma when she’s meeting members of the public is a huge part of why she’s so popular. She’s someone who naturally builds connections and even though things have obviously evolved over the years, it’s so lovely to see that Kate hasn’t changed at her core and still enjoys taking time to chat.

Together she and Prince William have forged a new, more personal path as senior royals and this couldn’t have been clearer at the centenary reception.

Kate was pictured with her arm on her husband’s back on several occasions throughout the event and she also put a comforting hand on one of the guest’s shoulders. The future Queen also did this when she met another guest, John Jervois, and she gave retired Metropolitan Police Officer and George Cross awardee Tony Gledhill a hug.

According to Hello!, he told the Princess that his wife of 67 years had recently passed away and before she died, she’d urged him to attend the royal reception.

"The Princess was lovely, she was fantastic," he declared afterwards.