Queen Elizabeth II helped Kate Middleton to prepare for royal life by making a generous offer to the future princess ahead of her wedding to Prince William, a royal insider has revealed.
- The Queen made a generous offer to Kate Middleton before she married into the Royal Family in 2011, an insider has revealed.
- Her Majesty reportedly gave the Princess of Wales access to her personal office and her ladies-in-waiting so that she could best prepare for her new life in the Firm.
- In other royal news, Princess Diana showed 'formidable' side in pre-wedding cull - but for the most touching reason.
Queen Elizabeth II gave Kate Middleton a thoughtful gift ahead of her wedding to Prince William, a royal insider has revealed.
Her Majesty reportedly made her ladies-in-waiting available to the Princess of Wales before she married into the Royal Family in 2011, in the hope that the court aides could prepare her future granddaughter-in-law for the pressures of serving the British monarchy.
According to the author of The New Royals, Katie Nicholl, Kate Middleton "took up" the late monarch's generous offer and "made sure she benefitted from that experience."
"The Queen had made her own private office and her ladies in waiting available to Catherine, so she could go and talk to them first-hand about what it was like to do royal engagements and how one should behave," the Vanity Fair royal correspondent said.
While it remains unknown exactly what these consultations entailed, it's likely that they gave Kate the opportunity to learn all about princess etiquette and patriotism. This was especially important for the duchess, who, unlike her husband, hadn't been raised in aristocratic circles.
Kate Middleton hails from a regular family in Reading and, after falling in love with Prince William while they were both studying at the University of St. Andrew's, went on to work a regular job as an accessories buyer for the UK fashion chain, Jigsaw. While undeniably affluent (her parents, Michael and Carole, are self-made millionaires), the future royal was far from versed in royal norms.
"From the beginning, Kate Middleton had a great deal of support from the Royal Family which was really instructed by the Queen," journalist Ashley Pearson said in the 2017 Amazon documentary, Kate Middleton: Working Class to Windsor. "This was to make sure she knew as much as she could possibly know and what to do in every situation – bearing in mind, of course, that she didn’t grow up in this world."
The Prince of Wales also received mentorship from Her Majesty before marrying Kate. The Queen began training Prince William to be King in his childhood, inviting the heir to Windsor Castle every Sunday for constitutional lessons and lots of tea and cake. It's understood the visits were also a time for the royal teenager to confide in Her Majesty, who had been given similar guidance from her own elders.
"Those sessions were also an opportunity for her to mentor and teach him, as her grandfather, George V, did with her," Katie said. "They became incredibly close and as his respect for her grew he began to embrace his destiny."
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