Kate Middleton: Commentator on balcony placement

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The Duchess of Cambridge recently stepped up to the mark after the Queen was forced to miss out on Remembrance Sunday. Kate stood where Her Majesty would have been on a balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth office alongside Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. While this was in itself a significant event, some royal commentators noted that Kate and Prince William’s departure from the event in the Queen’s bespoke Bentley — made exclusively for her — spoke volumes.

Kate has slowly risen through the ranks of the Firm ever since marrying William in a grand event in 2011.

For years the pair enjoyed a reactively scaled-down Royal Family work life, but in recent years have upped their public appearances and taken on a more central role.

This was to be expected, given their places as the future king and queen consort.

However, Kate’s place in the Firm wasn’t always as clear cut.

According to royal author Robert Jobson, at one point, she had her eyes set on a fashion idea that she believed would prove lucrative.

This was during her time in university at St Andrews in Scotland, where she first met William.

Writing in his 2006 book, ‘William’s Princess’, Mr Jobson claimed that Kate was keen on launching a children’s wear range.

He wrote about “[Kate’s] plans to design her own range of children’s wear with her parents”.

A friend of the Middletons told him: “She had this fashion idea and she’s decided to see it through.

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“She’s always loved clothes and has a good eye for design.

“Working with her parents means she won’t be spied on if she and William do stay together.

“Kate believes she can make good money as well.”

Kate’s passion for fashion can be seen in the way she dresses her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, the trio all perfectly turned out for appearances and photo shoots.

Kate has also become a style icon in her own right, her outfits regularly selling out within hours of a public appearance.

She is especially loved for her habit of buying affordable high street clothes, rather than always donning expensive designer apparel.

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While Kate didn’t have anything that resembled a career before her 2011 wedding, she did have a job in fashion for a short period working for Jaeger as a buyer.

While there, she also helped to co-design a necklace for the fashion chain.

Kate worked for her parents company Party Pieces, too.

However, her lack of regular work is said to have struck something of a chord.

Kate Nicholl, a royal biographer, in her 2011 book, ‘The Making of a Royal Romance’, suggested that the Queen did not want William to propose to Kate until she was employed.

She wrote: “Privately she [the Queen] had grave concerns and believed that Kate needed to have a job and an identity in her own right before an engagement was announced.”

At the time, Kate was believed to have met the monarch on several occasions, but knew little about “the girl who had enchanted her grandson”.

Ms Nicholl wrote: “If she was not with William at Balmoral, then the couple were skiing or holidaying on Mustique.

“Kate was there so often the press dubbed her ‘Queen of Mustique’, a title that had previously belonged to Princess Margaret.

“Britain was now in a recession and such frivolous displays of wealth were unpalatable to the Queen.

“She is one of the hardest-working royals, despite her age, and that a future member of the family was without a full-time job was unacceptable to her.

“While the rest of the world speculated that an engagement was on the horizon for William and Kate, the Queen believed an announcement should be postponed until Kate was settled in a career.”

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