Tom Walker discusses performing with Kate Middleton

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A royal expert said this week that Kate will become even more important to the Queen this year as the Royal Family prepares for yet more testing times. The Firm is still being impacted by the scandal around Prince Andrew’s lawsuit, with a judge deciding this week whether it will go to trial. There are also said to be concerns about Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir, which could further strain relations within the Royal Family.

Royal author Katie Nicholl explained that these challenges could see Kate take on a more important role.

She told Closer: “In recent years, we’ve seen her leadership in the wake of Megxit, throughout which she’s kept calm and carried on.

“I think this [coming] year she’ll come into her own even more, especially as it’ll be a tough year for the royals.

“Harry and Meghan’s interviews [in 2021] have caused chaos for the royals, and Harry’s new memoir – due out [in 2022] – will likely reveal even more intimate details about the Royal Family, and cause further issues.

“And Andrew’s court case will too. Kate will step up and I know the Queen hugely values her support, and will rely on her more than ever.”

While Kate and Prince William have cemented themselves as senior royals, reports from 2017 show they haven’t always impressed the Queen.

At the time, Life and Style Magazine reported that the Queen was “livid” after William suggested Kate – who was pregnant with their third child – scale back her royal duties permanently.

A source claimed: “Kate wants her public appearances kept to a minimum and he’s 100 percent behind her.”

They added that “the conversation was quite icy.”

The source also said the Queen “was livid that the future Queen would want to lessen her duties.”

The Queen was 25 with two small children (Prince Charles and Princess Anne) when her father died and she ascended to the throne.

She went on to have two more children (Prince Andrew and Prince Edward) after she was crowned, regularly leaving them at home with nursery staff while she went on official tours of the Commonwealth.

The reported dispute with the Cambridges would not have been the first parenting style clash between the Queen and younger generations of the Royal Family.

She reportedly disagreed with William’s mother Diana‘s decision to take him on tour to Australia and New Zealand when he was nine months old.

Diana was said to have found the idea of being apart from William too difficult.

Kate will likely be required to go on even more royal engagements when her husband William ascends to the throne.

Over the decades, world leaders meeting with the Queen has become a staple of diplomatic customs.

However, one source claimed this week that the Duchess of Cambridge struggles during engagements with world leaders.

A friend of Kate’s told Hello! that she is “quietly growing in confidence” 10 years after marrying into the royal family.

They said: “She still finds it quite challenging to mix with those sorts of players [the Bidens], because she’s a natural introvert. But she’s really growing into the role.

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“[Public speaking] is not something that she relishes doing, at all. She’s not a put-yourself-out-there, extroverted type of person, it’s just not who she is.

“But she knows it’s an important way for her to make a positive contribution and there are some times that you need to get out there and speak for things you believe in.”

The future Queen, who lives at Kensington Palace in London, mingled with many world leaders as she attended COP26 in Glasgow and the G7 summit in Cornwall in 2021.

In June, she met with First Lady Jill Biden, 70, at the Connor Downs Academy near Camborne to meet with school children before hosting a roundtable discussion with UK education experts.

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