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The Duchess of Cambridge is the cover star of this month’s edition of Tatler, which has raised royal watchers’ eyebrows with author Anna Pasternak’s reporting of Kate’s feelings about Meghan and Prince Harry’s royal exit. The Palace has issued a denial of the allegations of Kate’s unhappiness, which Tatler has responded to. The Palace said: “This story contains a swathe of inaccuracies and false misrepresentations which were not put to Kensington Palace prior to publication.”

However, the publisher of the magazine asserted: “Tatler’s Editor-in-Chief Richard Dennen stands behind the reporting of Anna Pasternak and her sources.

“Kensington Palace knew we were running the ‘Catherine the Great’ cover months ago and we asked them to work together on it. The fact they are denying they ever knew is categorically false.”

Part of the intrigue stems from a falling out that sources reported had happened between Kate and Meghan Markle in the run-up to Meghan and Harry’s 2018 wedding.

In November 2018, reports in The Sun suggested that Kate had been in tears over a bridesmaids dress fitting for Princess Charlotte.

In this week’s Tatler article, a friend of the Duchess of Cambridge told Ms Pasternak: “It was a hot day and apparently there was a row over whether the bridesmaids should wear tights or not. 

“Kate, following protocol, felt that they should. Meghan didn’t want them to.”

Kate’s concern about tights would have been due to the Queen’s preference for ladies to wear hosiery at all public appearances. 

However, Kate’s instinct for royal protocol is nothing new.

All the way back in 2005, when Kate was dating Prince William, she had a “defiant” run-in with photographers that proved that the future Duchess already had a knack for knowing what royal protocol demanded.

In his 2006 book “William’s Princess”, veteran royal author Robert Jobson reports on the episode.

The author explains how, at Gatcombe Park horse trials that year, press photographers were all vying with each other for a clear shot of Miss Middleton in the busy crowd.

Mr Jobson writes: “Walking towards Kate and her mother, [photographer] Mark Stewart asked her to pose.

“Kate remained cool.

“Mark tried to reason with her: ‘Could we have a picture Kate? This is getting silly.’ but she point-blank refused to pose.”

He explains: “The royals hate staged photographs.

“‘We are not performing monkeys,’ Prince Charles once proclaimed, and here was Kate following a similar routine.

“She now knew what  was expected of her by her boyfriend’s family and she was not about to let him, them, or herself down.”

The author goes on: “She stepped forward a couple of paces, smiled disarmingly, and responded politely but with defiance.

“One of the photographers in the group tried a different tack and tried to flatter her into submission.

“Kate flushed slightly pink, but said nothing.

“She had quietly and charmingly had her way.

“And she had surprised and impressed the experienced snappers in the process.”

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