Prince William, Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis of Cambridge clap for NHS carers. Photo / Getty Images
With the Duchess of Cambridge entering her fortieth year, Camilla Tominey marvels at how she has become a force for change.
As she turns 39 today, and the Cambridges prepare to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary this April, the Duchess of Cambridge has become a formidable royal force to be reckoned with.
Far from the shy girl from Bucklebury, introduced to the public the best part of 20 years ago, Kate has become one of the most pivotal players in the House of Windsor. The mother-of-three has quietly gone about fulfilling her duties without her ever-increasing status going to her head — a characteristic that has only further endeared her to the public.
Indeed, it is telling that despite almost two decades on the royal scene, she has only recently reached the pinnacle of her potential powers by delivering a career-defining speech before Christmas.
Kate had never looked more self-assured as she outlined why she cares so deeply about childhood development.
"Many mistakenly believe that my interest stems from having children of my own," she said as she recorded the message in a pink Marks & Spencer trouser suit.
"If we only expect people to take an interest in the early years when they have children, we are not only too late for them, we are underestimating the huge role others can play in shaping our most formative years, too."
The landmark speech marked a true coming-of-age for the Duchess, as she continues to carve her own path as a senior royal.
Once cruelly dubbed "Waity Katie" for spending almost a decade as William's girlfriend before he popped the question in 2010, it seems that the history of the art graduate's softly, softly approach has been her making.
Unlike Diana, Princess of Wales, who was thrown in at the deep end, or the Duchess of Sussex, who seemed in a rush to make a difference, Kate has bided her time.
As Katie Nicholl, author of Kate: The Future Queen, puts it: "The 'Waity Katie' tag has actually stood her in good stead as a future queen. Kate has always been a slow-burner. The palace allowing her to take her time over the causes she's chosen to champion means she's doing something she's absolutely passionate about. Nothing has been done in a hurry, which has allowed her to find her comfort zone."
Hence her newfound confidence in her solo work, which aides have described as "a legacy project".
According to one source, Kate has "found her voice" as she "actually has something she wants to say".
The insider added: "It is not an exaggeration to suggest that she has become an expert in the field of early years learning."
It comes after a team of academics were drafted in to help the Duchess shape her future — with input from the highest echelons of government and even the security services.
Likened to a modern-day version of the Way Ahead Group, set up to rebuild the monarchy in the aftermath of the Queen's 1992 "annus horribilis", Kate's steering party of experts has helped her to grow in stature.
Nicholl recalls how, in the early days, Kate was so "tongue-tied by nerves" that she would physically shake before taking to the stage.
In the vein of speech therapist Lionel Logue's work with King George VI, she was given coaching by the late Anthony Gordon Lennox, who had also worked with the likes of Lord Coe, former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and the Camerons. An old Etonian, Gordon Lennox helped to coax out the Duchess' hidden sense of fun and gave her the encouragement she needed to start enjoying public oratory, as opposed to dreading it.
It also helps that Kate is in a good place in her personal life. Although William, 38, was initially reluctant to extend the Cambridge brood, she got the third child she always wanted when Prince Louis was born in April 2018.
Parenthood appears to have been the making of the couple, who have let the public into their personal lives much more in recent years.
As well as sharing pictures from the family album, Kate has surprised many with her candidness, memorably during a podcast last February, when she confessed to "mum guilt".
The Duchess was similarly self-effacing in 2019 with Mary Berry, when she admitted leaving the lid off the blender when making a smoothie.
It came after she had designed a garden for the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show, which saw her appear on the BBC. An insider revealed at the time: "She was visibly nervous before the interview. It was quite charming, really. She was only speaking to Monty Don but you would have thought she was going before Jeremy Paxman. You could tell she felt under enormous pressure not to slip up."
There is no doubt the pressure is piling on Kate as she and William prepare to become the next Prince and Princess of Wales. The spotlight will inevitably shine more brightly on Kate as she adopts the mantle of a future queen — and all the public scrutiny that goes with it.
Yet, as Nicholl sees it, the sudden departure of Harry and Meghan has helped the Cambridges to position themselves front and centre — particularly in recent months.
"The Queen asked them to step up as front-line royals during the pandemic, and Kate has done that with grace and humility. I think they have both realised, with the Sussexes out of the picture, what an important role they have to play in shaping the future of 'The Firm'."
Which perhaps explains why the couple decided to embark on a last-minute tour of the UK before Christmas. While the move was criticised by some for taking unnecessary risks, the general consensus is that the Cambridges have led the way in trying to connect with the public during our biggest national peacetime emergency.
As well as spreading serious messages about mental health and supporting the emergency services, they have brought much-needed cheer; calling the bingo numbers during a virtual visit to a care home, and with William sending himself up in a Blackadder sketch.
We can expect more of the same as the UK endures a third lockdown, as the Cambridges hunker down at Anmer Hall, their Norfolk bolt-hole, balancing home schooling with work Zoom — like the rest of us.
As Kate enters her 40th year and a decade of marriage, there is still much more work to do. As the Duchess herself put it in that seminal speech, she isn't in this for the "quick win", but the long haul.
End-of decade milestones can seem more daunting than the start of a new one, where you feel on the threshold of something new. Not that the Duchess of Cambridge seems the kind of person to be rattled by any birthday.
Inevitably, because she's such a private person, much of this evolution is semaphored through her clothing. At 39, she seems more relaxed in her role than at any point previously. Perhaps that's because, in some ways, the past year has played to her strengths, requiring her to be tactfully low-key but sufficiently glamorous to lift a glum nation.
While she gives every indication of being someone who thinks about potential pitfalls in an outfit, from the practical to the political, all those Zoom looks she has worn in the past 10 months — from the pink M&S trouser suit to the cheerful, relatable Ghost and Zara dresses — look like the kind of things she'd pick even if she weren't a royal. You can't fake that sense of authenticity.
The three-day royal train trip in early December to meet front-line workers was Essence of Kate: smart, sensible, always appropriate, and with a distinctive brand of glossiness that speaks of effort rather than self-obsessed perfectionism.
Even when she's in a red-carpet show-stopper, such as the previously worn Alexander McQueen she dusted off for the Baftas last February, the impression is that she's stepping up to the plate, rather than trying to steal the show.
She has mastered the protocols of royal discretion, arriving at a range of looks that divide into three categories: the polished State-Kate of formal evening dresses, the Off Duty Mum in jeans, stripy jumpers and some kind of puffy waistcoat, and Soft-Formal in mid-market tailoring and coat dresses.
At 39, she's worked out a formula that can be applied to millions of women: she knows not to set too much store by fashion, but not to ignore it. She's discovered the pared-back virtues of affordable labels such as Joseph and Massimo Dutti. She sticks to what she knows, but gently tweaks it.
The Duchess' hair looks bouncy, but slightly modernised; her make-up defined but mostly unobtrusive. This is not about movie-star voltage, but looking fresh and accessible.
Even in her 20s, she never looked scruffy but her innate neatness could, given the pressures on her, have turned into a glacial perfection by now. Instead, she's found a balance that should serve her well for decades to come.