AsKate Middletonprepares for her future role as Queen Consort, she’s doing so with the best model available: the record-breaking monarch, 96-year-oldQueen Elizabeth.
Not one to hand down explicit “lessons,” it’s unlikely the Queen has ever formally tutored Kate, insiders say. Instead, historian Sarah Gristwood tells PEOPLE that the Queen may have approached her relationship with Kate the way she does with prime ministers.
“The Queen has always preferred to do rather than to say,” says the author ofElizabeth: Queen and Crown. “With her audiences with her prime ministers, if there has been actual advice, it would be a discreet ‘I think that went rather well’ rather than actual instruction.”
Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton in 2019.Samir Hussein/WireImage
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Kate is also a modern woman who is nonetheless amenable to the centuries-old power structure of the family business — otherwise known as the “the firm.”
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“It’s a personal willingness to conform to the requirements of the institution,” says Gristwood. “That sounds like an unappealing, unglamorous virtue, but it’s an important one if you’re going to be a successful cog in the royal wheel.”
The Queen “has this definitive style, almost like a uniform, which also works for Kate,” a friend tells PEOPLE.
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Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis joined Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 5.Samir Hussein/WireImage
As the Queenbegins her summer holidayat Balmoral Castle in Scotland this week — two months after her 70 years on the throne was celebrated across the U.K. and the world — she’s doing so with confidence in the fact that Kate and her husbandPrince Williamare ready for their royal duties in the months and years ahead.
They “are representing the Queen impeccably,” adds Bedell Smith. “They’re showing a kind of dedication she would be proud of. And that probably gives her hope.”
source: people.com
