The Princess of Wales grew to have a close relationship with the late monarch – but their very first meeting took place in unusual circumstances. Kate later opened up about their initial interaction. Princess Kate’s first meeting with the late Queen must have been incredibly daunting – and she didn’t even have Prince William by her side.
The future Princess of Wales first started dating William back in 2002 when the pair were students at St Andrews together. But it wasn’t until 2008 that Kate first met the monarch. While she would grow to have a close bond with the Queen, Kate’s previously revealed that her first interaction with her was brief – and in an unusual setting. Kate told ITV ‘s Tom Bradby about the meeting shortly after her and William announced their engagement in 2010.
She revealed that it had come on a significant day for the Royal Family; at Peter Phillips’ wedding to his now-ex-wife Autumn Kelly. “Well I first met her at Peter and Autumn’s wedding,” Kate explained to Tom. “And again, it was in amongst a lot of other guests and she was very friendly and, no, it was fine.” Prince William echoed his now-wife’s sentiments, adding, “She’s very welcoming. She knew it was a big day and everything was going on with Peter and Autumn were there and things and she’d wanted to meet Kate for a while so it was very nice of her to come over and say hello.” He added that there was a “little chat” and that his grandmother and girlfriend “got on really well”.
According to reports, Kate attended the wedding on her own, since Prince William had a prior invitation out of the country. But it seems that after hoping for a meeting “for a while”, the monarch was delighted to just finally get to talk to Kate despite William’s absence. Kate has rarely given interviews since marrying Prince William in 2011. However, she made an exception when asked to contribute to an official royal documentary about Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday in 2016. The Princess described the monarch’s “gentle guidance” and recounted her nerves before first solo engagement with the Queen – again without Prince William.
She recalled: “The most memorable engagement for me I suppose was an away day to Leicester and I went without William so I was rather apprehensive about that. I think there is a real art to walkabouts, everyone teases me in the family that I spend far too long chatting so I think I’ve still got to learn a little bit more and pick up a few more tips I suppose. “She was very supportive. The fact she took the time to make sure that I was happy and looked after for that particular occasion, which probably in everything that she’s doing is a very small element, which just shows how caring she is, really.”
Kate also touched on the monarch’s love for her family. Speaking about the arrival of Princess Charlotte, she noted: “It’s very special us having a new little girl to the family. Very lucky that George has got a little sister. The Queen, she was really thrilled that it was a little girl and I think as soon as we came back here to Kensington [Palace] she was one of our first visitors here.
“I think she’s very fond of Charlotte, always watching what she’s up to. George is only two and a half and calls her ‘gan-gan.’ She always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we go and stay and that just shows, I think, her love for her family.”
