A Royal expert who met Princess Kate for the first time shortly after her split from Prince William has revealed what he thought of her. Richard Eden has written about the Royal Family for over two decades, meeting several members of The Firm.
Eden regularly shares insights and opinions about the Royals on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast. While he mostly interacts with junior royals, he has also had encounters with some of the senior Royals. He first met the Princess of Wales when she and William had separated in 2007, five years into their relationship. This encounter took place at a party.
On the Palace Confidential, Eden recalled: “My first interaction with Catherine actually is when she was separated from Prince William, at a party, but I was talking to her and it actually makes me quite wishful because the woman I was talking to was Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who tragically died far, far too young.”
He added: “That was at a party where I spoke to Catherine then and I’ve spoken to various members of her family over the years and I have to say generally they have always been very friendly.
“Pippa used to be at parties more often than her sister but I would say the Royal Family has been extremely lucky to have the Middletons.”
Richard went on to praise the Middleton family as a “real boon” to the Royal Family. William and Kate’s love story began at St Andrews University in Scotland, but their relationship experienced a turbulent period after they broke up.
While William pursued his Army training, Kate reportedly relished attending social gatherings with her friends. It was at a book launch party for author Simon Sebag Montefiore that she encountered Tara and Richard, according to the Mirror.
Tara, who passed away in 2017, is reported to have enquired about Kate’s wellbeing post-breakup. Despite Tara’s persistent questioning: “It must be so hard”, Kate assured her: “Really, it’s fine.”
In his Eden Confidential column, Richard penned: “She made clear with her body language that she didn’t wish to discuss the subject, and the conversation moved swiftly on to happier and less fraught matters.
“At that time, Catherine was seen as a party-loving girlfriend of William, but my first encounter with her taught me that she was a tough cookie who wasn’t going to be inveigled into saying something she didn’t want to say.
“Indeed, she reminded me of members of the Royal Family, much older than herself, who have the uncanny ability to make small-talk with anyone without giving anything anyway.”
William and Kate reconciled the same year they separated, eventually tying the knot in 2011. They are now proud parents to Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.