Joining the royal family is never easy, but the Princess of Wales has remained one of the most loved members of the Firm since she joined in 2011.
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Meeting the in-laws can be a challenge at the best of times, but when your future family members include the future King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, it’s quite the path to navigate!
Kate often supported the late Queen by attending engagements, going on tours and taking on patronages, while also finding a way to reflect her own interests in her charity work, and has now returned to work representing the King.
WATCH: King Charles blows the Princess of Wales a kiss
It’s no wonder, then, that Prince William‘s wife has formed such strong bonds with the royal family. Let’s take a look at some of Kate’s best moments with her in-laws…
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When Prince William and Kate attended a service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the now-King could be seen greeting his daughter-in-law by blowing her a kiss. Camilla also blew a kiss to the couple as they greeted each other at St Paul’s Cathedral, showing the affection they share.
As the Prince and Princess of Wales joined King Charles and his wife at the world premiere of James Bond: No Time To Die in September 2021, the senior royal was spotted greeting his daughter-in-law warmly with a kiss.
In June 2021, Kate stepped out for a very rare joint engagement with the late Queen and the then-Duchess of Cornwall. Despite the formality of the event – the royals were attending the G7 summit in Cornwall – the ladies looked like they were having a wonderful time together.
The late monarch even joked about using a sword to cut a cake. When an aide pointed out that there was a knife, she quipped, “I know there is. This is something that is more unusual,” prompting laughter from her relatives.
Kate and William were reunited with the Queen at Windsor Castle at the end of their UK-wide royal train tour in December 2020.
The monarch had spent much of the year in isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the look on her face when she was reunited with her family members was absolutely priceless. Look at the smiles on the Queen and Kate’s faces!
The mother-of-three even borrowed her grandmother-in-law’s diamond pendant earrings for the occasion.
Kate and William accompanied the now King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla on a trip to Loughborough in January 2020.
The foursome visited the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) Stanford Hall in Loughborough, where they were given a tour of the site and met patients and staff. Photographers captured this lovely moment between the foursome, before Prince William tried wheelchair basketball.
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Over the summer, the Queen always retreated to Balmoral where she received visits from her family on a rolling basis. In August 2019, Kate proved how close she was to the late monarch by riding beside her on a trip to church during her family’s stay on the Scottish royal estate.
The couple were staying with the Queen for the bank holiday weekend, having flown up from their Norwich home with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
And while King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex with their daughter Lady Louise, Princess Anne, her husband Timothy Laurence, and Anne’s son Peter Phillips and his now ex-wife Autumn were also all visiting, it was Kate and William who shared a car with the Queen.
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Kate and the Countess of Wessex have a very natural, close relationship. Here they are pictured shortly after Sophie tumbled into the carriage at Royal Ascot, and almost fell on Kate.
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At Royal Ascot in June 2019, Kate and her cousin-in-law Zara Tindall showed off their close bond as they hugged and kissed each other on the cheek. The Princess looked gorgeous in a cornflower blue top and skirt by Elie Saab, while Zara embraced the florals in a Zimmermann dress. Kate and Zara have six children between them and the little tots are particularly close.
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Zara Tindall’s husband Mike has previously spoken about their elder daughter Mia meeting Prince George for the first time, saying the baby playdate was “absolute carnage”.
Kate and Prince Harry have known each other for over two decades, after Kate and William started dating at St Andrew’s University. Here, the Princess of Wales and her brother-in-law are pictured back in 2008 long before the royal wedding.
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They always looked to be having fun when they attended royal engagements together, with Harry often making Kate burst into hysterics with his down-to-earth humour, and vice versa.
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Kate shares a giggle with Meghan Markle during their first joint engagement together before the royal wedding in May 2018. Royal biography Finding Freedom revealed more details about when Meghan first met Kate.
Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote: “Meghan bought a present for [Kate], who had celebrated her birthday just a day earlier. The soft leather Smythson notebook helped to break the ice, as did Meghan’s cooing over then 20-month-old Charlotte.”
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Kate has always had a good relationship with King Charles, long before he became her father-in-law. After her engagement to Prince William was announced, Kate said His Majesty had been “very, very welcoming and very friendly” to her, while the proud father also said he was “thrilled” and “delighted” about the news.
Kate had her hands full with Prince George and Princess Charlotte during the 2017 celebration of Trooping the Colour, but she shared a lovely moment with her late grandfather-in-law Prince Philip as she watched over the children.
Kate also has a good relationship with Queen Consort Camilla. She was given a very thoughtful wedding gift from her stepmother-in-law when Camilla presented her with a gold link charm bracelet. It featured a disc engraved with both of their monograms – on one side, a ‘C’ for Catherine and a coronet, and on the other, a ‘C’ for Camilla and a crown. Camilla’s granddaughter Eliza Lopes was also a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding.
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Kate was always very respectful of her grandmother-in-law the Queen, and once revealed a conundrum everyone can relate to! Starring in ITV documentary Our Queen At 90, she revealed that she didn’t know what to give the Queen for Christmas but settled on homemade chutney made from her own grandmother’s recipe.
“She [the Queen] really cares,” Kate said. “I can remember being at Sandringham, for the first time, at Christmas. And I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present. I was thinking, ‘Gosh, what should I give her?’ I thought back to what I would give my own grandparents. And I thought, ‘I’ll make her something.’ Which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny’s recipe of chutney.”
Kate added: “I was slightly worried about it, but I noticed the next day that it was on the table. I think such a simple gesture went such a long way for me and I’ve noticed since she’s done that on lots of occasions and I think it just shows her thoughtfulness, really, and her care in looking after everybody.”
The recipe is thought to have been a marrow chutney; Pippa Middleton’s 2012 recipe book Celebrate includes instructions for ‘Granny’s Marrow Chutney,’ which takes several hours to prepare.
The Princess of Wales looked totally at ease surrounded by her in-laws as they celebrated the Queen’s 90th birthday in London.
Kate and her cousin-in-law Autumn Phillips tend to get together in Gloucestershire, when Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are reunited with their cousins, Savannah and Isla Phillips.
Kate and Meghan carried out their first joint engagement together at Wimbledon in 2018, just a few weeks after Harry and Meghan’s wedding.
The then-Duchess of Cambridge looked delighted to see her cousin-in-law Princess Eugenie during a trip to New York in December 2014. Eugenie was working for an auction house in the Big Apple at the time.
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We love this photo of William, Kate and Zara embracing outside Westminster Abbey. Kate was eight months pregnant with Prince George at the time.
Kate bonding with her late grandfather-in-law Prince Philip at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in October 2018.
The royal and her aunt-in-law Princess Anne enjoyed a natter on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as they celebrated the RAF’s 100th anniversary.
William and Kate were spotted catching up his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, at Royal Ascot in 2017.
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