As one can imagine, Kate Middleton has a very hectic schedule. Even so, last year the Princess of Wales was heavily criticized by members of the public for not taking on enough engagements. This year, she then received criticism from certain ‘experts’ regarding her outfit choices, some of which may have held deeper meanings. 

Naturally, life as a royal means a life in the public eye, and not just for a few years. Virtually every move the royals make is reported on and scrutinized. For someone like Kate Middleton, who also has young children, getting private time alone must surely be tricky.

However, it turns out that Kate has a secret that has now been exposed. According to a royal expert, she uses a clever trick to win herself some free alone time away from the public eye…

The Royal Family has seen more significant changes in the last 12 months than it has in decades. The passing of Queen Elizabeth II was always going to mean a period of transition, with Charles, Camilla, Prince William, and Kate Middleton having to take on new engagements and duties to “fill the void”.

Kate Middleton was ‘stressed’ and ‘anxious’ with increased royal pressure

Charles had prepared for the role of king for decades, and reportedly already had a plan in place regarding what he wanted to do in relation to modernizing the monarchy. Prince William and Princess Kate, meanwhile, were handed several new responsibilities, and it wasn’t only their royal duties that were impacted.

With the couple swapping their home in Kensington Palace for Adelaide Cottage in Windsor just days before the devastating passing of Queen Elizabeth, they had a lot on their plate.

According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, this significantly impacted Kate. Not only did Queen Elizabeth’s death increase pressure on her new royal role as the Princess of Wales, but, as stated, the family had just moved to Windsor, and Kate and William were charged with helping their children settle in at their new school. As a result, Kate felt a “fair bit of stress and anxiety,” Nicholl has claimed. And who could blame her?

“They’ve said that themselves…that this hasn’t been the settling period that they had hoped for,” Nicholl said on TalkTV’s Royal Tea show.

“Of course, they made that big move just after the summer holidays to move to Windsor. A significant and pretty bold move leaving Kensington Palace, enrolling the children in new schools, setting up a new life for themselves in Windsor, I think really so that they could be below the radar and have this normal family life which they are pretty successful in having.”

The royal expert added: “Of course, no one could have expected that the queen would have died just at the start of all that. Very, very difficult times. I think behind the scenes there is a fair bit of stress and anxiety for all of the family.”

For royals, living life in the public eye is par for the course. Even so, Prince William and Kate Middleton are said to be doing their utmost to give their children a relatively normal childhood. That in itself will become more difficult moving forward, with their two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, now old enough to understand more about the monarchy and what it promises for their lives in the future.

Kate Middleton’s normal life

For Kate Middleton, a typical day includes being photographed by members of the public and photographers, having all of her outfits judged by fashion experts, and having speeches decoded and scrutinized by the tabloid press.

It’s a life she has chosen, and she knew what she was getting herself into. That said, it appears as though she and her husband remain keen on keeping her feet on the ground.

Royal expert Duncan Larcombe shared his inside knowledge of the royal couple’s date nights and why their spark is still so vital. A lot of it has to do with trying to be “normal.”

In 2021, Larcombe spoke with OK! Magazine about how William and Kate do their utmost to preserve quality time together, and also spoke on what their date nights look like.

“Kate and William’s relationship blossomed when they were at St Andrew’s University, doing normal student-y things and just enjoying each other’s company,” Duncan said.

“Being a future king you might expect William to whisk Kate away to Paris for the day or an extravagant lunch at a top restaurant, but they’ve never been like that. They’re more of a fish and chips on the seafront type of couple, as we saw when they went back to St Andrew’s for an engagement recently.”

When the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in the UK, William and Kate made sure to go out and enjoy some quality time together.

Visit to local pub with William

According to Larcombe, William and Middleton aren’t all that fussed about fancy things. Rather, they like to spend time together at more “normal” venues.

“While the doting grandparents do the babysitting, William and Kate have been able to slip to the local pub for a night out, just the two of them,” the royal expert explained.

“I’m told that they did this to celebrate William’s birthday in June [in 2021]. Another favorite of the couple is for William to cook bolognese for Kate, and they sit on the sofa watching TV. It reminds them of their student days when they first met and their enduring romance began.”

And while William and Kate enjoy spending their date nights out in “the open,” that’s not the only thing the princess does to keep herself grounded.

As a working royal, Kate wears plenty of costly clothes from world-famous designers, as well as necklaces and earrings from the royal jewelry collection. Yet he mother-of-three is not afraid of donning more “ordinary” clothes from brands such as Zara. It helps to make her more relatable to the public, and hopefully allows Kate to feel more comfortable.

While royals have many rules to follow, Kate Middleton seems to like routines that include everyday activities. We’ve seen plenty of examples of that over the years – indeed, it turns out that the Princess of Wales isn’t that different from the rest of us.

Christmas shopping is a hectic time, with stores and streets full of people trying to find the perfect gift for their loved ones. The Royal Family, of course, have their own Christmas traditions, but you won’t ever see King Charles walking down Oxford Street in London with his hands full of Christmas presents, trying to catch the subway back home.

Kate Middleton pictured shopping for Christmas presents and groceries

That said, Kate Middleton likes to do things as shea always has. Just days before Christmas in 2018, she was spotted in a discount store called The Range close to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, teacher Sarah Daniels explained how she suddenly saw Kate with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, in the arts and crafts aisle in the store, before moving on to the toy section.

According to Daniels, George had gotten interested in “dinosaur slime,” and Charlotte sat on the floor. Kate was reportedly dressed in a jacket and causal jeans, telling Charlotte: “Get up, poppet.”

In 2018, just weeks before she and William welcomed Prince Louis, Kate was seen buying groceries in a Norfolk Sainsbury’s store. According to the Mirror, Kate was loading up her reusable bags and had a protection officer just feet away.

Despite that, the fact that she continues to do her own grocery shopping rather than simply giving the list to an aide tells us something about her.

“I just went around the corner of the aisle – and I saw her,” a shopper said about seeing Kate in the grocery store. “It was like a surreal experience, to see her doing everyday things.”

A year later, in 2019, Kate was again spotted at Sainsbury’s in Norfolk, buying Halloween costumes for Prince George and Princess Charlotte. And it’s not only shopping that Kate enjoys doing.

Just as she and William enjoy eating at ordinary, everyday restaurants, Kate also reportedly enjoys heading to the pub once in a while.

Visited music festival with friends

In 2019, reports stated that the Princess of Wales headed to a pub with a group of other moms from Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s previous school, Thomas’s Battersea. A “meet and greet” party for the parents was then held at the Hollywood Arms in Chelsea.

Just because Kate has become the Princess of Wales – and is the future queen – that doesn’t stop her spending time with her friends and going to events alongside members of the public. Just weeks ago, Kate appeared at an event which had many people talking; a music festival.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Kate brought her friends with her to the Houghton Music Festival, located in the Norfolk countryside. The festival, a 24-hour nonstop event that had a royal guest among the 12,000 people in attendance, is held at the 1000-acre Houghton Hall estate. It is owned by David and Rose, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmodenley, Kate’s Norfolk neighbors.

Kate was reportedly having dinner at David and Rose’s home when she first considered attending the festival.

“Catherine was nervous about the idea, but after much discussion with her protection officers, she went with lots of security. William wasn’t there,” a source told the Daily Mail.

The princess and her pals attended the major music event, enjoying a well-deserved rest from the stressful big city life. That said, they did not visit the food trucks for a quick bite.

The London Evening Standard reported that Kate and her friends instead ate at the festival restaurant, Turntable & Napkin. Kate was, according to the news outlet’s source, “in high spirits, ordering spicy margaritas, eating affogato and speaking affably with the other members of her party.”

Kate Middleton’s secret morning trips

“Her companions apparently carted in a huge, balthazar-sized bottle of AIX rosé and, together with Kate, left the festival restaurant staff a £700 tip,” the London Evening Standard reported.

While Kate has no problem with being out in public, going to bars, shopping, or enjoying music festivals, she’s also reportedly found a way to secure some alone time in which to unwind.

In short, Kate Middleton has managed to keep a secret from most people, and on occasion sneaks out of her family’s house, Adelaide Cottage at the Windsor grounds, to enjoy what one royal expert calls “me time.” This includes a clever trick so that she’s not discovered by the public.

According to royal expert Tina Brown, author of the book, The Palace Papers, the Princess of Wales usually sets her alarm very early. She leaves the royal household before her three children and William wake up, making sure to beat the morning traffic.