Kate Middleton said she still finds large public settings difficult during a Buckingham Palace reception on Tuesday, making a rare candid remark as she joined Prince William and other senior royals to mark the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s birth on April 21.
Speaking with a guest at the Marble Hall event, Kate said, “I find these environments are really hard.” She added, “I’ve also got a very soft voice, so I always get told, ‘Speak up a bit louder!’”
The reception was hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla and brought together all of the senior working members of the royal family, including Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra. Guests also included representatives from the British Red Cross and Cancer Research UK, along with centenarians born on April 21, 1926, who shared a 100th birthday with the late monarch.
Kate’s comments fit a pattern that has followed her for years. During her engagement interview in November 2010, she said she went bright red when she met Prince William and felt very shy. After she became a working royal in 2011, she continued to show a knack for putting nervous people at ease. In 2019, at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, she reportedly pulled a timid young girl aside for a quiet chat in a small tent and told her she sometimes does the same when she is feeling shy.
The latest remark lands as the royal family stages one of its more unusual public gatherings, with the centenary reception combining ceremony, family presence and a room full of guests tied to the late queen’s birth date. For Kate, it was another glimpse of a royal who has learned to carry herself in the public eye without pretending the job comes easily.
