Kate Middleton News: Duchess of Cambridge on Her First Gift to the Queen, What Royal Family Teases Her About
Thinking about what to get your spouse's family members for the holidays is hard enough, but when you're married to Prince William, the task can be almost impossible.
In her first solo interview since officially becoming a member of the British Royal Family, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, shared that she had this exact same problem during the first Christmas she spent at Sandringham, the Queen's country estate.
In the rare interview, which forms part of a televised documentary celebrating Her Majesty The Queen's upcoming milestone 90th birthday, the Duchess said that after mulling over the problem, she eventually turned to her own grandmother's chutney recipe and handcrafted her Christmas gift.
"'I thought, 'I'll make her something,'" she said. "Which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny's recipe of chutney."
As the Duchess of Cambridge, known as Kate Middleton before marrying Prince William in 2011, recounted, she was initially worried about the gift but was relieved to find the chutney on the table the next day. According to Middleton, it was this and many other "simple" gestures by the Queen that showed her "thoughtfulness" and the care she had for everybody.
"She's been generous and not forceful at all in her views," Kate shared during the interview. "And she's really been there in a gentle guidance for me."
She also gave fans of the royal family a peek into her private life, admitting that she gets teased by family members for chatting it up during official events.
"There's a real art to walkabouts, everybody teases me in the family that I spend far too long chatting," she said. "I still have to learn a little bit more, and to pick up a few more tips I suppose."
The Duchess shares this and many other touching anecdotes about the monarch in the two-hour documentary.
"Our Queen At Ninety" airs on Easter Sunday, March 27, at 8 p.m. on ITV.