The Editors of PEOPLE - PEOPLE Princess Kate: Royal Mom, Future Queen

TRUE BLUE Kate meets RAF Air Cadets in London, February 2016.

ROYAL MOM,
FUTURE QUEEN

INSIDE HER LIFE TODAY

As Life in the Spotlight

FROM COLLEGE GIRLFRIEND TO PRINCESS BRIDE TO MOM TO CHILDRENS ADVOCATE. AND KATES JUST GETTING STARTED, SAYS PEOPLES CHIEF ROYAL WATCHER

BY SIMON PERRY

APRIL 2013 Pregnant with Prince George, Kate is silhouetted by flashbulbs at a gala event at Londons National Portrait Gallery.

T HE FIRST TIME I SAW THE then-Kate Middleton was at a polo game on the fields of Gloucestershire, quietly hanging with friends in a hut while her prince played the game that marks out so many royal men. It was early in one of those long summers during their college life. By then Id already been reporting her emergence as the woman most often on his arm. Those end-of-term balls, the grabbing of pizza (they would go Dutch on the bill) in St. Andrews, Scotland, and the games of tennis amid the usual university fun.

She had first emerged, aged just 20, as the roomie who joined Prince William and two other friends in a four-person apartment in an upmarket street of the Scottish town. They were well-suited. She was sporty like his friends and competitive like her boyfriend, playing him at tennis and bonding on weekends away. And, as the media circled her and her middle-class family, incredibly discreet.

Four years later, when sheand, crucially, her parentsjoined Williams two closest friends and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles at the passing - out parade at Sandhurst in December 2006, it was the surest sign to all of us in the royal press pack that she was the one and that marriage was a done deal. So it was an even bigger shock when , in April 2007 , they parted. They had separated a couple of times before , but this one was openly discussed as the end. And yet they couldnt bear to be apart and were back on within about two months. For me, and for the others following them, that was the clincher.

The big announcement wouldnt come for another three years. In that time Kate quietly worked at her parents firm while enduring frequent long separations from her army-officer boyfriend. That added a steel to their relationship, as she found comfort in both his friends and hers who faced similar situations. Along with her hardworking family, she continued to keep her counsel, winning sometimes grudging admirers among us in the media and certainly among the royals and friends. The college girl who had once walked a student runway in a see-through dress was now invariably well-groomed and starting to make fashion choices that would set trends. And then, at last: In November 2010 the couple announced plans to marry and faced cameras together, with Kate in a memorable sapphire-blue Issa dress. (The U.K. label had been a flattering favorite, but a year later, when the company was bought by the half sister of Princess Dianas boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed, Kate was rarely seen wearing it again. She may have been a new royal, but she intuited the symbolism of her choices like a veteran.)

It was at that announcement at St. Jamess Palace that I met Kate for the first time. She showed us her special ring, the sapphire that had been Dianas. She and William had been cocooned in the palace most of the day after breaking the news to their families and closest friends, and we spoke about the excitement that was out there in the streets.

Since that moment, the picture I have gleaned over many years is that Kate is not, as she is sometimes portrayed, the meek wallflower who simply waited so many years for her man to propose. Shes an intelligent, more formidable woman than that and has shown so in how she has coped with both the pressure of being Williams girlfriend, with little or no protection during those dating years, and the barrage of interest that followed her marriage.

They are a happy little unit now, both parents wanting a quiet country upbringing for their children in these first years. Friends tell me that they expect them to add to their family, but that can wait. And their future, because of the unique nature of the position, is something that will pivot on historical moments and responsibilities that lie ahead. Even now, however, Kate is forging a more public role. Increasingly confident, she learns on the spot: Ive seen her ask questions of young people and experts alike, while showing an empathy that those in the key area of the mental well-being of children say is something that usually takes years of experience to pull off so well.

Shes said shell learn the royal ropes from William, but shes also absorbing tips from her Norfolk neighbor the Queen, with whom she has a warm relationship. What kind of Queen will Kate be when King William V takes the throne? Time will tell. But already, with five years as a royal now behind her, she has shown a remarkable evolution from middle-class young woman to modern princess-mom.

OCT. 2002: MEET KATE First mention: Wills roommate Kate Middleton, student model.

MAY 2003: COLLEGE LIFE Dating rumors persist as Kate joins William at a rugby game.

AUG. 2005: TWO ROYAL ROMANCES William and Kate grew more serious as Prince Harry fell for Zimbabwean- born Chelsy Davy. The younger couple had seven on-and-off years, splitting soon after William and Kates 2011 wedding.

OCT. 2005: TIME TO MAKE A NEW ROYAL? The two recent university graduates thoughtsor at least some magazine editors turned to the future.

DEC. 2006: WELL, WILL? The prince, still just 24 years old, gets pressure to pop the question to Waity Katey, as some U.K. tabloids had dubbed her.