'I met Kate Middleton after Prince William dumped her – this is what she was like'

A Royal expert who met Princess Kate for the first time after her split from Prince William has revealed his thoughts on the Princess of Wales. Richard Eden has written about the Royal Family for over two decades.

He now regularly shares insights and opinions about the Royals on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast. And while Richard says he mostly speaks to junior members of The Firm, he has also rubbed shoulders with some of the senior Royals.

Richard says he first met the Princess of Wales when she and William had separated in 2007, five years after their relationship began. He was at a party when he encountered the young Kate.

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Speaking on the Palace Confidential, Richard said: “My first interaction with Catherine actually is when she was separated from Prince William, at a party, but I was talking to her and it actually makes me quite wistful because the woman I was talking to next to her was Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who tragically died far, far too young.

“That was at a party where I spoke to Catherine then and I’ve spoken to various members of her family over the years and I have to say generally they have always been very friendly.

“Pippa used to be at parties more often than her sister but I would say the Royal Family has been extremely lucky to have the Middletons.”

Richard went on to say the Middleton family have been a “real boon” to the Royal Family. William and Kate met while they were students at St Andrews University in Scotland, but their relationship hit a rocky patch after they split.

William continued his training with the Army while Kate is said to have enjoyed attending parties with her friends. It was at a launch party for a book by author Simon Sebag Montefiore that she met Tara and Richard, reports the Mirror.

Tara, who died in 2017, is said to have asked Kate how she was feeling after the split. Kate reportedly told her she was fine and even when Tara persisted asking: "It must be so hard", the now princess is said to have replied: "Really, it's fine."

In his Eden Confidential column, Richard wrote: “She made clear with her body language that she didn't wish to discuss the subject, and the conversation moved swiftly on to happier and less fraught matters.

“At that time, Catherine was seen as a party-loving girlfriend of William, but my first encounter with her taught me that she was a tough cookie who wasn't going to be inveigled into saying something she didn't want to say.

“Indeed, she reminded me of members of the Royal Family, much older than herself, who have the uncanny ability to make small-talk with anyone without giving anything anyway."

William and Kate reunited the same year as they split, tying the knot in 2011. They share children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis together.