Oh how far they’ve come! Kate Middleton and Prince Willliam got engaged in 2010, and while the Duchess of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth seem to get along just fine today, it wasn’t always like that between the two royal women.

Phil Dampier, who has been reporting on the royal family for more than two decades, shared with Express that before Will popped the question to Kate, the British monarch, 92, was a bit critical of Kate.

Kate Middleton Queen Elizabeth
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“Kate was William’s girlfriend for eight or nine years before they got engaged and got married,” Dampier shared with the outlet. “There was a phase where she appeared to be doing very little really… The Queen once remarked Kate doesn’t do very much so I think she had a fairly long entrance to the Royal family.”

And it seems the Queen sometimes still feels that way today. According to previous Life & Style report, the Queen thinks Kate needs to increase the number of public engagements she attends on behalf of the royal family. “The queen has been complaining that Kate is spending too much time at home,” an insider recently told the magazine. “She even took Prince William aside and asked him to talk to Kate about doing more royal work.

Kate, William, Elizabeth
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But Will might not be the right person for the Queen to go to. As Dampier suggested, Will is “very protective” of his wife of seven years. “William, because of what happened to his mother, was very protective of her and always has been since then,” he shared. “She only does what she wants to do and is comfortable with and isn’t put under too much pressure and scrutiny. His family’s been his number one priority.”

Here’s hoping Kate starts doing all she can to prepare to be Queen to avoid any unneeded royal drama!

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