The new Princess of Wales "quietly observed" her husband's grandmother during their 20-year friendship with the intention of using her as inspiration when she becomes Queen, a royal source has claimed.
Kate first met the late Monarch when she was dating Prince William and they've grown very close in the years since, with the Queen handing her the Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (RVO) - her highest seal of approval - in 2019.
The princess has publicly praised the Queen on several occasions, and a source believes she's been watching her work as she plans for her own time as Queen Consort. She will take the position when her husband William takes the throne.
Speaking to The Times, the insider said she "quietly observed Her Majesty's game plan and successfully adopted many of her tactics.
"She will be Queen for a long time and knowing her, she will have thought, 'who is my role model here, who has done this really well?'
"I think she has taken a lot from the Queen."
Prince William, the new heir to the throne and Prince of Wales, also referenced Kate's relationship with his grandmother in his moving tribute.
He wrote: "While I will grieve her loss, I also feel incredibly grateful. I have had the benefit of The Queen’s wisdom and reassurance into my fifth decade. My wife has had twenty years of her guidance and support. My three children have got to spend holidays with her and create memories that will last their whole lives."
The two royal women carried out a number of joint royal engagements over the years and were often seen chatting at larger royal events.
Recalling her first meeting with the Queen, Kate has previously said: "Well I first met her at Peter and Autumn's wedding and again it was in amongst a lot of other guests and she was very friendly."
The Mirror's former royal editor Victoria Murphy say the Queen's close relationship with Kate is due to their "very similar personalities".
She told Yahoo UK : "I’ve always thought that Kate has more in common personality-wise with the Queen; not an extrovert, but quietly self-assured with a love of the outdoors and the ability to compartmentalise.
You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here.
"I think she still remains more of a team player than a leader though and perhaps more of a listener than a talker, but I think these qualities are well-suited to her current and future roles."
Royal biographer Andrew Morton says the Queen was always impressed and grateful that Kate "adored and loved William" for himself and not just his title.
He told OK! magazine : "She spends a lot more time supporting and nurturing the relationship between William and Catherine than she did with Charles and Diana. It's pretty clear she wasn't going to make that mistake again.
"Everything that happened in [Kate and William's] relationship was quite strategic, quite thought through, after a period of time. In the beginning, nobody in the royal household expected for a second that the university romance with Catherine and William would continue for any time after they graduated, like most college romances which disintegrate under the intense scrutiny of jobs and geography."
