Kate Middleton has adjusted well to her royal role, according to the wife of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's 'mentor' Sir David Manning. It is believed that lessons were learned by the experiences of the late Diana, Princess of Wales when she joined the royal family. "Contrary to popular belief, the Duchess doesn't need any help in that department at all," Lady Manning told Richard Kay, who is a Daily Mail columnist and was a confidant of the late Diana. "Let me tell you, the Duchess is interested in everything and doesn't need any encouragement or etiquette instruction," she added.
"She knows what is required all by herself." Lady Manning, who writes thriller novels under the name Elizabeth Ironside, continued: "I've heard it said my husband is instructing her on protocol, but that's wrong. He's a mentor. Kate has often been praised for her dignity and quiet self-assurance, particularly wowing on her wedding day when she joined the royal family with grace and poise.
Richard Kay was a close friend of Diana's, and even spoken to her on the phone a mere six hours before she died. Speaking about the Princess and her intentions to retreat from the spotlight before her untimely death, he said: "She told me had decided radically to change her life. "She was going to complete her obligations to her charities and to the anti-personnel landmines cause and then around November would completely withdraw from her formal public life." Sir David, a former ambassador in Washington and Tony Blair's foreign policy adviser during his time in Downing Street, accompanied Kate and William on their first official overseas tour as a married couple to the US and Canada. Prior to his appointment by the Queen, David was an unpaid adviser to William and his brother Prince Harry for four years.
