'I saw Kate Middleton after her Royal Family wedding and one thing stood out'

It has been just over 15 years since Kate Middleton and Prince William exchanged vows in a grand Westminster ceremony. Their union has since welcomed three children - Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight. Despite being among the most recognisable figures globally, there remains a sense that surprisingly little is understood about the royal who will eventually become queen. She projects an image of being down-to-earth, and one journalist who met her shortly following her marriage to William shared her impressions of Kate. Catherine Mayer, who was then London Bureau Chief for TIME magazine and frequently reported on the royals, encountered the Duchess of Cambridge at a Buckingham Palace reception in 2011, the year of her wedding to William. Writing in the Daily Mail, she recalled: "The encounter helped me understand something about the princess-as-girl-next door imagery loved by the media ever since Kate and William were photographed together for the first time on the slopes of Klosters," reports the Express . "In the flesh, Kate is not so much relatable as an ideal of relatability, like those spotless interiors created by advertisers to shift furniture or kitchen appliances. "I am tall. Kate, though reportedly a fraction shorter, gazed down on me, graceful in high heels. If I am scrawny, she is willowy. Before age coarsened my hair, it earned a backhanded compliment: 'just like a wig'. Alongside hers, it looked like the joke-shop variety, nylon not silk." The journalist acknowledges that their fleeting exchange left her questioning the work required to maintain such an immaculate appearance and the effect on women who view it as an "attainable goal". Kate and William are expected to be among the guests at the wedding of William's cousin Peter Phillips this afternoon (Saturday, June 6). Princess Anne's eldest child is tying the knot for a second time, to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling. William was absent from Peter's first wedding to first wife Autumn. His non-attendance was clarified at the time, with a senior royal source explaining: "Prince William is going to be out of the country this weekend on a long-standing prior engagement." Reports suggest William is eager to make amends with his cousin due to his prior absence - with Kate and William preparing to join Peter and Harriet's celebration. Despite William's non-attendance, Kate did attend the ceremony on her own. Peter managed to anger his late grandmother and other family members when he negotiated a substantial £500k agreement for photographs of his reception. The controversy reportedly prompted the late Queen to prohibit senior Royal Family members from participating in celebrity magazine photographic agreements. The arrangement, which was with HELLO! magazine, resulted in a 100-page special featuring 59 pages of wedding photographs. The late Queen appeared in 10 of the images.