As she prepares to turn 40 next weekend, the
Duchess of Cambridge knows that by her next landmark birthday, she'll have become the
Princess of Wales — a title that's lain dormant since the death of Diana, the mother-in-law she never met.
As with everything associated with the
Royal Family, her apprenticeship as future queen has been slow. Too slow, say some. But, astutely alert to the royals' unflustered ways, Kate has refused to be rushed.
Of course, one of our monarchy's immutable strengths is its repudiation of the modern fad to bend to prevailing fashion.
Significantly, too, Kate has brought another unswerving value to the Royal Family: the Middletons' way of doing things. Steadfast and unflashy.