08:00, 05 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
![\"State](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759649532_797_1_State-Visit-By-The-President-Of-The-French-Republic-Day-One.jpg\")
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales(Image: Getty Images )<\/p>\n
A Royal expert who met Princess Kate<\/a> for the first time after her split from Prince William<\/a> has revealed his thoughts on the Princess of Wales.<\/p>\n Richard Eden has written about the Royal Family for over two decades. He now regularly shares insights and opinions about the Royals on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast.<\/p>\n And while Richard says he mostly speaks to junior members of The Firm, he has also rubbed shoulders with some of the senior Royals, reports The Mirror<\/a>.<\/p>\n Richard says he first met the Princess of Wales when she and William had separated in 2007, five years after their relationship began. He was at a party when he encountered the young Kate.<\/p>\n Speaking on Palace Confidential, Richard said: “My first interaction with Catherine actually is when she was separated from Prince William, at a party, but I was talking to her and it actually makes me quite wistful because the woman I was talking to next to her was Tara Palmer-Tomkinson<\/a>, who tragically died far, far too young.<\/p>\n “That was at a party where I spoke to Catherine then and I’ve spoken to various members of her family over the years and I have to say generally they have always been very friendly.<\/p>\n “Pippa used to be at parties more often than her sister but I would say the Royal Family has been extremely lucky to have the Middletons.”<\/p>\n Richard went on to say the Middleton family have been a “real boon” to the Royal Family. William and Kate met while they were students at St Andrews University in Scotland, but their relationship hit a rocky patch after they split.<\/p>\n William continued his training with the Army while Kate is said to have enjoyed attending parties with her friends. It was at a launch party for a book by author Simon Sebag Montefiore that she met Tara and Richard.<\/p>\n Tara, who died in 2017, is said to have asked Kate how she was feeling after the split. Kate reportedly told her she was fine and even when Tara persisted asking: “It must be so hard”, the now princess is said to have replied: “Really, it’s fine.”<\/p>\n In his Eden Confidential column, Richard wrote: “She made clear with her body language that she didn’t wish to discuss the subject, and the conversation moved swiftly on to happier and less fraught matters.<\/p>\n “At that time, Catherine was seen as a party-loving girlfriend of William, but my first encounter with her taught me that she was a tough cookie who wasn’t going to be inveigled into saying something she didn’t want to say.<\/p>\n “Indeed, she reminded me of members of the Royal Family, much older than herself, who have the uncanny ability to make small talk with anyone without giving anything anyway.”<\/p>\n William and Kate reunited the same year as they split, tying the knot in 2011. They share children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis together.<\/p>\n Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: <\/strong>Sign up here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_FILES-BRITAIN-ROYALS-WILLIAM-KATE.jpg\")
Prince William and Princess Kate(Image: POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Princess](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Princess-Kate-Prince-William-and-their-children.jpg\")
Princess Kate, Prince William and their children(Image: Karwai Tang\/WireImage)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Screenshot-2025-07-31-at-190436.png\")
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