Associated Press quotes Robert Jobson as a royal expert discussing Duchess of Cambridge's 30th birthday

Gala premiere, then quiet 30th for Kate Middleton

By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press 

LONDON (AP) — After attending a gala film premiere in a full-length lacy evening gown, Kate Middleton stepped out of the public gaze Monday to celebrate her milestone 30th birthday in private.

She turned heads — and dominated Britain's Monday morning front pages — by attending the London opening of Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" wearing a striking design by Alice Temperley. Her husband, Prince William, used an umbrella to keep her glossy brown hair drizzle-free.

It was another star turn for Middleton, who has appeared ever more comfortable in public since joining the royal family in April.

Palace officials said the Duchess of Cambridge's birthday celebration will be a "low-key and private" affair. The choice of a muted event seems appropriate: After all, the duchess is not just starting the fourth decade of her life — she is also embarking on her career as a future queen, charged with renovating a monarchy that has become somewhat creaky with age.

"She's done very well, playing a very good supporting role to Prince William and complementing him as part of a team," said Robert Jobson, author of "William and Kate: The Love Story." ''We've not seen much of her, but when she's in public she has performed with aplomb."

The past year has seen momentous changes for Kate, with a fairytale wedding to Prince William, travels around the world and glamorous appearances that marked her transition from commoner to the world's most talked-about princess and style icon. She has won rave reviews for her sparkle, her elegant sense of style, and her common touch with the public.

But now that the excitement around her grand wedding has subsided, she is expected to quietly settle down into her royal duties — and for much of this year, that means helping Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, without upstaging the monarch in her moment of glory, and also playing a supporting role at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Until recently, palace officials have been quiet about what exactly her role will be, keen to protect her transition into a fully fledged royal from the glare of the media limelight. The newlyweds, who live in a remote corner of north Wales, were said to favor a "quieter life" after the massive global media coverage of their April wedding.

The former Middleton ventured out on her first solo engagement in October — a private charity dinner for about 30 guests — but is yet to make a public speech on her own.

That is set to change. This week, royal officials finally gave the first insight into her new role when they announced which charities she's supporting, including the Scouts and a group that helps drug addicts. More organizations will follow later, officials said.

She has already taken on an unofficial role as a champion of the British fashion industry, wearing the creations of British designers at home and abroad, showcasing their work in the best possible light.

On top of such duties, the duchess also has a busy year ahead with the queen's jubilee, a major celebration of the monarch's 60 years on the throne that will see numerous celebrations throughout Britain and the Commonwealth, peaking in a major celebration in London in early June.

The royals are expected to play a supporting role by traveling overseas to represent the queen. William and Kate are due to journey to Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu as part of the festivities.

Inevitably, much of the speculation about the duchess' future has centered on royal lineage — Is she going to start a family soon? That, however, is anyone's guess, and despite incessant tabloid baby chatter, there doesn't yet appear to be great pressure on the newlyweds to produce an heir.

"It's early days yet, and they're both getting used to their roles," said Jobson, adding that the presence of other young members of the royal household, such as Prince Harry, helps to ease the pressure on William and Kate.

Many of the more senior women in the royal family were mothers in their 20s, but times and expectations have changed — both inside and outside the royal household.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

New York Daily News quotes royal expert Robert Jobson

LONDON - The former Kate Middleton turns 30 on Monday - but royal fans expecting a lavish birthday bash to mark the milestone will be disappointed.

Palace officials say the Duchess of Cambridge's birthday celebration will be a "low-key and private" affair, appearing to quash press reports that she will see off her 20s with a fun '80s themed party, complete with karaoke, in a throwback to her more carefree bachelorette days.

The choice of a muted event seems appropriate: After all, the duchess is not just starting the fourth decade of her life - she is also embarking on her career as a future queen, charged with renovating a monarchy that has become somewhat creaky with age.

"She's done very well, playing a very good supporting role to Prince William and complementing him as part of a team," commentator Robert Jobson said of her first few months as a royal.

"We've not seen much of her, but when she's in public she has performed with aplomb," added Jobson, who is the author of "William and Kate: The Love Story."

The past year has seen momentous changes for Kate, with a fairytale wedding to Prince William, travels around the world and glamorous appearances that marked her transition from commoner to the world's most talked-about princess and style icon. She has won rave reviews for her sparkle, her elegant sense of style, and her common touch with the public. The media, yearning for a young and beautiful royal, documented - and largely admired - her every move.

On Sunday, they were out in force with the duchess again the center of attention as she and William took to the red carpet for the premiere of Steven Spielberg's movie "War Horse" in central London.

But now that the excitement around her grand wedding has subsided, she is expected to quietly settle down into her royal duties - and for much of this year, that means helping Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, without upstaging the monarch in her moment of glory, and also playing a supporting role at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Until recently, palace officials have been quiet about what exactly her role will be, keen to protect her transition into a fully fledged royal from the glare of the media limelight. The newlyweds, who live in a remote corner of north Wales, were said to favor a "quieter life" after the massive global media coverage of their April wedding. Outside of a tour of Canada and California in the summer, the duchess has only taken a handful of official engagements.

Royal expert quoted by AFP on Kate's birthday

Princess Catherine tiptoes into the limelight

(AFP)

8 January 2012

LONDON — Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, turns 30 on Monday after a near-faultless nine months of low-key royal engagements as she makes a gentle entrance into royal life alongside her husband Prince William.

The tabloids are full of rumours that Williams’s party-loving brother Prince Harry and Catherine’s high-profile younger sister Pippa Middleton are preparing a birthday party for the woman who will one day be queen.

But the royal family insists the occasion will be “low-key and private”.

Regardless of the glitz or otherwise of the party, as she enters her fourth decade the former commoner Kate Middleton — most Britons still call her simply “Kate” — has already become a global icon.

Her wedding to the second-in-line to the throne last April was watched by an estimated two billion TV viewers and her face has adorned millions of magazine covers.

Every one of her outfits is pored over and the clothes invariably become instant best-sellers.

Meanwhile, celebrity magazines scrutinise every photograph looking for evidence of a baby bump, but she is not pregnant yet, and the pressure will inevitably build from a hungry press as time goes on.

Catherine lives far from the bright lights and long lenses of London in Anglesey, north Wales, where William is training to be a Royal Air Force rescue pilot, and her public appearances are infrequent and carefully controlled.

As BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said: “She is, like Prince William, still tiptoeing towards her destiny.”

Since the wedding, she has performed just 15 or so official engagements in Britain and a tour with William of Canada and California — a tiny number of appearances compared to other members of the royal family.

If she is rarely seen, she is heard even less. Catherine does not, yet, make speeches.

Yet she enjoys huge popularity and those members of the public who have met her report that she is happy to chat and say that the daughter of a former pilot and flight assistant is without airs and graces.

When she made her first appearance with the royal family at their traditional Christmas Day church service, there was no doubt that Catherine, in a plum-coloured coat and hat, was the one the crowd had come to see.

This month, following royal tradition, she announced which charities she will support, and made a commitment to become a volunteer scout leader, mainly near to her Anglesey base.

She will be associated with just four charities — the queen is patron of 600. Catherine will link up with a group which helps wayward children through art and a charity helping former drug addicts to put their lives back on track.

She has ever so gradually started to follow the path of William’s late mother Diana, who championed the plight of AIDS patients and landmine victims among many causes.

In a slightly barbed comment on Catherine’s charity commitments, The Independent said it is “an arrangement to suit everyone”.

“The charities get cash and visibility. The princess gains a public persona — much-needed, as it happens, since there has been a growing sense over the past few months, that, beyond the trim figure and the pearly-toothed smile, the new member of the royal family is ever so slightly dull.”

Yet such digs are few and far between, and as she turns 30 Catherine enjoys an overwhelmingly positive press, with newspapers also perhaps treading carefully after their ceaseless pursuit of Diana.

Robert Jobson, the author of “William and Kate: The Love Story”, told AFP that she should resist pressure to change the personality which first attracted William when they were students together at university in Scotland.

“Everyone’s got great expectations but it’s important for Kate, if she’s going to be accepted and popular, to be herself,” he said.

“You can’t be a media-managed perfect princess, there is no such thing, you can’t create the image of a princess on a computer screen and make it absolutely how it has to be.

“You have to take risks, you have to show your personality. At present, she hasn’t really had the opportunity to do that.”

Royal expert Robert Jobson on Kate's 30th birthday

Associated Press

LONDON—Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, turns 30 on Monday after a near-faultless nine months of low-key royal engagements as she makes a gentle entrance into royal life alongside her husband Prince William.

The tabloids are full of rumors that Williams’s party-loving brother Prince Harry and Catherine’s high-profile younger sister Pippa Middleton are preparing a birthday party for the woman who will one day be queen.

But the royal family insists the occasion will be “low-key and private.”

Regardless of the glitz or otherwise of the party, as she enters her fourth decade the former commoner Kate Middleton—most Britons still call her simply “Kate”—has already become a global icon.

Her wedding to the second-in-line to the throne last April was watched by an estimated two billion TV viewers and her face has adorned millions of magazine covers.

Every one of her outfits is pored over and the clothes invariably become instant best-sellers.

Meanwhile, celebrity magazines scrutinize every photograph looking for evidence of a baby bump, but she is not pregnant yet, and the pressure will inevitably build from a hungry press as time goes on.

Catherine lives far from the bright lights and long lenses of London in Anglesey, north Wales, where William is training to be a Royal Air Force rescue pilot, and her public appearances are infrequent and carefully controlled.

As BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said: “She is, like Prince William, still tiptoeing towards her destiny.”

Since the wedding, she has performed just 15 or so official engagements in Britain and a tour with William of Canada and California—a tiny number of appearances compared to other members of the royal family.

If she is rarely seen, she is heard even less. Catherine does not, yet, make speeches.

Yet she enjoys huge popularity and those members of the public who have met her report that she is happy to chat and say that the daughter of a former pilot and flight assistant is without airs and graces.

When she made her first appearance with the royal family at their traditional Christmas Day church service, there was no doubt that Catherine, in a plum-colored coat and hat, was the one the crowd had come to see.

This month, following royal tradition, she announced which charities she will support, and made a commitment to become a volunteer scout leader, mainly near to her Anglesey base.

She will be associated with just four charities—the queen is patron of 600. Catherine will link up with a group that helps wayward children through art and a charity helping former drug addicts to put their lives back on track.

She has ever so gradually started to follow the path of William’s late mother, Diana, who championed the plight of AIDS patients and landmine victims among many causes.

In a slightly barbed comment on Catherine’s charity commitments, The Independent said it is “an arrangement to suit everyone.”

“The charities get cash and visibility. The princess gains a public persona—much-needed, as it happens, since there has been a growing sense over the past few months, that, beyond the trim figure and the pearly-toothed smile, the new member of the royal family is ever so slightly dull.”

Yet such digs are few and far between, and as she turns 30 Catherine enjoys an overwhelmingly positive press, with newspapers also perhaps treading carefully after their ceaseless pursuit of Diana.

Robert Jobson, the author of “William and Kate: The Love Story,” told AFP that she should resist pressure to change the personality that first attracted William when they were students together at university in Scotland.

“Everyone’s got great expectations but it’s important for Kate, if she’s going to be accepted and popular, to be herself,” he said.

“You can’t be a media-managed perfect princess, there is no such thing, you can’t create the image of a princess on a computer screen and make it absolutely how it has to be.

“You have to take risks, you have to show your personality. At present, she hasn’t really had the opportunity to do that.”