Meet Kate Middleton's new Assistant Private Secretary - Natalie Barrows
The Duchess of Cambridge has expanded her team by hiring Natalie Barrows as her new Assistant Private Secretary - and on Wednesday, she was photographed helping the Duchess during her latest engagement. Natalie was snapped handing over an arrangement of white flowers to the Duchess during Prince William and Kate's engagement in Leicester on Wednesday afternoon, where the royal couple paid their respects to the five victims who were killed in last month's helicopter crash outside Leicester City's King Power Stadium. Although Natalie was snapped this week with the Duchess, she has actually been working for the royals for 18 months.
Natalie Barrows is Kate's Assistant Private Secretary
Her royal role sees Natalie help organise official programmes and engagements as well as making sure Kate is briefed on who she will meet. At public events such as walkabouts, she will always be a few metres from Kate, as seen during this week's engagement. The assistant's role is pivotal in assisting with their schedules, co-ordinating diaries, organising travel arrangements and correspondence management.
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Shortly after her hiring Natalie within the team, Kate enlisted Catherine Quinn as her right-hand woman. She took over from Kate's former private secretary Rebecca Priestley, née Deacon, in October 2017. Catherine has previously worked as the chief operating officer and associate dean for administration at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School. She has an MBA from the business school, as well as degrees from US and UK universities.
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The royal household has seen a number of surprising changes in the past year. In April, it was announced that Prince Harry's loyal private secretary, Ed Lane Fox, would step down from his post after five years. Just one month before, Prince William's right-hand man, Miguel Head, announced that he was leaving his role as the Duke's private secretary. In March, the palace released a statement, saying that William "feels incredibly lucky to have benefited from Miguel’s advice and support over the last decade". Miguel was hailed as "outstanding" and as a "valued advisor".
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