Princess Kate's major personal change after meeting Prince William

Katie Daly
·3-min read
Prince William and Kate Middleton smile at eachother
Prince William and Kate Middleton pose for photographs in the State Apartments of St James Palace (Getty)

The Princess of Wales had to adapt to a whole different way of life when she married Prince William. However, there is a personal change that she underwent that only those closest to her would have noticed.

Anyone who has seen Kate's TV interview will know that she spoke with a perfect received pronunciation accent. "She made a point of placing her hands on her lap so that she didn't fidget with her hair and spoke beautifully in a cut-glass accent,' wrote royal expert Katie Nicholl in her book, Kate: The Future Queen.

However, it has been reported that the royal may not have always sounded like this. Katie Nicholl spoke to one of Kate's contemporaries from St Andrew's Prep who revealed: "She has changed a lot, she's certainly grown into a beauty, and the funny thing is her voice has completely changed."

The happy couple posed for photographers on the day they announced their engagement
Kate has reportedly had elocution lessons (Getty)

They elaborated, adding: "She sounds very posh, and she definitely wasn't that well-spoken when we were at school."

2007, Pippa and Kate Middleton (R) attend the book launch party of The Young Stalin: The Adventurous Early Life Of The Dictator 1878-1917 by Simon Sebag Montefiore, at Asprey May 14, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
Kate has changed since meeting William (Getty)

Meanwhile, royal biographer Omid Scobie noted that her accent is "even more plummy" than her husband's.

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Has Kate had elocution lessons?

Though Kate hasn't spoken openly about elocution lessons herself, it is widely believed that she has been coached on her accent to refine her accent to sound "more regal".

Kate Middleton during her graduation ceremony at St Andrews
Kate during her graduation ceremony at St Andrews (Getty)

She worked with voice coach Anthony 'Ant' Gordon Lennox ahead of her 2011 royal wedding. The coaching helped the royal-to-be to conquer her nerves ahead of the big day.

kate and william on wedding day
Kate had a voice coach ahead of the wedding (Getty Images)

Stepping into the royal limelight is certainly daunting but Kate's skills as an orator have come on no end and she now gives speeches, for example her Shaping Us keynote speech, with confidence and poise.

Kate Middleton delivers speech at Shaping Us National Symposium at Design Museum
Kate now gives speeches with confidence (Getty)

She has grown in confidence significantly from the anxious young woman taking on her first TV interview in 2010 upon her royal engagement. Katie Nicholl spoke to ITV News interviewer Tom Bradbury for her book on the budding royal.

Kate smiling beside william
Kate felt nervous ahead of her ITV interview (Getty)

He revealed to the royal expert that Kate had been "dreading" the interview and when it was complete she leaned back and sighed with relief, saying: "I'm no good at this!"

Kate's speaking voice

The Crown's Meg Bellamy and Kate Middleton wearing identical dresses
Meg Bellamy played Kate in The Crown (Getty)

Actress Meg Bellamy played a young Kate in season six of The Crown. In an interview with Vogue, Meg spoke about training her voice to sound like Kate.

Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy at William and Kate in The Crown season 6 part 2
Meg trained her voice to sound like Kate (Keith Bernstein/Netflix)

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Her dialect coach taught the star to speak "proper posh and tight" and "through a permanent smile". Meg also endeavoured to remove the regal air to Kate's voice as she played the princess during her university years.

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