KATE THE GREAT

The Duchess of Cambridge is coming into her own as she celebrates her milestone 40th birthday

- MAXINE PETERS

SHE was in her teens when she started dating one of the world’s most sought-after bachelors. She married the future monarch when she was in her 20s and had three children, including a future king, when she was in her 30s.

Now the Duchess of Cambridge has turned 40 and royal watchers are saying it’s the decade she’s going to really take on the royal mantle and show why she’s perfect to be a future queen.

Kate, who celebrated the milestone birthday on 9 January, is flourishing right now, a royal insider told People magazine. “She has really come into her own.”

The queen has been slowing down and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to step down as senior members of the royal family two years ago means Kate has had to step it up a notch.

It’s something she’s done with great success, insiders say.

“We are seeing a queen in-waiting,” royal expert Katie Nicholl says in the documentary True Royalty’s Kate: The Making of a Modern Queen.

“We are seeing the duchess take on more duties, more royal engagements, more of a public profile than ever before.”

It’s not a life Kate imagined for herself but it’s one she’s doing with grace. “All Catherine ever wanted was a house in the countryside, loads of kids, dogs, and an AGA [stove],” a family friend told The Sun newspaper.

“She wasn’t interested in having a big job or becoming famous. Family life is incredibly important to her, and motherhood has been the making of her. Now that she feels she’s achieved that, there’s time to turn to her public role and what she wants to achieve there.”