Kate The Great Duchess Of Dazzle

She’s finally found her confidence

Few of those gathered at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden at Wisley, Surrey last month would have noticed, but as the Duchess of Cambridge brought her short speech to a close, she allowed herself a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smile.

Wearing a floaty floral midi dress by Kiwi designer Emilia Wickstead, Kate had spoken with confidence and touching humanity about how children benefit from outdoor activities and how young lives can be saved or ruined depending on the care they receive in those precious early years.

If she was feeling just a little bit pleased with herself that day, she had every right – for Kate’s speech to an audience of families to launch a new Back to Nature Garden had been a personal triumph.

It’s not so long since the idea of addressing an audience filled her with dread, as her aides knew all too well. They would rarely announce Kate's speeches in advance, giving her the chance to bow out gracefully should she find herself overcome with nerves. One early speech at the National Portrait Gallery had been memorably painful as an anxious duchess tripped over the words, a crimson flush rising up her cheeks.

At Wisley, however, we saw a very different Kate. Here was a happy, confident senior member of the royal family, relaxed, humorous and entirely at ease with the role.

So much attention has been focused elsewhere in recent months – for example, on the Duchess of Sussex, Kate’s glamorous new sisterin-law; on rumours of a rift between Princes William and Harry; and on the continuing difficulties facing Prince Andrew – that Kate’s quiet transformation has gone almost unnoticed.