Queen: Kate should get a proper job before
Prince William announces their engagement

By Katie Nicholl : The Queen has voiced concern that Prince William should not announce an engagement to his long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton until she has secured herself a full-time job.

Despite fevered speculation that the couple, who recently enjoyed a romantic holiday in the Caribbean, are about to announce an engagement, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Queen is concerned that a proposal would be both premature and ill-advised.

The 82-year-old Monarch – who, in spite of her age, is considered one of the most hard-working members of the Royal Family – has privately made it known she believes Kate, 26, should be settled in a career before the couple announce an engagement.

Sources close to the Queen last night said she was acutely aware that Prince William’s public image could suffer if his girlfriend were not recognised as a working professional in her own right.

‘The Queen has had conversations with a few trusted friends about how to tackle what is being called the Kate problem,’ a senior aide told The Mail on Sunday.

‘On the few occasions the Queen has met Kate, she has thought she is a nice enough girl. But the Queen has admitted she has no idea what Kate actually does.

‘Privately she is very concerned about what the repercussions could be if Kate is not in a stable job as and when William is ready to propose.

‘The Queen is very close to her grandson and they, of course, discuss Kate.

'The Queen is very aware that it’s a serious and long-term relationship.
Although they are not yet engaged, it seems more likely than not that Kate will be a Royal bride one day, and the Queen is of the opinion that Kate should be working.

‘She believes in a modern Monarchy and feels very strongly that the Royals should be leading by example.

‘That’s one of the reasons the Queen is so fond of Sophie Wessex. She was a hard-working career girl before she married Edward and she still works hard carrying out lots of charity work, despite raising a young family.’

Even though the Countess’s job as a public relations executive eventually caused problems with her new role as a Royal, her willingness to work is viewed favourably by the Queen.
The Mail on Sunday can report that Kate is currently working for her parents’ mail-order company, Party Pieces, which supplies children’s party gifts.

She quit her job as an accessories buyer for High Street chain Jigsaw at the end of last year and announced that she wanted to pursue a career as a photographer.

There was speculation she would take up a job offer to train under Royal photographer Mario Testino in New York in February, but it never materialised.
Instead, Kate has spent the past three months working for Party Pieces, photographing new stock for its website.

‘It’s not what you would call a nine-to-five job,’ said a friend of the Middletons. ‘It’s an easy number for Kate and basically something to fill her days while she waits for William.

‘Over the past few months, she has been at home with her family shooting pictures for the Party Pieces website. She has been joking that her days have been filled taking snaps of cupcakes and it’s all a bit surreal.

'She loves taking pictures, but when she said she wanted a career photographing unusual subjects, we didn’t expect it would mean pictures of toys.

‘Her brother James has dropped out of Edinburgh University to set up a new business venture. He has just launched The Cake Kit company, which is a sister company to Party Pieces, and Kate photographed all the images for that too. There’s a link to it and a plug on the Party Pieces website.

'The Middletons are very close and they love the idea of having a family business.’

When she left St Andrews with a 2:1 in art history, Kate attempted to set up her own children’s clothing line as a subsidiary to her parents’ company. But she was forced to close it before it launched for financial reasons.

At the time, she sought advice from Prince William’s best friend, internet entrepreneur Jamie Murray Wells, and said she did not want to ask her parents for money.

She then started working at Jigsaw, which is owned by her parents’ close friends John and Belle Robinson, who let William and Kate take a vacation at their holiday home in Mustique two years ago. But Kate quit the job after less than a year last November.

While Clarence House refuses to comment on speculation that William and Kate are about to get engaged, it is widely accepted within Royal circles that the 25-year-old Prince will make his girlfriend of nearly five years his bride.

‘William won’t be railroaded into a wedding – he still thinks he’s too young to get married,’ a friend said.

‘But he has made a commitment to Kate and we are quite sure she is the one, when the time is right.’

Although she has yet to receive a round-the-clock Royal protection officer, Kate divides her time between the Middleton family home in Berkshire and William’s living quarters at Clarence House, where she has her own keys and is freely waved through the security gates in her Audi.

Sources close to her last night said she has ‘no immediate work plans’ while Prince William prepares for his final attachment with the Royal Navy.

‘Maybe Kate will reconsider the job offer that was on the table a while back in New York,’ one friend said last night.

‘She does love to travel and she is quite a good photographer, but the problem is she never wants to be too far away from William.

‘She knows she’s been nicknamed Waity Katie, which she hates, but she genuinely does not know what to do with her life. She feels in limbo, flitting between London and Berkshire.

‘She stays trim by working out at the gym she has had installed at Clarence House and that’s about it. Mostly she just waits for William to come home so that they can go on another holiday.’

Friends say William is acutely aware that Kate has yet to find a serious career and make her own money.

‘William realises Kate can’t have a normal life because of all the paparazzi that follow her around, but he does want her to be doing something worthwhile,’ a friend said yesterday.

‘It’s very important to William that Kate is seen to be working.

‘For all the stick he gets, he actually works damn hard. Just before he went away to his friend’s wedding in Kenya – missing Peter Phillips’s Royal wedding two weeks ago – he was doing back-to-back charity work and in desperate need of a holiday.

‘I’ve only seen Kate look that tired when she’s had a late night at Boujis. She spends her days keeping herself looking good.

'A typical day might begin with a workout, then lunch with a friend and a bit of shopping or a trip to Richard Ward, her favourite hairdresser in Sloane Street.’