Kate Middleton just got the best wedding anniversary present from the Queen

(Image credit: Rex)

Yesterday was Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding anniversary, and for the occasion, the Queen gave Kate a rather meaningful gift: the highest grade of the Victorian Order.

She made her Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, to thank her for her services to the monarchy.

A statement released on Twitter said, 'The Queen has been pleased to make the following appointment to the Royal Victorian Order. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, for services to the Sovereign.'

It's customary for the Queen to gift this honour on wedding anniversaries, as the Countess of Wessex received it on her 10th wedding anniversary, while Camilla got it on her seventh. It is Kate and William's eighth wedding anniversary.

The Queen is expected to mark this formally on 3rd May, during her service for the Royal Victorian Order at Windsor Castle.

A photo posted by on

A palace source told The Telegraph the Duchess was 'honoured and looking forward to continuing to work on behalf of Her Majesty going forward.'

Meanwhile, on Instagram, the Palace celebrated the couple's anniversary by sharing a portrait of the Royal wedding, with the caption, '8 years ago today — thank you for your lovely messages on The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding anniversary.'

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.