Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Spring Summer 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    • Digital Issues
    • Women Who Win
    1. Celebrity News

    Kate Middleton at one point annoyed her household staff for this wholesome reason

    'She does more for herself than anyone else in her position before.'

    Megan C. Hills's avatar
    By Megan C. Hills
    Published 14 December 2018 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    kate middleton household staff
    (Image credit: Rex)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    'She does more for herself than anyone else in her position before.'

    All of us like our house to be a certain way, from the way the kitchen cupboards are arranged to the way we fold our clothing. The same apparently goes for the royals, but unsurprisingly, the royals have a number of household staff to help keep things pristine. It makes sense, because could you imagine trying to clean Buckingham Palace on your own? Apparently Kate Middleton however shook things up a little, as she ‘desired the privacy of not having servants’ around according to Express.

    The outlet said that in a 2016 documentary, journalist Ashley Pearson claimed that, ‘Kate had broken precedent in the sense that she does more for herself than anyone else in her position before.’

    She also went onto reveal that Kate and Prince William’s married head housekeeper and head gardener both wound up quitting, as they had ‘worked for the Queen previously and then came over to work for Prince William and Kate’.

    Pearson alleged, ‘There was a lot of speculation at the time that [Kate’s mother] Carole Middleton had been interfering in the housekeeper’s duties, that Kate was doing a lot for herself and that didn’t sit too well with the staff.’

    You may like
    • The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
    • Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan' Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
    • Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel entering 10 Downing Street “Are We Just Jealous?” Victoria Moss Unpacks the Sexist, Ageist Commentary Around Marie-France van Heel’s Victoria Beckham Dress

    TBH if your entire job was to look after the royals, we guess it makes sense that you’d be frustrated if you essentially had nothing to do. Express continued that Kate ‘loved to cook herself’ and ‘didn’t grow up with household staff’, so it sounds like it must have been a big adjustment.

    This isn’t the first time that Kate’s tried to keep things low-key as a royal, as the keen photographer has also opted to take her children’s official portraits in the past - rather than turning to one of the Palace’s professionals. In fact, she snapped a few birthday pictures of her children and made our hearts melt with Princess Charlotte’s first day of school photograph below.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    kate middleton's household staff

    Hrh The Duchess Of Cambridge/REX/Shutterstock

    We stan an independent gal and if anybody has a problem with that, we’d like to have a word.

    That said, we hope Kate knows it’s okay to ask for help when she needs it. With her ever growing list of royal duties and three little rascals to look after, we doubt we’d ever get anything done if we were in her shoes.

    Megan C. Hills
    Megan C. Hills
    Social Links Navigation

    Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband. 

    Read more
    The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona
    Royal News Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
    Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan'
    Celebrity News Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
     
     
    Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel entering 10 Downing Street
    Fashion “Are We Just Jealous?” Victoria Moss Unpacks the Sexist, Ageist Commentary Around Marie-France van Heel’s Victoria Beckham Dress
    Barbie's DreamHouse Is on Rightmove
    Homes and Interiors The Barbie DreamHouse Is on Rightmove, But What Does Female Home Ownership Look Like in 2026?
     
     
    Latest in Celebrity News
    Olivia Rodrigo performing on stage in a babydoll dress that sparked online debate, later prompting the singer to speak out about the sexualisation of girlhood and double standards facing young women.
    Celebrity News “We Really Normalise Pedophilia in Our Culture”: What Olivia Rodrigo's Babydoll Dress Backlash Reveals About Girlhood
    Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan'
    Celebrity News Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
     
     
    Anne Hathaway attends the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2
    Celebrity News Anne Hathaway Has Spoken Out About Her 10-Year Health Battle
    The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona
    Royal News Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
     
     
    Latest in News
    Kinda Chic Trend
    Shopping Is "Kinda Chic" Kinda Cringe? Everyone's Favourite Fashion Word Just Went Completely Out of Fashion
    Beauty Digest
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: The Foundation Using Exosome Technology, the Treatment That Transformed My Skin Texture—Plus, the Ever-Earlier Advent Calendar Race
     
     
    Kaia Gerber
    Shopping Everything Kaia Gerber Wears Is a Masterclass in Minimalism—These Are the Pieces and Brands She Always Goes Back to
    Copenhagen Fashion Week street style
    Shopping Kitten-Heel Sandals, Lace Dresses and the Season's New Favourite Shade of Blue— These are the Copenhagen Fashion Week Street Style Trends to Note
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.