How Princess Kate proved she's 'no pushover' just months after royal wedding

She really held her own

Prince William, Duke of Cambride and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge abseil through the rainforest in Danum Valley Research Center in Danum Valley on the island of Borneo on September 15, 2012
(Image credit: Getty)

Just over a year after she officially joined the Royal Family, Princess Kate found herself at the centre of a controversy, when photos of her in which she appeared to be topless were published in a French magazine.

These photos had been taken by a paparazzo, and Kate and husband Prince William soon won a legal battle after a court judged these photos to constitute an invasion of privacy.

But just days after the photos were published, the then-Cambridges were due to conduct an official engagement in the Borneo rainforest.

A journalist who was there at the time, Kate Mansey, has just spoken on Hello!'s A Right Royal Podcast, and explained that she and the other journalists present hadn't known about the photos for a while because they hadn't had phone signal for two days.

When journalist Kate found out about the pictures, she thought Kate and William would cancel their engagement that day, but was surprised to find that not only did they not cancel, but Kate actually seemed in great spirits and determined not to let this get the best of her.

"The very next day, Kate appeared at a mosque, and she pulled it off marvellously, she went business as usual. And they came in the rainforest, and it was clear to see that William, in particular, was rattled by it, she seemed quite calm. But William, for sure, it had really affected him," journalist Kate continued.

"It was remarkable to see how it worked and see how their team supported them, and to see how he supported her, but also how the fact that he was clearly much more rattled than she was. And I thought that was telling as well.

"That incident for me showed that she has this kind of steel rod of metal running through her, she is no pushover. She's completely solid. And if anything, he was the one that was more worked up about it than she was. That's telling, that's why they make a great partnership."

13 years to the day after Kate and Will's royal engagement, we can't help but agree.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.