Kate Middleton Is Already Getting Ready for Life as Queen

Kate Middleton likely won’t become the Queen of England for a number of years, but the Duchess of Cambridge is reportedly already preparing for her eventual royal role. In the nearly 10 years since she married husband Prince William, Middleton has taken on a number of responsibilities, including multiple patronages, attending numerous events and traveling the world on royal tours. The mom of three has also honed in on several causes that are important to her, notably mental health in both children and adults.

“She has really been enjoying the early years work and has found her stride and purpose,” an insider told Vanity Fair. “She sees this work as a life-long commitment and she has worked really hard on this campaign.” In 2020, Middleton took on an even bigger role within the royal family after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals, and sources say that the Duchess of Cambridge is “finding her voice,” discovering a cause she is passionate about in helping mothers and children. “She is an adoring mother, and she is contributing publicly in the way we would want her to,” a source close to the royal household told PEOPLE. “You see it more and more. The young student has turned into our future Queen.”

The 39-year-old has recently begun giving interviews, attended numerous meetings last year to learn about early childhood and has started writing her own speeches. “She is now more open with what she wants to say, and funnily enough, she is more relaxed as well,” a family friend said.

Something else Middleon may be adjusting is her style, according to Bethan Holt, author of The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Royal Style. “It feels like a gradual change, but there are certain things she no longer wears,” Holt told Vanity Fair. “She doesn’t wear those big wedges anymore, perhaps because it’s more of a younger thing or doesn’t look quite as current. She has started wearing many more trousers, which lots of women, when they become more professional and confident in themselves, experiment with. She’s adding in interesting new things that signal she’s getting a bit older, a bit more sophisticated, and a bit more senior. Like any of us, we hope in our careers that we become more senior as we get older. She’s becoming more senior in her career as a princess.”

Holt shared that when Middleton does become Queen, she believes the duchess will follow Queen Elizabeth and adopt a uniform of sorts, though it will certainly look different than the current monarch’s rotation of brightly-colored skirt suits. “What you can see coming through is this very defined silhouette, kind of taking a lesson from the queen, who has that colorful coat that she wears. Kate you can see doing it with a nipped-waist, knee-length dress in a block color. I can imagine her having a whole wardrobe of those, which she wheels out for different occasions.”

Despite her eventual position, sources close to Middleton say that the duchess is just a regular working mom. “At the end of the day, she’s in training to be a future Queen, but honestly you would never know it,” an insider told PEOPLE. “If you go round to her house, you get a cup of tea, and it’s often William who makes it! It’s a lovely, welcoming house, not a fancy, stuffy palace in any way.” Middleton and William live in Amner Hall, a 10-bedroom home in Norfolk, and the source said that their residence is “a normal, busy family home with kids running around and knocking things over. There’s no airs and graces.”

Another source told PEOPLE that when Middleton drops her kids off at school, “There are no blow-dries — it’s always hair up in a ponytail.” “She’s either in her gym clothes, or a dress and sneakers, very little makeup, apologizing as she’s late for the school run before dashing off,” the friend said. “It’s the life of a working mom with three young children — just a different sort of day job to most.”