Even though Kate Middleton has been under lockdown with Prince William and their three children for the last few months, she’s still been carrying out an impressive number of official engagements. Serving as backdrops to events like a Zoom bingo night with retirees and an interview on morning TV, Kate and William’s offices at Anmer Hall have become a familiar sight. According to a report in Tatler, however, Kate has been struggling with the workload, even if she isn’t showing it on her video calls.

Insiders told the magazine that some of the discontent dates back to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to leave the family back in January. “William and Catherine really wanted to be hands-on parents and the Sussexes have effectively thrown their three children under a bus,” an insider told the magazine. “There goes their morning school runs as the responsibilities on them now are enormous.”

“Kate is furious about the larger workload. Of course she’s smiling and dressing appropriately but she doesn’t want this,” a friend of Kate’s said. “She feels exhausted and trapped. She’s working as hard as a top CEO, who has to be wheeled out all the time, without the benefits of boundaries and plenty of holidays.”

Others who spoke to Tatler claim that previously reported and debated tension between Kate and Meghan is real, and most likely dates back to the preparations for Meghan and Harry’s May 2018 wedding.

According to one source, the two duchess had an argument that left Kate in tears, reportedly over bridesmaids’ pantyhose. “It was a hot day and apparently there was a row over whether the bridesmaids should wear tights or not,” the source said. “Kate, following protocol, felt that they should. Meghan didn't want them to.” Ultimately, the young girls, including Princess Charlotte, went without hose on May 19, when the temperature in Windsor was about 70 degrees. (At press time, neither Kensington Palace nor the spokespeople for the Sussexes had yet responded to the Telegraph’s request for confirmation.)

An image of Kate accompanied the story on the cover of Tatler’s July/August issue, with the headline “Catherine the Great,” and the story also comments on Kate’s reported popularity with her Kensington Palace aides and how well she is taking on the role of palace “kingmaker” and running her significant charity endeavors. But as many compliments as her friends and aides mentioned to the reporter, their attempts to draw a contrast between her and Meghan have also made Kate look like an old-fashioned stickler for insisting on pantyhose for small children. Though given the Queen's own famous fashion rules, maybe it's just further evidence of how prepared she is for her future as a queen.

— Prince Harry’s Quarantine Lament: The Ex-Royal Is Reportedly Feeling a Little Sad in L.A.
— Astronaut Jessica Meir Returns Home to a “Completely Different Planet”
— Can a New Book Finally Settle the Feud Rumors Between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton?
— This Is What Swedish Chefs Learned While Keeping Their Restaurants Open in the Pandemic
— Even Stephen King Thinks We’re Living in a Stephen King Book
— A Pandemic Won’t Kill the Open Office, but Slack Could
— From the Archive: The Lonely Heir, an Inside Look at Prince Charles’s Childhood

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss a story.