London - Laden with bags, cases and suit covers, these are the women ensuring the Duchess of Cambridge’s tour of India and Bhutan goes off without a hitch.
Team Kate is rarely seen in public butit’s clear that the duchess’s seamless outfit changes and perfectly coiffed tresses require rather a lot of hard work – and heavy lifting.
Nevertheless they cut glamorous figures on the Tarmac after landing in Assam and marching off the royal couple’s private jet in heels.
Carrying five bags at once was Natasha Archer, Kate’s PA and unofficial stylist.
Tash, as she is known, was educated at Newcastle University before being taken on by Kensington Palace as a personal assistant, having previously worked for the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Her keen eye for detail has seen her take on an increasing responsibility for the duchess’s wardrobe. It was Tash who ordered in and whittled down the dozens of outfits considered for the tour, even altering designs to make them more practical for Kate.
The duke and duchess’s joint PA, Sophie Agnew, was also spotted carrying William’s red and blue suit cover bearing the prince’s cipher, as well as a large Longchamp Pliage bag.
She is there to ensure the smooth running of the tour – but clearly doesn’t mind getting stuck in to more menial tasks.
And hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker could be seen with two heavy bags, no doubt containing boxes and boxes of hair grips for Kate’s intricate chignon hairstyles.
Mandy, as she is known to her friends, has been cutting William and Harry’s hair since they were children. A trusted member of the couple’s inner circle, she was one of the handful of people to attend to the duchess in hospital after she had Prince George. William and Kate are picking up her estimated £300-a-day (about R6 300) bill privately.
The “head girl” of the team is the duchess’s private secretary Rebecca Deacon, also known as her GF – Girl Friday. Becca was a pupil at The Royal School in Bath before going to Newcastle to study English.
Her mother Selina is an ordained priest and vicar at a small Wiltshire church. Her father Michael, a former Army major, died in 1986 when she was just three.
Kate and William started their day in New Delhi where they met with some of the capital’s most vulnerable street children.
The duchess wore a £50 red and blue printed maxi-dress by Manchester-based brand Glamorous, teaming the bargain buy with £8 Accessorise earrings and nude-coloured Russell and Bromley flats costing £175. Afterwards the couple were invited to lunch with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
There was just enough time for Kate to change into a more glamorous outfit – a mint green lace dress by Temperley London, costing £795.
Later in the day she and William flew to Kaziranga National Park in Assam – home to wildlife including tigers and the Indian one-horned rhino – to highlight conservation issues. Wearing another ethnic-print maxi dress, this time by American designer Anna Sui, costing £805, Kate was particularly entranced by the energetic dancing of a boy not that much older than Prince George, who turns three in July.
The couple are staying at the luxury Diphlu River Lodge for the next two nights, enjoying a private cottage made of natural materials to blend in with the forest.
Rebecca English, Daily Mail