So True? So False? Is Kate Middleton Really Taking Princess Lessons?!

Rumor has it the newlywed royal is getting steeped in official protocol before being allowed to fully engage in her life of service. But could it be true?

By Gina Serpe Sep 21, 2011 3:22 PMTags
Prince William, Duchess Catherine, Kate MiddletonTodd Williamson/WireImage

It's the part of the commoner-to-royal fairy-tale you don't always hear about.

But Cinderella had her fairy godmother, Snow White had her little helper birds—and Kate Middleton, if rumor is to be believed, has a veritable team of government officials helping her along in her princessing duchessing duties.

The royal newlywed certainly has been keeping a low-profile lately, and her private lessons and coaching in how to fill her new role would definitely go a fair way toward explaining her absence from the public spotlight. But is it true?

Is Prince William's wife really getting lessons in how to be a royal? Hang on to that tiara, because this rumor is…

So true!

Though she has only carried out one official engagement in the past two months, Kate's been keeping plenty busy behind the scenes, and has been following a rigorously designed program of meetings and tutorials meant to help her take on her new official role in the palace and better prepare her for the decades of life in the unrelenting public eye that are to come.

In other words, how to be a princess. And in other, far more blunt words, an attempt by the palace to avoid the mistakes and missteps they made with Princess Diana before her.

"The duchess is being briefed on how the State works, getting to know our national institutions better and learning more about organizations such as the arts, the media and the government," a royal source confirmed to E! News of the highly structured training.

"It is a process that will carry on for several months, but is being done privately."

Private visits and meetings with people from a wide range of backgrounds will be included in Kate's preparations, which will last several months and which, being organic and ongoing, have no set end date in sight. (Much like her alignment as the patron of a charity, which she is expected to announce next year at the earliest.)

In order to continue with her training, or at least become more comfortable and entrenched in royal protocol before fully engaging in her public role, Middleton's official duties are being limited to just one official engagement per month through the end of the year.

In line with that, next week Will and Kate will be opening a new children's cancer center at the Royal Marsden Hospital, of which the prince is president.

Of course, there is another reason why the couple is keeping their public duties to a minimum: next year, Will is expected to be deployed to the Falkland Islands as part of his continued RAF training. The deployment is classified as an unaccompanied posting, and as such, Kate will not be allowed to relocate with him.

Gotta bank that quality time when you can.