The Duchess of Cambridge celebrates her 40th birthday next week. Ahead of the milestone, royal insiders have likened Kate to her husband’s great-grandmother.
The Queen Mother, whose husband was King George VI, died in 2002 aged 101.
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, 61, who was private secretary to the Cambridges and used to work for the Queen Mother, told The Times: “When I was a 23-year-old I was the Queen Mother’s equerry for a couple of years.
"The Duchess reminds me so much of her.
"In a funny sort of way, she has got the same temperament.
"Like the Queen Mother, she is incredibly polite to everybody.
"She takes time to talk to people.
"She is tough.
"She has got that Queen Mother feel in her, so that when things need doing, she is there do them.”
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Royal author Robert Lacey added: “When it came to the ordeal by tabloid, she understood the importance of withstanding the pressure.
"I see royal antecedents here in the form of the ever-smiling Queen Mother.
"You have to be tough to survive in that job.
"And Kate has got the toughness.”
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Kate joined the Royal Family when she married Prince William in 2011.
The pair first met when they were students at the University of St Andrews.
Kate is said to have caught the future King's eye when she walked down the catwalk in a see-through dress at a charity fashion show in 2002.
The couple announced their engagement in November 2010.
They tied the knot less than six months later at Westminster Abbey.
More than a decade on from their fairytale wedding, William and Kate are parents to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.