ROYAL UPDATE: Kate’s post-Meghan transformation, Katie Couric dishes about a young Prince Harry

It has been another eventful week for The Firm, as Kate Middleton stepped out in a glittering gold gown, her confidence apparently growing as she expands her role within the family in the aftermath of Megxit. Elsewhere, Prince Andrew broke cover to meet his new grandchild, named Sienna Elizabeth in honor of the Queen. Harry and Meghan were at the receiving end of more criticism for their trip to New York while an American television journalist recalled a former interview with the Prince who reportedly stank of ‘alcohol and cigarettes’. Here’s everything you need to know…

THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN GOWN: Kate Middleton dazzled this week at the glittering world premiere of the new James Bond film No Time To Die. In a rare joint engagement, Charles, 72, Camilla, 74, William and Kate, both 39, all stepped out on the red carpet to meet 007 star Daniel Craig and other cast members at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Royal sources noted that the outing of Charles, Camilla, William and Kate could herald a ‘new era’ of collaboration and solidarity between the future king and his eldest son – but it was the Duchess of Cambridge who stole the show. 

Mother-of-three Kate took center stage at the event in a custom Jenny Packham embellished gown. Featuring cape sleeve detailing and structured shoulders, she teamed her dress with bespoke Onitaa earrings – which were made in Pakistan by the South Asian luxury couture label. 

Kate also showed off her ‘affectionate bond’ with her father-in-law, Prince Charles, at the event. According to body language expert Judi James, Kate Middleton’s red carpet embrace with Prince Charles showed the pair’s genuine love for one another and Kate’s role as his ’emotional’ support. ‘Recently, possibly thanks to his very open grief at the death of his father and perhaps the fracturing of his relationship with his youngest son, we are seeing his daughter-in-law Kate stepping into a much closer and more emotionally comforting role, with their body language suggesting some unexpected levels of affection,’ she explained. ‘Her gesture of placing one arm round his neck and shoulder in public is a very important one as it signals her growing confidence and even sense of status within the family’.

Recently, Kate has noticeably come into her own. As royal expert and Daily Mail columnist Dan Wootton put it: ‘Welcome to the world Confident Catherine – an altogether new public figure, created by four years of toil, trauma and, yes, tiara tantrums’. Wootton continued: ‘Friends and advisers of Kate believe the thoughtfully planned appearance at the highly anticipated new Bond movie is the culmination of a project designed to quietly elevate the princess from cautious wife to potential savior of the monarchy… Even James Bond himself Daniel Craig struggled to maintain his composure, uttering with his understated British sensibility: “You look jolly lovely.” (Translation: Va-va-voom!)’ 

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE? Wootton also noted this week that Kate may have Meghan to thank for her glamorous transformation. According to the expert, royal insiders claim the nervous Duchess of Cambridge previously struggled to summon the confidence to make such a high-stakes appearance before her self-assured sister-in-law came along.

‘Her advisers had been trying unsuccessfully for some time to encourage the nervous Duchess (pictured this week in Northern Ireland) to feel emboldened with her appearances and public work, but she preferred her husband to take the lead,’ Wootton said. ‘Her role, she was convinced, was to remain a loyal wife and doting mother, behind-the-scenes, with a “no fuss, no drama” mantra front and center. Funny how a vicious and bitter rivalry with a sister-in-law trying to ruin it all can change everything… When she [Kate] saw the lengths Meghan was going to in order to destabilize and unsettle the monarchy that she had willingly agreed to devote her life, a previously-hidden determined streak emerged from Kate.’ 

‘She knew she was going to have to up her game – and she did. Now she’s a royal Rockstar – everything Meghan should have been,’ a senior royal insider disclosed to Wootton. Meanwhile, as Kate emerged as an unstoppable superstar, royal courtiers and experts reportedly sat back and watched Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s widely-criticized trip to New York City where their mission to promote vaccine equality was largely overshadowed by Meghan’s eye-wateringly expensive (and weather-inappropriate) wardrobe and the couple’s decision to party with socialite friends in between engagements. 

Some critics also questioned why Meghan and Harry would embark on such a pseudo-royal extravaganza when they repeatedly claim they don’t want to live their lives the way members of The Firm do. The sentiment is especially poignant as Palace aides have recently revealed a massive effort was made to bend over backwards to help Meghan adjust to royal life, contrary to claims by Meghan during her bombshell interview with Oprah earlier this year. ‘Harry was the “prime mover” in souring relations between the Sussexes and the Royal Family,’ expert Andrew Morton says in newly-released chapters of his Meghan Markle biography. Still, he continued: ‘Within months, Meghan went from Duchess Dazzling to Duchess Difficult … and from Duchess Difficult to Duchess Dictatorial.’ 

THE SMELLY PRINCE: Across the pond, Harry was the subject of further criticism this week – this time by American television journalist Katie Couric. The former TODAY Show host gave a scathing verdict on Britain’s royals in her new memoir ‘Going There’ where she describes how Prince Harry, then 27, stank of cigarettes and alcohol when they met in 2012.

Introducing her interview with Harry on ABC, Couric said the Prince was ‘known for his cheeky sense of humor and love of partying a bit’. However, she added: ‘But we got to see the warm and personal side when we talked about what his grandmother means to him.’ Recalling the interview years later, however, Couric recalled that the smell of cigarettes and alcohol seemed to ‘ooze from every pore’ in Harry’s body. 

Couric didn’t just take potshots at Harry. The former television personality, who attended Jeffrey Epstein’s now infamous 2010 dinner at his New York mansion, claims Prince Andrew had noticeably cozied up to Epstein at the event while the financier ‘held court’. Her ex-boyfriend Brooks Perlin also allegedly noticed how young the women were who took their coats at the dinner party. 

Couric writes: ‘I couldn’t imagine what Epstein and Andrew (pictured in Central Park in 2011) were up to, apart from trying to cultivate friends in the media. Which, in retrospect, they must have figured they’d need when the… charges started rolling in.’ 

ROYAL BABY UPDATE: Speaking of the embattled Prince Andrew, the royal was spotted brazenly waving on his way out of Balmoral on Thursday – just days after he officially recognized an assault lawsuit served to him by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. The royal earlier acknowledged the lawsuit against him by Ms Giuffre, who claims Andrew abused her on multiple occasions in 2001 when she was under 18. His lawyer has called the allegations ‘baseless’ and he has always denied any wrongdoing. Later that night, the prince was reportedly swept into Windsor Castle as he prepares to meet his new grandchild for the first time. 

The Duke of York, 61, had been hiding out at the Queen’s Scottish estate for three weeks to escape his legal row, even though his daughter Princess Beatrice gave birth to her first child on September 18. Pictured: The Duke of York with Virginia Roberts, then 17, and Ghislaine Maxwell in London.

Still, it seems nothing can dull Beatrice’s baby joy. On Friday, the princess and her husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi announced their baby daughter is called Sienna Elizabeth, in a touching tribute to the Queen. Posting an image of the baby’s footprints on Instagram (pictured), Edoardo wrote: ‘Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi. Our life together has just begun, and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things that await us.’ He continued: ‘Feeling so much love and gratitude for my amazing wife, baby Sienna and Wolfie. These are the days I never want to forget. This week, a friend said to me the sweetest saying….that with every child you grow a whole new heart.’ 

Sienna is an Italian name, likely to have been chosen because of Edo’s roots, but Elizabeth is a touching tribute to Beatrice’s grandmother the Queen. Although her mother is a princess, Sienna, who is the Queen’s 12th great-grandchild, will not have a royal title. Only grandchildren of the monarch through the male line are automatically entitled to the styling of HRH. This means she will be plain Miss Mapelli Mozzi. The Queen could bestow a title on her great-grandchild if desired, but it is unlikely to be asked for. 

WHEN IN DOUBT, WEAR YOUR WELLIES: After another week of compliments, criticism and royal duties, the Queen and Prince Charles stepped out for a joint engagement at the Balmoral Estate to plant a tree to mark the start of the official planting season for a special initiative called the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC). Joined by schoolchildren from nearby Crathie Primary School, the pair planted a copper beech tree at the Balmoral Estate’s cricket pavilion. 

Her Majesty dressed down and kept warm for the occasion in one of her signature headscarves, and donned a pair of sensible wellies. The initiative comes ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which she will celebrate next year, becoming the first British monarch to achieve the milestone having acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952, aged 25. 

Taking a hands-on approach, her Majesty and her oldest son took a pair of spades to the ground as they planted the tree. As they poured soil around the copper beech sapling, Charles quipped: ‘Let’s hope it will survive.’ 

The initiative, which has its own Twitter account, says the tree planted on Friday joins 1,500 the Queen has planted around the world throughout her 70-year reign. It is calling on people across the nation to follow her lead, and plant their own trees, using the slogan: ‘Plant a tree for the jubilee.’ 

While on the grounds of the 50,000-acre Scottish estate today, the Crathie Primary School pupils were allowed to explore Balmoral’s woods and take part in nature projects. They also presented the Queen with a card they had made for her, featuring hand drawn illustrations of trees.