Kate Middleton's Strong Family Values Are Why the Queen Likes Her So Much

Picking favorites doesn’t always bode particularly well in matters of family, life, and love, but if anyone could ever claim they had the right to do so, it would be Queen Elizabeth II. And indeed, it appears the queen has truly exercised this informal right, as it has been revealed that the 92-year-old is rather fond of one particular granddaughter-in-law.

After giving birth to three children and undertaking her royal duties without letting a hair out of place, Kate Middleton seems the ultimate package for Queen Elizabeth. And Kate’s qualities certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by the reigning monarch, who is apparently “very fond” of Middleton, according to the documentary William & Kate: The Journey. In the 2016 documentary, royal reporter Ashley Pearson revealed the qualities which the queen is particularly fond of when it comes to her granddaughter-in-law.

“She likes her middle-class values. She likes that she’s close to her family,” Pearson explains. Furthermore, the fact that Kate is not “flashy or showy” is also an appealing quality. Pearson continued, “Kate has never tried to garner extra attention for herself.”

The documentary also revealed that Kate is a “special favorite” of the queen’s because of her endless support of the royal family, of which she has been a part of for many years. In fact, the queen herself apparently encouraged Will and Kate to prolong their relationship before getting married as a way for the brunette to understand what life as a royal was really like. And all things said, it appears the queen was onto something. Kate couldn’t be more poised and proper, no matter what royal engagement she’s attending.

The queen’s State Banquet for the Dutch royal family at Buckingham Palace in October was case in point. Kate turned up the glam for the night wearing a stunning floor-length, ice-blue, fishtail gown by Alexander McQueen, but it was her eye-catching tiara that really stole the show. She wore her late mother-in-law Princess Diana’s tiara (the Cambridge Lover’s Knot), and it finished Kate’s picture-perfect look spectacularly. If we were the queen, we’d be pretty proud our grandson had married her, too.