Kate Middleton: Princess under pressure

Every honeymoon period has to come to an end, and for Kate Middleton, 11 months after the wedding of the decade is enough time for the new royal to roll up her sleeves and get stuck into public service. And although the Princess has been permitted to choose the charities that will benefit from her patronage, it's already been noted that by this time in her marriage to Prince Charles, William's mother, Diana, had carried out 170 official engagements, compared to Kate's 34. With William's six-week-long deployment to the Falkland Islands looming, leaving Kate alone to handle an often lonely royal life by herself, the Princess has felt herself further straitjacketed by a ban on taking the international holidays the family were once famous for in a bid to "not send a bad message" during the recession, instructions to keep her recent 30th birthday bash as low-key as possible - much to party planner Pippa's annoyance! - and the microscopic scrutiny of her style and make-up choices. In this week's issue, Scene delves into Kate's new public life, spilling all on the egos she must tip-toe around, alliances she needs to form and the fine line she must tread when it comes to presenting herself as a princess… without developing princess-like airs and graces!