Before she married Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge was never a huge, messy partier. She would go to clubs with William often during the “Waity Years,” but she rarely stumbled out of the club, sloshed out of her mind. Sources even claimed that Kate would nurse a drink all night, then fix her makeup before she and William left because she knew she was going to be photographed. Still, when I think back on those “Waity Years,” I remember a lot of clubs and a lot of vacations. She really didn’t do much for a whole decade. But now that Kate has a brand new image as the world’s most perfect duchess/mother/wife, we have to pretend that she has barely seen the inside of a “fancy drinks party,” I guess. Thus, it’s notable that Kate went and had a few drinks with other mums from George and Charlotte’s school:

It’s been a long time since the Duchess of Cambridge was able to wander along to the pub for a tipple or two with friends without anyone noticing. But she managed to do just that when she joined fellow ‘school-run mums’ at a drinks party in Chelsea – and she owes it all to a secret entrance that, legend has it, was installed especially for Prince Harry.

Although the venue – the Hollywood Arms – sounds uber-glamorous, it is actually pretty low-key, with regulars drawn by its lazy weekend brunches and Sunday roasts. Kate was there last month to attend a ‘meet and greet’ drinks party, held each year for parents of new pupils at the £6,000 a term Thomas’s school in Battersea. Her daughter Princess Charlotte, four, joined in September, following in the footsteps of her big brother George, who has been a pupil at the school since 2017.

The Duchess was able to attend the event thanks to a special entrance at the Hollywood Arms. Using the doorway in a rear alley meant Kate could pass in and out without someone recording it on their smartphone. With just one Royal protection officer keeping a discreet eye on the festivities, Kate is said to have enjoyed a few drinks and was relaxed in the company of her new pals. The group used a private salon, called the Boulevard Bar, which costs £2,500 to hire and can hold up to 80 people.

According to my sources, the secret entrance was originally installed for Harry during his bachelor days. Although the pub is quite restrained these days, it used to be the place to be seen for Chelsea socialites. At that time it was owned by Willow Crossley and her now husband Charlie. They lived above the premises and hosted wild parties every week.

[From The Daily Mail]

I just… don’t really get why this is a story, I guess. She had some drinks with some mums. Apparently, it was organized as some kind of special meet-and-greet for parents. I would imagine that mothers and fathers were invited, but it sounds like it was just moms there? Are we really supposed to think that this was one of the first times in the past decade that Kate has quietly gone out for a drink with some female acquaintances? Is that the story? That Kate rarely spends time with other women? I don’t know.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.