I wasn’t going to do this story, but we just got the photos, and why not? We haven’t had a Kate Middleton story in a few days. These are photos of Kate Wednesday night in London. It was her first “royal duty” as a princess-to-be… and the occasion was a charity event for the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, of which Prince William is a patron. She didn’t get to walk arm-in-arm with her love though – he was in Switzerland with Becks, trying to get the World Cup to come to London. So Kate had to do the whole thing alone. So what did the charity even consist of? Perhaps some glad-handing, some shilling on behalf of a good cause? Not really. Kate got to sit down and watch a Christmas concert, and then she stood around drinking and talking to friends afterwards. And that’s her “royal duty”!

Kate Middleton has kept quite the low profile since she and Prince William announced their engagement. But on Wednesday night, she finally stepped out in public for her first social event in more than two weeks.

And she did it in perfect, princess-to-be style.

On a bitterly cold London evening, Middleton, 28, attended the annual Christmas carol concert to benefit a charity dear to her fiancé’s heart, the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. (Her betrothed, meanwhile, was in Switzerland with David Beckham in the hopes of landing Britain a bid to host the World Cup in 2018.)

In 2009, William, 28, became a patron of the memorial fund, which helps set up schools in Uganda. It also happens to be the only philanthropy in which he and his brother, Prince Harry, are jointly involved. The charity is named for a young classmate of the princes who died in a car crash.

At the event on Wednesday night, a royal protection officer driving a Range Rover dropped Middleton off at the door of St. Luke’s Church in Chelsea, thwarting efforts by photographers to get a clear shot of the royal fiancée.

By the end of the evening, she was seen enjoying the company – and attention – of many of the couple’s friends in the foyer of the church, several of whom had not seen her since the big announcement. Members of the royal household and a friend accompanied Middleton as well, according to observers.

She was one of the last to leave, after chatting in the foyer of the church for more than an hour after the service. A fellow guest tells PEOPLE, “She was on top form. She looked radiant and was charming everyone.”

Wearing a black overcoat, she then dashed out through a flurry of snowflakes to the waiting four-wheel drive SUV.

“It’s incredible how things have changed,” one witness tells PEOPLE. “Last year she left [this event] in a taxi. This time she had a press officer and a specially-protected Range Rover.”

[From People]

Well, she’s as good as a princess now – she’s got her Range Rover and her bodyguard and her own coterie of protectors and sycophants. See? This is what she was patiently waiting for all of these years. But still, it’s not all roses – The Daily Mail takes her task for wearing the same old pair of boots that she’s been wearing for years. Which brings me to an interesting thought: when Kate gets married, she will definitely have a clothing allowance. The question is: How much will the clothing allowance be, and where will it come from? Diana got her clothing allowance from her husband (and the Duchy of Cornwall, the profit-center of the Prince of Wales). So, will Prince Charles be paying for Kate’s clothing allowance? Will the Queen? That one is doubtful. It will probably be either William, from his own money (he inherited a great deal from his mother), or from Charles.

One last thing – The Enquirer had a hilarious gossip item about William being such a mummy’s boy that he asked Kate to wear his mother’s wedding gown for their wedding. Sigh… I really hope that didn’t happen.