Little is known about Natalie Barrows, her assistant secretary and her trusted person, who has not stopped working in the shadows during her admission.
Although it will still take some time to return to her public duties, Kate Middleton has been discharged from hospital after 14 days admitted to The London Clinic and is now at her home in Windsor, where she will continue to recover, as reported by Kensington Palace. During this time of convalescence, one of the most trusted people who will be at her side is Natalie Barrows, her deputy private secretary and confidant.
She has been working with her for seven years and during Kate's arrival, she has been in charge of coordinating the princess's agenda together with Jean Christophe Gray, Prince William's private secretary, as reported by Mirror.
This harmonization is being decisive in guaranteeing continuity in the work of the future kings, allowing them the work relief they need at this time. Natalie is known as the "confidential lady" and, although she is used to working in the shadows, in her public events you can see her complicity with Kate.
She is responsible for scheduling her official engagements and informing the princess about the people she will meet at each of her events. She also monitors her schedule, plans her trips, and even sorts her mail. She was responsible for organizing the princes' trip to India and Bhutan in 2016 and to the Caribbean, in March 2022, already as Kate Middleton's private secretary.
At public events, Natalie stands a few meters behind the princess in case she needs her to hold her purse or collect flowers, greeting cards and other gifts offered by the public. Her oversized clutch has turned heads on more than one occasion during official events.
In compliance with the discretion required in the Windsor family, details of this woman whose role is going to be crucial for Kate in her recovery are barely known. He has appeared in some images of her, talking to her in a relaxed attitude or carrying her bouquet of flowers, as happened in November 2018, when the princes of Wales paid tribute in Leicester to the five victims who died in a plane crash.
The closest she was was at the Wimbledon tournament, in July 2023, sitting in the VIP stand at a very distance. In 2019, Elizabeth II wanted to recognize her loyalty by naming her a member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO).
For Queen Elizabeth II, one of her greatest supporters was Lady Susan Hussey, the British sovereign's most beloved lady-in-waiting. Her image seemed taken from another time, almost nineteenth-century, therefore, she does not allow comparison with Natalie.
Susan was also the one who held her purse for her while she greeted or picked up the flowers and other gifts with which she entertained her audience. She spent more than 60 years at her service and a minimal gesture was enough for her to understand what His Majesty wanted from her at all times.
Beyond these details, Natalie is a key piece in the work team that surrounds the Princess of Wales and in the coming months she will take care of everything she may need, maintaining the first major requirement that she has fulfilled impeccably so far: discretion.
