The Duchess of Cambridge may soon be joining her local Women’s Institute, just like The Queen.
President of the Anmer WI, Dorothy Pulsford-Harris, revealed she had written to Catherine at Christmas, inviting the Duchess to become a member of the group, which meets at the community hall.
‘I had a very nice letter back from her private secretary saying she was interested. We would be delighted to see her,’ she said to The Mail on Sunday.
The Duchess and her family, including 2-week-old Princess Charlotte, will be staying at Anmer Hall for an indefinite period, with Kate taking an extended maternity leave.
William and Catherine have always tried to live a fairly normal life, including having a smaller team of staff as possible, doing their own food shopping and dining at local pubs, so for Kate to join the 14-member group would cement her place in the Norfolk countryside as a normal mum-of-two.
‘She would be one of our younger members. I don’t know how old our youngest member is, but I would say early 40s.’ said Pulsford-Harris.
The group has campaigned to attract a younger audience to their meetings, and having The Duchess of Cambridge on their member roll could do just that.
The Anmer Group is just a ten-minute walk from Anmer Hall, and meets monthly. Activities include craft demonstrations, outings, charity events and guest speakers.
‘The speakers include people with interesting jobs like the local paramedics who go round on their bicycles, and people from local charities, particularly mental health charities.’ said Pulsford-Harris.
Catherine has strong ties to mental health charities, such as Place2Be, making it the ideal place for her to continue work with her patronages.
The Women’s Institute has a long Royal association; The Queen is president of the Sandringham WI, having joined in 1943; The Queen Mother formerly filled the position. Her Majesty usually attends one meeting per year, when she is at Sandringham over Christmas.
The Countess of Wessex is also a member and Princess Anne is an associate member. They are expected to attend the group’s annual meeting in June, along with Her Majesty, to celebrate the groups’ 100th birthday. The Duchess of Cornwall holds membership as well.
Photo: Government of Alberta
