With her packed schedule full of royal engagements and busy mum-of-three life, it is likely that Kate Middleton probably needs to take some time to unwind now and again.
The Princess of Wales is known to have a discreet and loyal circle of close girlfriends she can rely on, with some of her friendships even dating back to her school days, the Mirror reports.
Today is National Best Friends day and, to mark the occasion, we are going to have a look back at some of her dearest pals in her girl squad
Sophie Carter
Sophie Carter is understood to be one of Kate's closest friends with the two women being regularly pictured out and about together.
Sophie is Princess Charlotte's godmother and spends a lot of time with the Wales family.
The pair have also been on skiing holidays together with their families and Sophie is a regular at royal weddings, having also made the guest list for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day in 2018.
She also joined the royals at a Christmas church service in Sandringham and has been spotted at other social events including Wimbledon.
Sophie used to be in a relationship with one of Prince William's best friends, Thomas van Straubenzee, who is another of Charlotte's godparents, but things didn't work out between them.
She went on to marry Robert Suggs in 2018, with Prince George taking on the role of pageboy, while Charlotte was a bridesmaid.
Lady Laura Meade
Lady Laura Meade and Kate met through their husbands and are now great friends.
Laura's partner, James, is a good pal of William's, with both men taking on important roles at each other's weddings. William acted as an usher at James' ceremony while James gave a speech at the royal's nuptials.
Both couples have children, with Laura being a godmother to Prince Louis and James being a godfather to Charlotte.
Emilia Jardine-Paterson
Emilia Jardine-Paterson and Kate have been close since their school days, with both women formerly attending Marlborough College.
Their loyal long standing friendship saw Emilia take Kate on a girls' trip to Ibiza after the now Prince and Princess of Wales briefly broke up in 2007.
Emilia, who is a married mum of three, is a godmother to George and runs her own interior design company.
She is even said to have helped Kate out when it came to redecorating her country retreat of Anmer Hall.
Hannah Carter
Hannah Carter is another of one of Kate's school friends who also attended the prestigious Marlborough College.
Although their friendship has remained largely out of the public eye, the two women remain very close, with Hannah being one of Louis' godmothers.
William and Kate attended Hannah's wedding in 2012 to wealthy landowner Robert Carter, with their special day taking place on the royal couple's first wedding anniversary.
Trini Foyle
Another bestie of Kate's from Marlborough College is Trini Foyle.
The Princess met Trini when they were around 14 and both set off to Scotland for university, although Trini attended Edinburgh instead of St Andrews.
Trini previously worked in the office of Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt and is married to Ted Foyle.
Trini's son, Alexander, is of a similar age to Prince George and it's been reported that the two boys attend playdates together, with the supervision of their mothers, in Kensington Palace Gardens.
Pippa Matthews
Kate's girl gang could not be complete without her beloved younger sister Pippa.
The Princess of Wales' sister is two years younger than her and is married to hedge funder manager James Matthews, who she shares their three kids Arthur, Grace and Rose with.
The sisters also have a younger brother named James who tied the knot with his French wife Alizée Thevenet in a simple ceremony in the south of France in 2021.
Kate and Pippa were extremely close growing up and Pippa was chosen to be her older sibling's maid of honour at her royal wedding in 2011.
A few years later, Kate returned the favour at Pippa's wedding to James.
Speaking of her sister on the Today show in the US in 2014, Pippa said: "We're very close. And, you know, we support each other and get each other's opinions and things."
The Duchess of Edinburgh
When it came to getting the hang of life as a royal, Sophie was very supportive of Kate, and the two have remained close ever since.
Despite their 17-year-age gap, the Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess of Wales are often seen laughing and joking at events and have even carried out joint engagements for their mutual passions.
One aspect of their lives that Sophie and Kate have in common apart from being royals is that they both had relatively normal upbringings.
Sophie, who is married to Prince Edward, grew up in a middle-class family like Kate, without any of the trappings of royalty.
Both women attended regular schools and had normal jobs before they married into the Firm.
Before Sophie and Edward's wedding in 1999, the Duchess worked in PR, while before Kate's wedding to Prince William in 2011, she was an accessories buyer at fashion chain Jigsaw.
After marrying their husbands, both women had to dedicate all their time to learning how to navigate royal life and carry out engagements and are now both seen as major assets to the Firm.
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