With all the fuss over the latest Royal wedding and the emergence of Chelsy Davy on the Royal scene, one person has been pushed inevitably into the background.

Kate Middleton cut a lonely figure at Windsor on Saturday, despite Chelsy and Prince Harry supporting her. Nothing could hide the absence of her own boyfriend, Prince William, who chose to spend the weekend at the wedding of his former girlfriend’s brother deep in the African bush.

In many ways Kate’s situation over the weekend is becoming emblematic of her current status on the fringes of the Royal Family. A new narrative is gaining ground and beginning to define her.

In the past few weeks I’ve noticed a change in tone in the comments of Palace servants and courtiers. While Chelsy is regarded as jolly, fresh and open, Kate was described by one as “glacial”.

Others piled in: Kate doesn’t mix well, she’s more like William’s sister, she doesn’t do anything much, just hangs around. And then, picking up on the Kate haters in the forums, she’s Waity Katie who hasn’t got a job, who just plays at things but never settles to them.

This is a new narrative coming from within Royal circles and threatens to do her enormous harm, not only psychologically, but in the way she’s regarded by those higher up the hierarchy.

The problem, as I’ve been writing here for two years, is that she’s been in limbo for too long — it’s nearly seven years since she met William at St. Andrews University in Scotland. She’s like someone who endlessly flits in and out, lacking all status, waiting and hoping for preferment.

Her predicament is a bit like Anne Elliot’s in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, ever waiting for her sea captain to come and claim her. As I recall, she was 27 in the novel, an advanced age in those days to remain single.

Of course, all this will change if and when an engagement is announced. She will immediately rise to the top in status and regard. She’ll be the one who waited uncomplainingly for her Prince and eventually made him happy.

But if the current narrative gains too much traction, it could destabilize her completely. Already the air of romance is being sucked out of the relationship. One commentator remarked rather brutally, “Kate has been told if she hangs around until 2009, she’ll get a proposal.”

I don’t believe William would consider that fair, especially given his acute awareness of his own mother’s problems in adjusting to Royal life.

The new narrative shows that Kate’s position is now boring to Royal insiders, allowing the nastier types to have their say with impunity. If a pool is still for too long it quickly stagnates and becomes a problem to solve rather than a beauty spot.

The last thing she needs now is for this situation to continue through Christmas and into the New Year, when William finishes his Forces training.

Kate flies to Mustique this week for a holiday that will run until May 28. William will join her on Wednesday.

The speculation is that they will discuss their future. Have they not discussed it before? It would be hard to believe they haven’t.

But William needs to swing his Army sword against the newest Waity Katie narrative. It’s damaging her reputation and his. Now is the time for that long awaited engagement.

Anne Elliot got there in the end, will Kate Middleton?

The rumour we mentioned earlier, that Autumn Kelly (now Phillips) was responsible for negotiating the contract which sold the Queen to a celebrity magazine, is gaining ground.

We are hearing that an unholy row has broken out in Royal circles over what has been a dismal start to Peter Phillips’s married life.

It began with the simple fact that the Kelly family could not afford to foot the £50,000 ($100,000) bill for the reception at Frogmore House. The mother of the groom, Princess Anne, refused to pick it up, as did his father, Mark Phillips.

Faced with those facts, most families would have arranged a much simpler “private” wedding with a small reception and buffet in a private house. However, Autumn decided to go for a celebrity-style pay-out and stage a big bash in magnificent Frogmore House in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The sum agreed is thought to be well above the $1m mark so far publicized.

When the first Hello! interview with the couple was published last week, the Queen was said to be mortified. The Palace launched what it called “a damage limitation excercise”. Severe restrictions were placed on who and what could be photographed, and the degree of access allowed. However, the magazine currently has the official photograph of the Queen and the couple on its website, giving the impression that they have bought the whole show. Nobody seems to know what might appear in Wednesday’s edition of the magazine.

This is a bad start to Autumn’s peripheral “Royal” career and will mark her out as “pushy” from the outset.

Princess Beatrice at yesterday’s Royal wedding. No comment.

Peter and Autumn at St. George’s Chapel after the ceremony

Buckingham Palace is confirming that Hello! magazine was not at the wedding service in St. George’s Chapel and will not be at the reception at Frogmore House.

It looks like the Palace has finally put its foot down, possibly encouraged by the Queen, and put a stop to the commercial aspect of this Royal wedding in all but name. Quite what Hello! will publish on Wednesday is now open to question, but it can’t be much, judging by what we were allowed to glimpse.

Both Kate Middleton and Chelsy Davy were there, say the BBC, but didn’t figure in the photograph after the wedding. We look forward to the one official photograph.

What a pity this event has been marred by swirling rumours of a sell-out, even that they sold the Queen to a celebrity magazine.

I can’t imagine this happening in Robin Janvrin’s day.