With the Royal focus firmly on the Queen and Prince Harry’s former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, Kate Middleton has been off centre-stage for some time.

William and Kate Middleton arriving at the party

She reappeared last week, together with Prince William, at the 30th birthday party for Peter Phillips at the Cocoon restaurant at Soho. The group later moved on for drinks at nearby Volstead, described as an exclusive members’ club and “an oasis of elegance in London’s Mayfair [which] rekindles the atmosphere of our most socially hedonistic times”.

Present at the party were Peter and Autumn Kelly — the newest addition to the Royal Family — Princess Beatrice and her sister Eugenie and Zara Phillips.

As a prelude to the Queen’s Diamond anniversary long weekend, it seems to have gone off well. Although Beatrice left early for a distinctly downmarket bash involving the Kate Moss crowd. Let’s hope she’s not giving Peaches Geldof a run for her money.

Remember those early post-uni days when Kate Middleton set out to create her own mail order children’s clothing line?

She was said to have spent many hours and much money travelling to Milan, and other centres of fashion, sourcing fabrics and ideas for her merchandise. Not surprisingly perhaps, she ran out of money before the business started up. There were even security fears about the level of personal information needed to set up a company — although nominee directors might have got around that one. The project was eventually dropped.

Now her potential cousin-in-law Princess Beatrice is said to be working on her own clothing line, and has even started to sketch ideas for her first collection.

Of course, if Bea’s idea is to challenge model and now fashion designer Kate Moss for the Top Spot, it may be more difficult than it seems, for Bea lacks Moss’s “edgeiness” and “cool” credentials. So far her fashion sense has been more derided than praised. Her mother, Fergie, Duchess of York, is a well-established fashion disaster zone.

However, friends are rallying round. “It was Beatrice’s idea. She has always loved clothes and has an innate sense of style. She has said she is going to start up her own line of clothing and plans to call it Bobcat. She’s creating the label with one of her girlfriends. She has lots of ideas for her first collection although she hasn’t made a garment yet.”

The friend added, “She is quite reserved with what she wears. But she has a sophisticated sense of style and a knack of knowing how to accessorise her clothes. She’s always up to speed with the latest trends.”

Maybe Kate Middelton and Bea can get together on a joint children and adult clothing line.

Bibcat, perhaps?