EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: ‘Kate Middleton’s party left £700 tip at Norfolk music festival where she opted for four-course restaurant meal instead of food trucks as DJs played music 24 hours a day’
- Kate Middleton reportedly dined at the on-site Turntable & Napkin restaurant
- Houghton Festival staff say her party left a £700 tip, it has emerged
The Princess of Wales attended her first music festival last weekend, as I disclosed in the Daily Mail on Tuesday, and staff will hope it won’t be her last. For it has been revealed that her party left a £700 tip.
Catherine joined revellers at the Houghton Festival in Norfolk, where DJs played music 24 hours a day. During her night out, she is said to have avoided the festival food trucks, instead opting for the on-site Turntable & Napkin restaurant, where diners pay £60 each for a four-course meal.
‘[Catherine] was in high spirits, ordering spicy margaritas, eating affogato [an Italian coffee-based dessert], and speaking affably with the other members of her party,’ reports the London Evening Standard.
‘Her companions apparently carted in a huge, balthazar-sized bottle of AIX rosé and, together with Kate, left the festival restaurant staff a £700 tip.’
A balthazar is a 12-litre bottle and it would cost about £500 from a wine shop.
The Princess of Wales attended her first music festival last weekend and staff have now revealed she left a £700 tip. Catherine is pictured chatting with Rose Hanbury at the charity event on her Norfolk Estate in 2016
Catherine joined revellers at the Houghton Festival in Norfolk, where DJs played music 24 hours a day. A DJ is pictured performing at Houghton Festival
During her night out, she is said to have avoided the festival food trucks, instead opting for the on-site Turntable & Napkin restaurant, where diners pay £60 each for a four-course meal. Houghton Festival is pictured above
Catherine, 41, is understood to have made her first ever visit to a music festival at the weekend, albeit a very upper-class one.
She was dining with her Norfolk neighbours, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley, David and Rose, at their Palladian stately home, Houghton Hall. At the time, the Houghton Festival was taking place on their 1,000-acre estate.
Richard Eden (pictured) disclosed Catherine’s attendance at the festival in the Daily Mail on Tuesday
‘After dinner, one of the guests suggested that Catherine go to the festival,’ a source told the Daily Mail yesterday.
‘Catherine was nervous about the idea, but, after much discussion with her protection officers, she went with lots of security. William wasn’t there.’
Billed as Britain’s only 24-hour music festival, it is the brainchild of DJ Craig Richards, who launched the event in 2017.
More than 200 artists performed across 13 stages from last Thursday to Sunday with music playing somewhere on the Houghton Estate site at all times. More than 12,000 revellers were expected to attend.
Although Catherine is not known to have previously attended a festival, she does like to dance. While still plain Kate Middleton, she was pictured attending a roller-disco with friends including the jockey Sam Waley-Cohen in 2008.
A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment, so it’s not clear why the Prince didn’t join his wife.
The Princess of Wales was dining with her friend, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (seen here on her right) when the idea of her going to a music festival was mentioned. The friends are pictured together here at Houghton Hall in 2016
Prince William pictured dancing with friends at Camden club Koko in June. It is understood that he did not accompany Catherine at Houghton Festival last weekend
More than 200 artists performed at the festival this year. Pictured above are attendees enjoying a live performance at a previous Houghton Festival
Catherine’s lively night out is just the latest example of the warm friendship between the future king and queen and the Cholmondeleys, nicknamed the ‘Turnip Toffs’, who live just a few miles from their Norfolk retreat, Anmer Hall.
Last September, the Marquess was replaced as Lord Great Chamberlain after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
However, King Charles made sure that the Marquess, aka filmmaker David Rocksavage, did not lose his intimate connection with the monarchy.
In March, I reported that the King handed the Marquess a new position that would see him and his wife, the bohemian former model Rose Hanbury, returning to the heart of the royal court.
Charles appointed the Marquess, 63, as his Lord-in-Waiting, a prestigious position that would see him attend important state and royal occasions, as well as being called upon to represent His Majesty at various events.
Rose married Rocksavage in 2009. He is 23 years her senior and friends had almost given up hope that he would ever marry. She soon produced an heir and spare, twins Alexander and Oliver. Like Catherine, she has since given birth to a third child, Iris.
The Princess of Wales dancing with Prince William during a trip to Belize in 2022
While Catherine and William stay at ten-bedroom Anmer, previously rented out to a kitchen timber boss, the Marquess and Marchioness live in splendour at nearby Houghton Hall, one of the country’s finest Palladian houses.
In his previous role as Lord Great Chamberlain, the Marquess had to walk backwards in front of the monarch at the State Opening of Parliament.
Cholmondeley left the position because of the tradition that it changes to another aristocratic family on the death of the monarch.
He was succeeded by the 7th Lord Carrington, whose late father served as Foreign Secretary under Margaret Thatcher.
Source: Read Full Article