Kate Middleton Tweets Rare Reply After Her 'Number One Fan' Wishes Her a Happy Birthday
Pool/Max Mumby/Getty Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton received birthday wishes from around the world when she turned 40 over the weekend, but only one special girl got a Twitter reply from the royal.
Mila Sneddon, the 6-year-old girl who started a sweet friendship with Kate after participating in the royal's Hold Still photography project in 2020, recorded a video wishing the Duchess of Cambridge a happy birthday. Mila's mom, Lynda, shared the video on Twitter Sunday.
"Happy Birthday Catherine!" Mila said. "I'm so happy you're turning 40, hope you get nice gifts and love spending time with your family. Bye, lots of love, Mila."
In an unexpected move, Mila got a royal response! A reply from Kate and Prince William's official Twitter account on Monday said, "Thank you Mila!"
Thank you Mila!
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) January 10, 2022
In 2020, Kate spoke to Mila about her photo, called "Shielding Mila," which showed the little girl waving to her dad from the other side of a window. Mila and her mother had to isolate away from Mila's father, Scott, and big sister, Jodi, to protect Mila while she was receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Mila greeted Kate on the phone by saying, "Good morning, Your Royal Highness."
Kate responded with a laugh, "Good morning. My goodness me, you're so polite, Mila!"
During the call, Kate learned that the little girl's favorite color is pink.
"I have to make sure I go and try to find myself a pink dress," Kate told her at the time. "Hopefully, when one day, hopefully, Mila, we'll get to meet, and then I'll remember to wear my pink dress for you."
Kate made good on her word when the pair met for the first time in May 2021 at at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland, sporting a color block skirt dress by Me+Em in sugar pink/bubblegum.
Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Kate Middleton and Mila
Mila also participated in the Christmas carol concert that Kate hosted at Westminster Abbey last month. She gave a short reading during the ceremony and caught up with Kate.
"She asked me what I was getting from Father Christmas and I told her I wanted a Barbie Dreamhouse," Mila said, according to Hello! magazine. "I showed her my dress and she said I looked lovely."
HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY/POOL/AFP via Getty Kate Middleton and Mila
Kensington Palace marked Kate's milestone birthday by releasing three news portraits of the future queen, taken in November at London's Kew Gardens by photographer Paolo Roversi.
Roversi opened up to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera about working with the Duchess of Cambridge for the portraits, revealing that Kate showed him works by mid-19th century artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Sir David Coyle Burne-Jones "to give me inspiration."
The Duchess of Cambridge's new photos will be displayed over the course of 2022 in three places that hold special meaning to Kate: Berkshire, St. Andrews and Anglesey.
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Kate grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and often returns to spend time with her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, who still live in the quiet village.
St. Andrews is an important spot for both Kate and Prince William as they met as freshmen at the University of St. Andrews in 2002.
And Anglesey is where the couple lived after their royal wedding in 2011. William and Kate rented an isolated cottage in Anglesey, Wales, as William trained nearby for the Royal Air Force. They moved to Kensington Palace with Prince George in 2013. At the Anglesey Show in 2013, William said: "This island has been our first home together, and it will always be an immensely special place for us both."
