The Princess of Wales has no scheduled engagements this week, but she's still keeping busy behind the scenes.
In fact, Kate, 44, secretly hosted Melinda French Gates, 61, at Windsor Castle on Tuesday morning, in her role as joint patron of her Royal Foundation, which she shares with her husband, Prince William.
The behind-the-scenes meeting was listed afterwards in the Court Circular, the official record of the royal family's engagements.
Melinda, the ex-wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is the founder of Pivotal Ventures, a philanthropic organisation that focuses on empowering women and advancing equality.
The low-key meeting was listed at the end of the Court Circular, underneath Prince William's Earthshot Prize appearance at London Climate Action Week, so it initially went unnoticed.
No photographs were released from the private talks, and it's unclear what they discussed.
© Getty ImagesHowever, it's not the first time they've met privately, as Kate also hosted Melinda last year for a meeting at Windsor Castle.
Kate's low-key approach to royal life revealed
The quietly held meeting on Tuesday was an example of the Princess's low-key approach to royal life.
In an exclusive interview for HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast last week, author Catherine Mayer discussed how her calm and composed approach has helped her to establish a unique role with the Firm.
© Getty Images"She has done such a clever job of finding a way to adapt to the institution," says Catherine, author of the new book, Divide & Rule. "That does not mean that I think she has it easy. [But she has done] very little speaking and almost no confessional spilling of anything about who she is. She's quite enigmatic.
"She and William have chosen a group of friends who do no media. They are carving out a very private life in the public eye, which is an enormously difficult thing to do."
Catherine also revealed that Kate does "very little" speaking in public and "no confessional spilling" – the perfect formula for adapting to life in the royal family.
© Getty ImagesBill Gates' comments on his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein
Bill Gates himself was once a regular at royal events but, like King Charles's brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has faced scrutiny over his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. However, Melinda is still clearly granted access to the royal family's inner circle.
On Wednesday, the Microsoft magnate told Congress he never discussed Jeffrey Epstein with the disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, but said the paedophile financier "weirdly" kept a picture of the pair together at an official function.
© GettyThe tech billionaire appeared before the influential House Oversight Committee earlier this month as part of its investigation into the late child sex offender and the US government’s handling of the scandal.
The transcript has just been released of the behind-closed-doors session at which Mr Gates accused Epstein of trying to blackmail him over his extramarital affairs.
Bill acknowledged that meeting Epstein, who was sentenced to prison in 2008 for soliciting a child for prostitution, "was a grave error in judgment," but said the relationship was limited to philanthropy and denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of the sex predator’s abuse of girls.
Asked at the committee hearing whether he had ever discussed the financier with the former prince, the tech boss said "nothing connected to Epstein".
