Kate Middleton will soon be hiring a new private secretary after her top aide, Catherine Quinn, resigned from her post.

Quinn started working as the Duchess of Cambridge’s private secretary in October 2017. A source told Daily Mail that the two women parted on good terms.

“Catherine is a thoroughly lovely lady and has achieved a lot working for the duchess. But she simply wants to take a step back and focus again on her charity work. Working for the duchess was actually never a job she had ever thought of taking on as she was scaling down her commitments, but then it came up and she couldn’t resist,” the source said.

Quinn was previously tasked to organize Middleton’s schedule, and she also accompanied her on some of her royal engagements. The former private secretary was also the one responsible for developing the royal’s “Early Years” project.

“She has done an incredible job but just wants some more time for other interests and feels she has helped the duchess create a solid platform in order to move forward. Catherine has helped to create such a strong team around the duchess, sources say, that she feels it is a good time to move on. They are parting on the best of terms,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Quinn isn’t the Duchess of Cambridge’s first royal aide to resign. Just last month, the mom of three also parted ways with Sophie Agnew, her personal assistant. Agnew made her first public appearance with Prince William and Middleton in 2014 when she joined them on their Australia and New Zealand tour. Her position has reportedly been redundant.

Earlier this year, Daily Mail reported that three of Prince William and Middleton’s staff were sacked while four resigned amid misconduct issues. Staff from other royal households were also fired due to various reasons such as fraud, harassment, attendance-related issues, poor performance, and more.

Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton visits The Foundling Museum on March 19, 2019 in London. Getty Images/Eddie Mulholland