When Duchess Kate was just Kate Middleton, fiancée to Prince William after nine years of waiting, the royal propaganda machine claimed that Kate would not be employing dressers, stylists and professional fashion helper people because she wanted to do things for herself. I thought that was bulls—t for a number of reasons. One, Kate would need help and I thought at the time, “What’s she going to do, just spend day after day, week after week, shopping her fingers to the nub?” (yes, that’s what she does). Two, it just seemed like part of “Will & Kate are just like you, they don’t have staffers to help them out, they’re normal!” shtick.

It was difficult to keep up the “we’re so normal” ruse, but Will & Kate’s enormous entourage of press officers and handlers managed to keep those stories going for a while, despite various pieces of information coming out about all of the “help” they actually do have. People believe what they want to believe. But after Prince George was born and the Cambridges moved into Kensington Palace, I think they finally gave it up. Now they openly acknowledge that they have a large staff of helpers. Kate alone traveled with at least four “helpers” during the tour to Australia and New Zealand. People Mag has an insidery story about one of those helpers, a woman named Natasha Archer.

During the 19-day Royal Tour of New Zealand and Australia, the Duchess of Cambridge lived up to her reputation as savvy at wardrobe rewearing — while also debuting more than a dozen new fashion finds. Which begs the question: What’s her shopping strategy? Unlike Hollywood royalty, Kate doesn’t rely on a personal stylist to dress her for public appearances. But she does have some behind-the-scenes help.

One member of the small entourage that traveled Down Under was Natasha Archer, whose official title is Personal Secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In the weeks leading up to the trip, it was Archer who called in an array of designer dresses and various accessories for the Duchess to choose from. Merchandise was delivered care of Archer to Kensington Palace with the understanding that anything Kate wore she would pay for. (No freebies allowed!) Clothes that didn’t make the cut were politely returned.

Archer is also the day-to-day contact for fashion labels who want to send look books of new collections for Kate to peruse, often acting as the middleman for wardrobe purchases. Still, the Duchess enjoys hitting the stores herself for a little retail therapy.

One of her go-to destinations is London’s Selfridges, which offers the services of personal shoppers to its VIP clientele. According to store sources, Kate used to browse the rails herself but these days she’s more likely to be found in the luxurious personal shopping suite, browsing racks of clothing selected just for her.

Though there is no charge for a two-hour private consultation, buyers are expected to spend a minimum of ￡2,000 (about $3,400 US) per visit. “She chooses what she likes beforehand and sometimes I think her friends come in and help look for her and she tries it all on in the suite upstairs,” a staffer tells PEOPLE.

Kate’s bespoke pieces are made-to-measure, but even off-the-rack items are tailored to fit her lean frame. “All of her clothes are altered and that’s a good lesson to us all,” says Lisa Armstrong, fashion editor of The Daily Telegraph. “[Any woman can] just get [her clothes] altered at the local dry cleaners.”

While hairstylist Amanda Cook Tucker is often on hand to style her tresses, Kate prefers to do it herself when it comes to makeup. The Duchess has been known to stop by the Lancôme counter at Peter Jones in central London to pick up products like Artliner liquid eyeliner (in black) and Advanced Génifique serum. Other beauty must-haves include Bobbi Brown eyeshadows and Acqua di Parma’s citrusy Colonia scent.

[From People Magazine]

I really don’t get this. Why protest the idea of having a “stylist” and then when describing Natasha Archer’s job, it’s just a description of what a stylist does? So, Kate has a stylist. Is that so hard to admit? The conundrum, I suppose, is that if people think Kate has a full-time stylist, they’ll start to wonder why. Like, why does Kate have someone on staff full-time to help her shop when Kate barely does one or two events a month (when she’s not on tour)?

Also, again with the “Will & Kate don’t accept freebies” thing. That’s another ruse like the “we’re so normal” shtick. Designers manage to get stuff to Kate and Will through secondary family members (Prince Charles, Pippa, Carole) who accept the “gifts” on behalf of Will & Kate. Plus, Will and Kate accept huge discounts too, especially for their vacations.

Photos courtesy of WENN.