William and Kate ‘Going Through Hell,’ Says ‘Heartbroken’ Confidante

The relationship between members of the royal family and their clothes designers reached its apogee in the bond between Queen Elizabeth and her dresser, Angela Kelly. Kelly was the gatekeeper through which even family members had to pass to see Her Majesty in her declining years. She spent much of the last two years of her life with her and was at her bedside in her last days in Scotland. Even Prince Harry’s relationship with his grandmother was soured at one stage by an argument with “AK47” over getting access to a tiara for Meghan.

Another close relationship has developed between William and Kate and one of their favorite designers. Relations are so close between the Waleses and Amaia Arrieta, the children’s wear designer behind eponymous label Amaia, that it’s worth taking seriously Arrieta’s remarks in the Daily Telegraph about how she thinks the royals are doing.

The woman behind the classic-inspired look featuring long socks, smock dresses and pleated shirts with scalloped collars often worn by the Wales children at formal events has opened up about her famous clients’ health struggles.

“I’m heartbroken at the moment, I think they are going through hell, I hope they will be back. It’s really personal,” she said.

Arrieta’s apparently unguarded remarks about the couple, which hint at the seriousness of Kate’s condition, are unlikely to please the palace, as the Waleses have closely guarded their privacy in recent months, with few updates about the family. However if there is one group of people who get a pass for occasional missteps it’s the wardrobe department; Angela Kelly was even given permission to write books about her relationship with the queen.

Intriguingly, the Telegraph says, the royal connection to her brand, Amaia, goes back to Jessie Webb, a former nanny to William and Harry who helped with Prince George when he was born ten years ago. Arrieta says she now often works with the Wales’s current nanny, Maria Borrallo, to dress the children, saying: “It’s often a very tight deadline. We would do anything for them… the children always look amazing in the end.”

Prince Louis wore an Amaia shirt in the birthday snap released on social media by the palace last week.