Closer Weekly: Queen Elizabeth Is Already Preparing Kate for When William Will Inherit the Throne

Queen Elizabeth's relationship with her granddaughter-in-law, Kate Middleton is only going from strength to strength as she works closely with her in preparing Kate to take the throne in the future.

Since Kate Middleton married into the royal family in 2011, she and her husband Prince William have spent years preparing to take the throne after Prince Charles and Camilla.

For William, who grew up in royalty, it is a life that has become second nature to him. Kate, on the other hand, is the daughter of two flight attendants and lived a relatively normal life until finding her prince.

According to Closer Weekly, Queen Elizabeth has been spending a lot of time with Kate and working closely with her in grooming her to one day be Queen, a source revealed:

"Kate's learning all the ins and outs. The queen admires her professionalism, commitment and ability to take royal life in stride without getting flustered."

The source said it took Kate a while to get comfortable with life in the royal family. In fact, she used to find herself getting nervous every time she was around the Queen.

Reportedly, the Queen didn't have much faith in Kate's capabilities and felt she wasn't working hard enough with her royal duties when she and William were engaged in 2010.

Since then, Kate has flourished, with reports suggesting that she has "found her voice." As a result, her relationship with the Queen has also improved, a source explained:

"Over the past few years, they've gotten to know each other on a personal level and the queen became very impressed with her. Kate's also much more at ease in her presence now."

Although Kate doesn't call the Queen "Granny" like her grandsons William and

do, she has allowed Kate to call her Elizabeth, which shows her level of affection towards granddaughter-in-law. With their relationship going from strength to strength, a source

"Elizabeth values her opinions and trusts her judgment. Lately, she has been communicating one-on-one with Kate instead of going through William."

Kate's confidence as the future Queen was evident when she made an unprecedented move by talking about her personal life during an interview for the "Happy Mum, Happy Baby Podcast" to talk about motherhood.

The engagement was helping to promote her "5 Big Questions on the Under Fives" survey about childcare. It gave the public rare insight into her family life and helped solidify her status as one of the most liked members of the royal family.