Kate and Mary's secret royal pact

The royal “sisters” unite for a worthy cause, reports Sebastian van der Zwan.

They’re two brunette beauties who grew up as commoners, fell in love with handsome princes and blended seamlessly into royal life following their respective fairytale weddings. The comparisons don’t stop there either. Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, have both been hailed style icons, share a keen love of sports and are passionate about helping children in need.

It’s no surprise they’ve been compared to sisters. There’s talk that Kate has taken Mary on as a royal role model, following in her remarkable footsteps to become the beloved future queen of a historic dynasty. Insiders reveal that Kate regularly turns to the Australian-born princess for advice in coping with royal life, calling her up for a chat whenever she needs a sympathetic ear. Their latest conversation, however, was about something much more important than palace protocol.

Kate phoned Mary to ask how she could help with a disaster that’s put the lives of more than 13 million people at risk – the famine devastating East Africa. After an intense discussion and fraught deliberations on timing, the pair decided to take their special bond public, teaming up to shine the global spotlight on this escalating crisis. Both have enlisted their husbands in their heartfelt cause, too. Kate and Prince William are this week making a mercy dash to Mary’s adopted home of Copenhagen, where they will work alongside Mary and Prince Frederik packing food and medical needs for East Africa at UNICEF’s emergency supply centre.

William and Kate, both 29, are “deeply moved” and “very troubled” by the crisis, a spokesman for St James’s Palace reveals, as Africa is “a part of the world they know well and which is very dear to them”. William’s passion for Africa was fostered by his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who tirelessly campaigned for AIDS awareness and the removal of land mines. And it was in Kenya that the prince finally proposed to Kate after nine years of on-off romance.