According to a new cover story in People this week, Kate Middleton has taken a few steps to cement her place as future queen.

Royal insiders tell People that the Duchess of Cambridge has really come into her own since the birth of her three children. We know that she takes a hands-on approach with her kids and is even the family photographer from time to time. Sources say that the confidence she’s gained over the last few years is also reflected in her own charity work, which focuses on issues related to parenthood and child development. She’s reportedly even writing her own speeches these days and sitting in long meetings with U.K. organizations.

“The Duchess wouldn’t just join us, she would stay for the whole meeting. She has a deep curiosity to really understand the issues,” Kate Stanley, director of strategy at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, tells People.

“She is now more open with what she wants to say, and funnily enough, she is more relaxed as well,” a family source also told People, while another source added, “She is finding her voice.”

Fans saw a glimpse of this in January, when Middleton spoke frankly about the struggles of motherhood. “It’s so hard,” the duchess said at an event. “You get a lot of support with the baby as a mother particularly in the early days, but after the age of one, it falls away. After that, there isn’t a huge amount. Lots of books to read. Everybody experiences the same struggle.”

Meanwhile, a third close royals source told People, “She is an adoring mother, and she is contributing publicly in the way we would want her to. You see it more and more. The young student has turned into our future Queen.”

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