Kate Middleton Made a Secret Visit to a Women's Prison

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published 25 September 2015

Ambitious family planner Kate Middleton visited a women's prison early Friday in a continuation of her charity work supporting inmates struggling with substance abuse.

According to People, the Duchess of Cambridge spent time speaking with inmates at Send Prison and leaders of the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust, which services 26 prisons in the U.K.

"I was reminded today how addictions lie at the heart of so many social issues and how substance misuse can play such destructive role in vulnerable people's lives," she said in a statement. "I saw again today that a failure to intervene early in life to tackle mental health problems and other challenges can have profound consequences for people throughout their lives."

Independent research shows RAPt progs lead to 65% reduction in re-offending – thrilled that #HRH visited HMP Send pic.twitter.com/1wtvDYVkR8September 25, 2015

The Duchess said: "I am grateful to the women I met for sharing their difficult personal stories with me" pic.twitter.com/VnHhJDHI6FSeptember 25, 2015

The Duchess is encouraged that @RAPtcharity are offering specialist support to help break the cycle of addiction pic.twitter.com/xA534sH5BmSeptember 25, 2015

What makes the meeting secret is that Kensington Palace did not announce it beforehand and even asked the media to "keep quiet" until the Duchess had left, People reports. A much different mood from that time she hung out on the set of Downton Abbey, but it can't be chocolate and free sandwiches all the time, no?

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Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at Marie Claire. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.

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