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Kate Middleton's secret hen party

London - Kate Middleton has held her hen party celebrating her last weeks as a single woman before marrying Britain's Prince William, St James's Palace said on Tuesday.

The news comes exactly a month before the couple tie the knot at London's Westminster Abbey and the day after palace officials confirmed William, second in line to the throne, had held his stag night in private.

The bride-to-be shunned a traditional night out and instead held a small gathering at the home of a friend, organised by her sister and maid of honour, Pippa Middleton.

A source told Britain's Daily Telegraph: "She has already had her hen night, but it was certainly very low-key. There isn't such a tradition attached to hen nights as there is to stag parties. It was done privately. Not all of Kate's friends were there, and she will be catching up with other friends over the coming weeks."

Friends who are reported to have attended include Olivia Bleasdale, who shared a flat with Kate and the prince at St Andrews University, Prince Harry's rumoured former flame Astrid Harbord, Kate's schoolfriend Alicia Fox-Pitt, and Rose Astor, the wife of Prince William's close friend Hugh van Cutsem.

However Prince Harry's former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, who became close to Miss Middleton when they dated the royal brothers, did not attend despite reports she has been invited to the wedding.

Kate's party occurred several days before William and twenty of his closest friends celebrated his bachelor party in Norfolk, South East England on Saturday.

A spokesperson for St James's Palace said: "This is not something we would comment on. It is a private matter."

Media frenzy

William similarly gave the press the slip by holding his stag night in private.

He reportedly marked the end of his life as a single man with a low-key party at a rural retreat at the weekend after plans for a watersports day were reportedly ditched.

"It has taken place. We are not saying when, or where," a spokesperson for the prince told AFP.

When William announced that his younger brother Prince Harry would be his best man and therefore organise the stag, commentators suggested he gear himself up for a boozy night at some of Harry's favourite London hotspots.

But wary of a potential media frenzy, William held a low-key party with about 20 of his closest friends at a country estate outside London, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The wedding has sparked a frenzy of excitement around the world.

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