TROWBRIDGE vicar Selina Deacon insists she has no inside knowledge on the royal family despite her daughter being one of the Duchess of Cambridge’s closest confidantes.

Rebecca Deacon, 31, is a key member of Team Kate and, as her private secretary, has the inside track on all of her life.

But the Rev Deacon, vicar of St John the Evangelist in Upper Studley, said her daughter never lets slip any bits of gossip.

She said: “It is most infuriating. I have to read about it in the paper the same as everyone else and then if I mention it she says it is rubbish.”

But she said she is incredibly proud of her daughter and her high-profile job.

Christmas is a very busy time for Mrs Deacon, who has been a widow for 28 years, but as soon as her second service is over on Christmas day she will be heading for the airport.

She and all three of her daughters and other family members will meet up in Kenya to celebrate the 100th birthday of her mother-in-law.

Mrs Deacon, who was widowed at 34, said: “It will be lovely to all be together. I will do the 8am and the 10.30am services on Christmas morning and so I should be finished by 11.30am.”

Mrs Deacon was a formerly a house mother at Port Regis preparatory school in Dorset and her late husband was an army major. He died when Rebecca was three and her sisters Bridget and Hannah were eight and six.

Rebecca was educated at the Royal School in Bath and Bryanstone School in Dorset before going to Newcastle University to study English.

She worked for magazine company Conde Nast but was spotted by the royals when she worked on the Concerts for Diana, assisting producers.

After that she worked for Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale before moving to the princes’ private office. She was promoted to the job with Kate after the royal engagement in 2010.

In an earlier interview, Mrs Deacon revealed that her daughters were not totally impressed when she decided to join the church.

She said: “It’s a long, slow road to selection and during that time I dreaded telling people. Most of my friends weren’t surprised but the girls were filled with dread at the thought of seeing their mother in a ‘dog collar’ – not a cool sight! Their reaction made me hesitate, but I believed that if it was the right thing for me to be doing, it would be all right for them – and it has been.

“My daughters are very proud of me now. In 2007 I married my middle daughter, Hannah, which was very special, and my youngest, Becca, recently said she loves seeing me at the altar.”