Kate Middleton's low key party

Kate Middleton held a secret bachelorette party several days ago.

The bride-to-be - who will marry Britain's Prince William in London's Westminster Abbey on April 29 - 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 (29.03.11).

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