Royal stag do and hen's night pass under the radar

While her prince visited flood-ruined Australia and earthquake-ravaged New Zealand, Catherine Middleton is believed to have marked the end of her single life with a low-key do in London.

News of the private soiree means Prince William and his wife-to-be have both avoided the spotlight for their bucks and hens events.

Palace officials confirmed on Monday that 28-year-old William had a low-key party at a rural retreat at the weekend, and it has since emerged that the bride, too, has already had her get-together.

"She has already had her hen night, but it was certainly very low-key," a friend of Miss Middleton's told Britain's The Daily Telegraph newspaper on Tuesday.

"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."

Catherine's sister and bridesmaid, Pippa Middleton, is understood to have organised the party which was attended by guests including her university flatmate Olivia Bleasdale and Prince Harry's former girlfriend, Astrid Harbord.

A spokesman for St James's Palace which represents Prince William, and now also his fiance, did not confirm the hen party, telling the Telegraph only: "It is a private matter".

It is possible Miss Middleton's gathering occurred while her prince was away on his recent trip to Australia and New Zealand, the newspaper reported.

While details of the princess-to-be's party remain a closely-guarded secret, it is unlikely to have been an alcohol-fuelled affair, with Catherine only an occasional drinker.

While Prince William spent Saturday night partying with about 20 of his closest friends at a country estate, Catherine is understood to have spent the weekend at her parents' Bucklebury home, west of London.

The couple will marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29.