The Princess of Wales won’t be on the throne someday—that duty will fall to her husband, Prince William—but she’ll be right there beside him, and already is the leader in the royal family.

“Catherine has the reins of power in a very subtle way,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward told People for its new May 6 cover story. “She has very strong views.”

“The monarchy has caught up with modern times,” Seward continued, adding that “The old rules of royalty have changed.”

Among Catherine’s deeply held beliefs is raising her kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis differently than royal parents have done in the past. “Getting the family right is absolutely critical, particularly in terms of what the nation expects of them,” a family friend told the outlet.

Just last month, Catherine, William, and their three kids skipped the traditional royal family Easter service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor in favor of spending the holiday on April 20 with her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, at the Wales family country home, Anmer Hall, in Norfolk.

“Catherine appreciates the importance of having that family time,” a source told People. “In a way, it’s modernizing the monarchy.”

In an article in The Times describing what William will be like as king someday, experts shared that Catherine acts as a “gatekeeper” to William and is “hugely influential behind the scenes in hiring and decision-making, and they approach it as a team.”