All About Kate

Fun Facts and background information on the soon to be latest addition to the Royal Family.

Early life

Middleton was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. She is the eldest of three children born to Carole Elizabeth Middleton (born in England in 1955 as Carole Elizabeth Goldsmith) an airline stewardess, and Michael Francis Middleton (born in England in 1949), who had worked as an airline steward prior to becoming a flight dispatcher for British Airways. Her parents married on 21 June 1980 at the Parish Church of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and in 1987 founded Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations.

Middleton’s paternal family came from Leeds, West Yorkshire, and her great-grandmother Olivia was a member of the Lupton family, who were active for generations in Leeds in commercial and municipal work. Through Olivia Lupton, her ancestors include The Rev. Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer. Carole Middleton’s maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham. Middleton has two siblings, Philippa Charlotte, known as “Pippa” (born 1983), and James William (born 1987). Pippa Middleton, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, has received press coverage since her sister became well-known, with focus on her relationships and lifestyle.

Middleton’s parents were based in Amman, Jordan, working for British Airways from May 1984 to September 1986, where Middleton went to an English language nursery school, before returning to their home in Berkshire. After her return from Amman, Middleton was educated at St. Andrew’s School in the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House, before moving on to Marlborough College, a co-educational independent school in Wiltshire, followed by the University of St Andrews in Fife, where she met William and graduated with a 2:1 (Hons) in the History of Art.

Career

In November 2006, Middleton accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw. In September 2007, it was reported that Middleton was planning to give up her job as an accessory buyer to become a professional photographer. It was announced that she intended to take private classes with photographer Mario Testino, who had taken several well-known photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons. Middleton and Testino apparently were introduced by Prince William. Testino later denied that Middleton was going to be working for him.

Fashion icon

Middleton has been featured in several best-dressed lists and was selected by The Daily Telegraph as the “Most Promising Newcomer” in its 2006 list of style winners and losers. Tatler placed her at number 8 on its yearly listing of the top ten style icons in 2007. She was featured in People magazine’s 2007 and 2010 best-dressed lists. Middleton was named as one of Richard Blackwell’s ten “Fabulous Fashion Independents” of 2007. In June 2008, Style.com selected Middleton as its monthly beauty icon. In July 2008, Middleton was included in Vanity Fair‘s international best-dressed list. In February 2011, Middleton was named the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season by the Global Language Monitor.

Breakup and reconciliation

On 14 April 2007, The Sun newspaper broke a “world exclusive” suggesting that Prince William and Middleton had split up. Other media outlets such as the BBC confirmed the story as the day progressed. The couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt. Clarence House made only one comment about the relationship’s end, according to The Times, stating, “We don’t comment on Prince William’s private life.” Newspapers speculated about the reasons for the split, although these reports relied on anonymous sources.

The original report in The Sun quoted a “close friend of the couple” as saying that Middleton felt William had not been paying her enough attention. The paper highlighted reports that William had been spending time with other young women, and said the Prince, aged 24 at the time of the split, felt he was too young to marry. A report in the Daily Mail blamed a desire by royal courtiers not to “hurry along” a marriage announcement, and William’s desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The Mail also suggested that William’s friend Guy Pelly encouraged the Prince to take a “careless approach” to relationships. The same article suggested that Middleton had “expected too much” in wanting William to demonstrate his commitment to her.

In June 2007, Middleton and William insisted they were “just good friends” following reports of a reconciliation. Middleton and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and William sat two rows apart. The couple were subsequently seen together in public on a number of occasions, and several news sources, including the BBC and the Daily Mail, stated that they had “rekindled their relationship.” Middleton also joined William and Charles on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral and attended the wedding of William’s cousin, Peter Phillips, even though William, due to a prior commitment, did not. In April 2008, Middleton accompanied William when he was awarded his RAF wings at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. On 16 June 2008, Middleton attended William’s investiture into the Order of the Garter along with the Royal Family.

Engagement and wedding

Prince William and Kate Middleton became engaged in October 2010 in Kenya, East Africa, during a 10-day trip to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to celebrate William’s passing his RAF helicopter search and rescue course. Clarence House announced the engagement on 16 November 2010. The couple are to marry in Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011.

Title upon marriage

Middleton’s title will depend upon the additional title, if any, which is bestowed upon William after marriage. It is customary for royal men to receive a dukedom when they marry; possible dukedoms for William after his marriage are Windsor, Clarence, Cambridge, Sussex, Kendal, Avondale, and Strathearn. By convention, the wife of a son or grandson of the Sovereign is entitled to the style title or attribute of “Royal Highness”. Therefore as the wife of a royal duke and prince, Middleton would assume the title of duchess and be known as “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of X”.

However, it has been suggested that William may prefer not to accept a dukedom. If William does not receive a further title, then Middleton would, by convention, take her husband’s first name (as with Princess Michael of Kent) and be known as “Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales.

A third possibility is that the Queen could follow the precedent which she set in February 1957, when she accorded her husband Prince Philip “the style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom” in his own right. This suggests that the Queen could, if she chose to do so, make Middleton a “Princess of the United Kingdom”, in which case she would be known as “Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine”.

Public engagements

Middleton was formally introduced to public life on 24 February 2011, two months before the wedding, when she and William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in Trearddur, North Wales. On 16 February 2011, Clarence House announced that Middleton’s and William’s first royal tour of Canada would take place in July 2011.